Primary 4 English Practice Paper 1

TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper - English Primary 4 - Grammar Answer Key (Version 1)

Total Marks: 30 | Section A: 10 | Section B: 5 | Section C: 15

Section A: Grammar Multiple-Choice Questions (10 marks)

1. Answer: (2) wants (1 mark)

Concept: subject–verb agreement. The true subject is "One of the boys". The head noun is "one", which is singular; "of the boys" only tells us which one. A singular subject needs a singular verb, so "wants" is correct. Common mistake: choosing "want" because the nearby word "boys" is plural. Always find the head noun first.

2. Answer: (3) herself (1 mark)

Concept: reflexive pronouns point back to the subject of the sentence. The subject is "Aunt May" — one female person — so the matching reflexive pronoun is "herself". Why others fail: "himself" is for a male subject, "itself" for things or animals, "themselves" for plural subjects.

3. Answer: (3) were completing (1 mark)

Concept: the past continuous (was/were + verb-ing) describes a longer action already happening when a shorter action interrupts it. "While" signals the ongoing action, and "rang" is the interrupting action in the simple past. "Pupils" is plural, so we use "were". Common mistake: using simple past "completed", which makes the two actions sound separate instead of overlapping.

4. Answer: (4) a little (1 mark)

Concept: quantifiers. Milk is an uncountable noun, so it takes "little/a little/much", never "many/a few". "A little" means a small amount (positive sense), which matches "so Mother will buy more". Plain "little" would mean almost none, which clashes with the sentence's meaning. "Much" is normally used in negatives and questions, not after "only".

5. Answer: (2) to (1 mark)

Concept: prepositions of direction.

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# TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper - English Primary 4 - Grammar Answer Key (Version 1)

**Total Marks: 30 | Section A: 10 | Section B: 5 | Section C: 15**

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## Section A: Grammar Multiple-Choice Questions (10 marks)

**1. Answer: (2) wants** *(1 mark)*

Concept: subject–verb agreement. The true subject is "**One** of the boys". The head noun is "one", which is singular; "of the boys" only tells us which one. A singular subject needs a singular verb, so "wants" is correct.
Common mistake: choosing "want" because the nearby word "boys" is plural. Always find the head noun first.

**2. Answer: (3) herself** *(1 mark)*

Concept: reflexive pronouns point back to the subject of the sentence. The subject is "Aunt May" — one female person — so the matching reflexive pronoun is "herself".
Why others fail: "himself" is for a male subject, "itself" for things or animals, "themselves" for plural subjects.

**3. Answer: (3) were completing** *(1 mark)*

Concept: the past continuous (was/were + verb-ing) describes a longer action already happening when a shorter action interrupts it. "While" signals the ongoing action, and "rang" is the interrupting action in the simple past. "Pupils" is plural, so we use "were".
Common mistake: using simple past "completed", which makes the two actions sound separate instead of overlapping.

**4. Answer: (4) a little** *(1 mark)*

Concept: quantifiers. Milk is an uncountable noun, so it takes "little/a little/much", never "many/a few". "A little" means a small amount (positive sense), which matches "so Mother will buy more". Plain "little" would mean almost none, which clashes with the sentence's meaning. "Much" is normally used in negatives and questions, not after "only".

**5. Answer: (2) to** *(1 mark)*

Concept: prepositions of direction. We return something **to** the place or person it belongs to ("returned the rackets **to** the office").
Why others fail: "at" shows location, "in" shows position inside, and "from" shows origin — none express giving back.

**6. Answer: (3) has lived** *(1 mark)*

Concept: present perfect (has/have + past participle) is used with "since" or "for" to show an action that started in the past and continues now. "Since 2019" plus "video-calls us every week" (present habit) confirms he still lives there.
Common mistake: choosing "lived", which suggests he no longer lives in Perth.

**7. Answer: (2) which** *(1 mark)*

Concept: relative pronouns. "Which" refers to things or animals; "who/whom" refer to people; "whose" shows possession. The hawker stall is a thing, so "which" is correct.

**8. Answer: (3) few** *(1 mark)*

Concept: quantifiers with countable nouns. Plants are countable, so "little/a little" are wrong. "Few" means almost none (negative sense), which fits "Although Mr Lim watered his plants daily" — despite his effort, hardly any survived. "A few" would mean some did survive, contradicting the contrast signalled by "Although".

