Yishun English Tuition Damai Primary School is rebuilt as a focused Primary English guide to another, other, others, the other and the others. Families searching for Primary English tuition in Yishun, Damai Primary School English tuition, PSLE English, grammar, comprehension, vocabulary, composition writing and small-group English tuition often see pupils choose one of these forms by sound rather than by number and reference.
Another folder means one more or a different singular countable folder. Other folders refers to additional plural folders. The other folder normally identifies the remaining one in a known two-item set. The others refers to the remaining members of a known group without repeating the noun. These distinctions help readers keep track of sets and help writers avoid repetition without becoming vague.
This page therefore owns one distinct learning job: how English refers to additional, different and remaining members of a set.
This article retains a historical school-name title for archive continuity. It does not claim affiliation with, endorsement by, or a current programme operated by Damai Primary School.
The 50-Second Another/Other Router
Ask:
- Is the noun singular or plural?
- Is the set already known to the reader?
- Do I mean one more item, different items or the remaining item(s)?
- Am I keeping the noun, or replacing it?
Another + Singular Countable Noun
I need another folder.
This means one more folder or a different folder, depending on context.
Another Can Stand Alone
This label is damaged. Please print another.
The omitted noun label is recoverable from context.
Other + Plural Noun
Other pupils waited outside.
The noun remains present and is plural.
Other + Uncountable Noun
We need other information.
Information is uncountable here, so another information is not the ordinary standard construction.
Others Replaces the Plural Noun
Some pupils waited outside; others entered.
Others stands for other pupils.
Do Not Add a Noun After Others
Wrong: others pupils.
Use other pupils or simply others.
The Other + Singular Noun
Imagine two folders: one blue and one green.
I took the blue folder. Maya took the other folder.
The other folder is the remaining known member of the pair.
The Other Can Stand Alone
One folder is mine; the other is Maya’s.
The noun is understood from context.
The Others Means the Remaining Known Members
Imagine five pupils. Two leave first.
Two pupils left early; the others stayed.
The others refers to the remaining known pupils.
Others and The Others Are Not Identical
Some pupils waited; others went home.
Others introduces additional members without necessarily meaning every remaining member.
Two pupils waited; the others went home.
The others refers to the rest of the known group.
Another Can Mean One More
We need another ten minutes.
The expression adds one further period of ten minutes.
Another Can Mean a Different One
This pen does not work. Please give me another.
The speaker wants a different pen.
Other Can Contrast Categories
This room is for helpers; other participants should wait outside.
The word distinguishes one group from additional groups.
Each Other Is a Different Construction
Maya and Ben helped each other.
Do not confuse reciprocal each other with the determiner/pronoun system taught here.
One Another Is Also Reciprocal
Again, this is about mutual action, not additional members of a set.
Another and More Are Not Always Interchangeable
another folder = one more/different folder.
more folders = additional folders, possibly more than one.
Another and Different Can Overlap but Not Always
another day may simply mean one more day.
a different day emphasises not the same day.
Context determines whether the distinction matters.
Reference Depends on a Known Set
The other pupil assumes the reader can identify a pair or small set where only one pupil remains relevant.
Without that set, another pupil or a more explicit description may be clearer.
Use Set Diagrams for Repair
Draw three circles representing three folders. Cross out one as selected. Ask whether the next reference means:
- one more unspecified folder;
- the one remaining folder in a pair;
- all remaining folders;
- some additional folders.
Another/Other in Comprehension
Passage: Three volunteers arrived. One entered the hall; the others waited outside.
The answer must preserve that the remaining two waited outside.
Another/Other in Practical Notices
If Room A is full, another room will be opened.
The notice does not yet identify which room.
Another/Other in Composition
These forms help avoid clumsy repetition:
One shelf held storybooks; another contained reference books. The other shelves were empty.
Reference remains clear because the set has been established.
Another/Other in Oral Communication
One reason is cost. Another is travel time.
This gives the speaker a natural way to add a second point.
A Fictional Learner: Maya and The Other
Imagine Maya, a fictional Primary 4 pupil. There are three boxes. She writes:
I opened one box and then the other.
The listener may assume there are only two boxes.
The tutor asks how many remain. Maya revises:
I opened one box and then another.
Later, when only two boxes are present, she uses the other correctly.
A Second Fictional Learner: Ryan and Others Pupils
Ryan writes:
Some pupils entered while others pupils waited.
The tutor asks whether others already replaces the noun.
Ryan chooses either other pupils or others.
Reading Laboratory
Original passage: Four folders were placed on the table. One contained attendance forms, another contained visitor notes, and the other two held blank paper. Maya took the attendance folder. Ben chose one of the folders with blank paper, while the other remained on the table. Later, two more folders arrived from another classroom.
Ask:
- What does the first another refer to? A second, different folder.
- What does the other two mean? The remaining two of the original four.
- What does the other mean after Ben’s choice? The remaining blank-paper folder.
- What does another classroom mean? A different classroom.
Diagnostic
- Choose: another / other folder.
- Choose: another / other folders.
- Repair: others pupils.
- Explain the other in a two-item set.
- Explain the others in a five-person group after two are named.
- Explain the difference between others and the others.
Possible Answers
Use another folder and other folders. Replace others pupils with other pupils or others. The other identifies the remaining known member of a pair. The others identifies the remaining members of a known set. Others can refer more generally to additional members.
Writing Clinic
Faulty draft: “There were three chairs. I sat on one and Ben sat on the other. Other was broken, so others pupils stood.”
A clearer version is:
There were three chairs. I sat on one and Ben sat on another. The third chair was broken, so the other pupils stood.
Because the original set contains three chairs, the other after the first chair would incorrectly suggest a two-item set.
Another/Other and Quantifiers
Some…others…
one…another…the third…
one…the other…
These patterns help organise sets clearly.
Another/Other and Cohesion
The forms can reduce repetition, but only if the reader can recover the noun and set.
When several possible sets are present, restore the noun.
Primary 3 and Primary 4
Begin with another + singular, other + plural and the two-item pattern one…the other.
Primary 5
Add others, the others, known-group reference and uncountable nouns.
Primary 6 and PSLE English
Pupils should track these forms inside dense passages and use them confidently in summaries and composition.
A 90-Minute Another/Other Lesson
- 10 min: singular/plural sorting.
- 15 min: another/other.
- 15 min: others.
- 15 min: the other/the others.
- 15 min: set diagrams and reference.
- 15 min: paragraph transfer.
- 5 min: fresh independent check.
What Parents Can Look For
- another is not used directly before plural count nouns;
- others does not take a following noun;
- the other is tied to a known remaining member;
- the others refers clearly to the rest of a known group;
- paragraphs avoid repetition without losing reference;
- the child can draw or explain the set behind the wording.
The Independence Test
Give a fresh paragraph containing two different sets of objects. Ask the pupil to rewrite repetitive noun phrases using another, other, others, the other and the others without making either set ambiguous.
The Larger Goal
These small reference words help English move through sets efficiently. Pupils who control them can add, contrast and refer back to people or objects without forcing the reader to reconstruct the group.
Related eduKate Yishun Reading
Official Reference
Ministry of Education: English Language Syllabus 2020 Primary
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