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Primary 4 Chinese exam paper analysis: 2016

PaperLah has 12 Primary 4 Chinese exam papers from 2016, set by 12 Singapore primary schools, with 328 questions worth 543 marks. The topics carrying the most marks were 词语 Vocabulary (39%), 阅读理解 Comprehension (28%) and 词语搭配 Collocations (18%); together the top 2 topics account for half of all marks. 词语 Vocabulary appears in 100% of the papers. Multiple-choice questions make up 37% of marks, and 4.6% of questions are worth 3 marks or more, which usually means showing working. A typical paper has about 27 questions and 45 marks.

Based on 12 papers from 12 schools · Updated 2026-10-13

These figures describe the school papers in PaperLah's collection, not official MOE or SEAB weightings. They help with planning revision; they can't predict a particular exam.

Compared with all years: 词语 Vocabulary took 39% of marks in 2016 (all years: 42%); 阅读理解 Comprehension took 28% of marks in 2016 (all years: 29%); 词语搭配 Collocations took 18% of marks in 2016 (all years: 13%).

12papers from 12 schools
27questions in a typical paper
45marks in a typical paper
2topics carry half of all marks

Where the marks are

Topics ranked by their share of all marks. The blue ones above the line together make up half.

词语 Vocabularyin 12 of 12 papers38.9%
阅读理解 Comprehensionin 12 of 12 papers27.7%
Above this line: 2 topics carry half of all marks
词语搭配 Collocationsin 11 of 12 papers18.1%
句子 Sentencesin 7 of 12 papers5.2%
作文 Compositionin 9 of 12 papers4.6%
汉字 Charactersin 3 of 12 papers2.2%
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyinin 4 of 12 papers1.8%
关联词与语法 Grammarin 1 of 12 papers1.5%
听力理解 Listeningin 1 of 12 papers0%
Show as table
Topic% of marksPapers
词语 Vocabulary38.9in 12 of 12 papers
阅读理解 Comprehension27.7in 12 of 12 papers
词语搭配 Collocations18.1in 11 of 12 papers
句子 Sentences5.2in 7 of 12 papers
作文 Composition4.6in 9 of 12 papers
汉字 Characters2.2in 3 of 12 papers
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin1.8in 4 of 12 papers
关联词与语法 Grammar1.5in 1 of 12 papers
听力理解 Listening0in 1 of 12 papers

What a paper is made of

How children answer, as a share of marks.

  • Multiple choice 37%
  • Word bank 27%
  • Open-ended (show working) 17%
  • Short answer 10%
  • Other 9%
Show as table
Format% of marks
Multiple choice36.6
Word bank27.1
Open-ended (show working)17.1
Short answer10.1
Composition6.5
Fill in the blank1.5
Cloze passage0.7
Rewrite / synthesis0.4
Listening0

Marks per question

Share of questions worth 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5+ marks. 8% have no marks printed. Higher-mark questions usually need working.

1: 26% of questions26%12: 61% of questions61%23: 2% of questions2%34: 2% of questions2%45+: 0% of questions0%5+
Show as table
Marks% of questions
125.9
261.3
31.8
42.4
5+0.3

How likely a topic comes up

The share of papers with at least one question on the topic.

词语 Vocabulary100%
阅读理解 Comprehension100%
词语搭配 Collocations91.7%
作文 Composition75%
句子 Sentences58.3%
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin33.3%
汉字 Characters25%
听力理解 Listening8.3%
关联词与语法 Grammar8.3%
Show as table
Topic% of papers
词语 Vocabulary100
阅读理解 Comprehension100
词语搭配 Collocations91.7
作文 Composition75
句子 Sentences58.3
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin33.3
汉字 Characters25
听力理解 Listening8.3
关联词与语法 Grammar8.3

Exam types

Which school exams these papers come from.

End-of-Year / SA212 papers100%

Key facts

  • 12 papers, 328 questions, 543 marks, from 12 schools.
  • 2 topics carry half of all marks.
  • Most-tested topic: 词语 Vocabulary, 39% of marks.
  • Most common topic across papers: 词语 Vocabulary, in 100% of papers.
  • 4.6% of questions are worth 3 marks or more.
  • Exam types: End-of-Year / SA2.

Questions parents ask

What topics come up most in Primary 4 Chinese exam papers in 2016?

By share of marks, the most-tested topics were 词语 Vocabulary (39%), 阅读理解 Comprehension (28%), 词语搭配 Collocations (18%), 句子 Sentences (5.2%) and 作文 Composition (4.6%).

How many questions and marks are in a Primary 4 Chinese paper?

A typical paper in this set has about 27 questions and 45 marks. Papers vary by school and by exam (weighted assessments are shorter than mid-year and end-of-year exams).

Which exams and schools are included?

12 papers from 12 schools, from these exam types: End-of-Year / SA2. The schools are listed further down this page.

Can I download these papers?

No. PaperLah doesn't share the papers as downloads. Children practise them online one question at a time, with instant marking, and parents see which topics need work.

Schools included

ACS (Junior) · ACS (Primary) · Ai Tong · Anglo-Chinese School · CHIJ · CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' · Catholic High · Henry Park · Maha Bodhi · Maris Stella High · Methodist Girls' · Nan Chiau · Nan Hua · Nanyang · Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' · Pei Chun · Pei Hwa · Raffles Girls' · Red Swastika · Rosyth · Rulang · Singapore Chinese Girls' · St Hilda's · St Joseph's · Tao Nan · Temasek

Schools with Primary 4 Chinese papers in the collection (all years). Papers are past school assessments; PaperLah is not affiliated with MOE, SEAB or the schools.

How this analysis is made

Every question in each paper is tagged with its topic, format and marks as printed. The figures above are counts over those questions: a topic's share of marks, the share of papers that include it, and so on. Topic names come from the papers and their answer keys, so similar topics can appear under slightly different names. Only aggregate figures are shown here; the questions themselves are practised inside PaperLah.

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