**9. Answer: (1) rains** *(1 mark)*

Concept: first conditional. In "If + present simple, ... will + verb", the if-clause uses the present tense even though we mean the future. "If it **rains** tomorrow..., the sports day **will be postponed**."
Common mistake: using "will rain" in the if-clause — never put "will" after "if".

**10. Answer: (2) is raised** *(1 mark)*

Concept: passive voice. The flag does not raise itself; someone raises it, so the sentence needs the passive (is/am/are + past participle). The flag is singular, so "is raised".
Why others fail: "raises", "is raising" and "has raised" are all active forms.

**Section A Total: 10 marks**

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## Section B: Grammar Cloze (5 marks)

**(11) are** *(1 mark)*

Concept: subject–verb agreement. "Exhibition halls" is plural, so the plural verb "are" is needed. Note the blank comes before the options here — pupils must pick the form that agrees with the plural subject.

**(12) received** *(1 mark)*

Concept: past tense. The passage begins "Last Saturday", so the whole narrative is in the simple past. "Each pupil received a worksheet."

**(13) were watching** *(1 mark)*

Concept: past continuous for an ongoing action interrupted by a short one. "While the pupils were watching..., the lights suddenly went out." "Pupils" is plural, so "were".

**(14) herself** *(1 mark)*

Concept: reflexive pronoun. Amirah (a girl) calmed herself — the pronoun points back to the singular female subject.

**(15) who** *(1 mark)*

Concept: relative pronoun for people. Mrs Goh is a person, so "who" introduces the clause about her. "Which" is only for things.

**Section B Total: 5 marks**

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## Section C: Grammar Application (15 marks)

**16. Joining sentences with who/which** *(2 marks)*

(a) **The librarian, who works at the front desk, helped Mei Ling find the book.**
The person (librarian) takes "who"; the extra information goes between commas because it is additional detail about her.

(b) **Jia Ming adopted a puppy which had been abandoned near the canal.**
The thing (puppy) takes "which" ("that" is also acceptable). No comma is needed because the clause tells us exactly which puppy.

*(1 mark each; both parts must keep the original meaning.)*

**17. Passive voice rewriting** *(2 marks)*

(a) **The orchids are watered by the gardener every morning.**
Object (orchids) becomes the subject; plural subject needs "are watered"; the doer follows "by".

(b) **The choir was praised by the principal after the concert.**
Object (choir) becomes the subject; singular subject needs "was praised"; "after the concert" stays at the end.

*(1 mark each.)*

**18. Conditional verb forms** *(3 marks)*

(a) **becomes** — zero conditional (general truth): "If you heat ice, it becomes water." Present simple in both clauses.

(b) **will catch** — first conditional (real future possibility): "If we leave now, we will catch the early train."

(c) **had** — second conditional (imaginary situation): "If I had more free time, I would practise..." The if-clause uses the past tense even though we mean now.

*(1 mark each.)*

**19. Error correction** *(4 marks)*

(1) **loves → love** — "My brother and I" is a plural subject, so the verb must be "love".

(2) **was → were** — "we" is plural, so the past-tense verb of "be" is "were".

(3) **moves → move** — "animals which move": the relative clause verb must agree with the plural noun "animals".

(4) **have decided → decided** — "By the end of the trip" refers to a finished past time, so the simple past "decided" is correct ("have decided" wrongly links to the present).

*(1 mark each.)*

**20. Sentence combining** *(4 marks)*

(a) **Although the boy was exhausted, he kept on practising for the concert.**
"Although" introduces the contrasting idea (being tired); a comma separates the clauses. Alternative order also earns the mark: "The boy kept on practising for the concert although he was exhausted."

(b) **Mei Xiu saved her pocket money so that she could buy her grandmother a birthday gift.**
"So that" expresses purpose; the purpose clause uses "could + verb" to show intention. "Wanted to buy" becomes "could buy".

*(2 marks each: 1 for correct use of the joining word, 1 for accurate meaning and grammar.)*

**Section C Total: 15 marks**

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**End of Answer Key**

*Marking note: Accept answers that are grammatically correct and preserve the original meaning, even if worded slightly differently from the samples above.*