Thread by @Dgreatlekan

This is a daily thread on some 31 ways to keep our use of English simple, short and meaningful. We will expound 1 way per day for the next 31 days.

Questions can be raised here or via DM.
Pls RT & stay tuned.

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Way 01- Choose the easy path!
Actually, anything worth doing is potentially hard. Simple sentences, however, are less problematic because of their simple structures. Familiarize yourself with and use them often.

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The simple sentence could contain both obligatory (VERB) and optional (SUBJECT, OBJECT or COMPLEMENT) elements. These are very important aspects!

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To keep it short and simple, identify your verb (e.g. like) and build the sentence around it by adding the subject (Ade) and object (the school) or complement (to eat), if necessary.

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We then have:
i. Ade likes the school
ii. Ade likes to sleep

But why 'likes' and not 'like'? We'll get to that soon.

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Tomorrow, we will look at this obligatory element.
Thank you!

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Way 02- Know your VERBS

Verbs are action words. But some verbs do not express any action; they only serve as linkers.

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The former is referred to as main verb [e.g., go, slap, eat], while the latter is referred to as auxiliary verb [AV].

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Auxiliary verbs add specificity to the proposition of the action; I like them!

They have a fixed set of elements.

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A. Primary AV
1. Be-verbs: is, was, am, were, are, be, being, been
2. Have-verbs: has, have, had
3. Do-verbs: does, do, did

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B. Modal AV: can, shall, will, may, ought to must etc.

From the foregoing, it is good to ask: why do I need a verb?

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You need it because it is the NUCLEUS of any sentence.
Check 👉 *Yomi -- two ladies.
*Incorrect because of the lack of verb.

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NB: a single verb (being optional) can be regarded as a full and meaningful sentence.
E.g., come (an imperative sentence)

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This suggests that verbs are instrumental to keeping your use of English simple, short & meaningful

Master them!

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Tomorrow, we will talk about the other two elements.

Questions can be raised here or via DM. Thank you.

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Way 03- Check for other elements' applicability

The subject & object are important but NOT necessary elements of sentences.

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Without them, we can have a meaningful sentence.

Subjects and objects are the participants in any sentence's proposition.

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The subject is the performer while the object is the receiver of an action.
They can be a noun, noun phrase (NP) or pronoun.

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Examples:
1. BANKOLE loves ADESUWA (Noun)
2. SHE admires HIM also (Pronoun)
3. THIS PASTOR admonished THE COUPLE (NP)

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Subjects come before verbs in all sentences except questions where they come after the 'verb'.

BAIL is free.
is BAIL free?

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Objects come after the verb. We have direct & indirect object.

Tunde read THAT BOOK(DO)
Tunde gave TAYO(InDO) that book(DO)

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So, why do you need the subject and/or object?

You need them to add flesh (content and colour) to your expressed thought.

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NB: There are rules that guide the relationship of subjects and objects with verbs. This will be discussed later.
Thank you!

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Way 04- Check for other elements' applicability (cont.d)

The complement is simply anything which cannot be referred to as object but complete the sentence. It could be a word or phrase.

Note that I wrote COMPLEMENT not COMPLIMENT; they can't be interchanged.

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The fact is that the complement completes the sense/meaning expressed by the verb. Such verbs are always the linking verbs (is, are, be, seem, become etc).

A complement can be subject complement or object complement.

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Subject complement (SC) could either be an adjective, a noun or NP that has the same reference as the subject of the sentence.

e.g.
Adeola is BEAUTIFUL (adj. as SC)
Readers are LEADERS (noun as SC)
The man is YOUR FRIEND (NP as SC)

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Object complement (OC) could either be an adjective or a noun phrase that has the SAME reference as the object of the sentence.

e.g.
Olamide's songs make people(obj) HAPPY (adj. as OC)
We elected Buhari(obj) OUR LEADER (NP as OC)

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There is the adverbial complement also, it works like an adverb.
e.g.
Tunde read the book IN THE OFFICE
My phone is WITH THE POLICE

More about this will be discussed later.

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The use of complements is largely not necessary but they are needed since they also add to meaning.

Now that we know all the elements of a sentence, Subject, Verb, Object, Complement, we now turn to some rules of engagement.

Questions are welcome. Thank you!
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Way 05- Variety is the spice!

For some days, we have looked at the elements that constitute the structure of a (simple) sentence. The fact is, any statement you utter/write must have one or more of what we have discussed so far; master them!

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However, it is unreasonable to solely make use of simple sentences in everyday interaction; you don't want to sound robotic.

Hence, there is a need to vary your sentences. This won't be a difficult task if you can get the sentence structure right.

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Once you have a good grasp of these elements, you can then learn to vary your use of the English sentences and form compound, complex or other types of sentence.

Let's look at how compound sentences can be formed today👇

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From your simple sentences, collect like terms, i.e., simple sentences that have similar structures (V, SV, VO, SVO- examples soon).

Equate these like terms with a COORDINATING CONJUNCTION (and, or, but) to form a COMPOUND sentence. Find some examples below:

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1. V (come, eat)
Come and eat
2. SV
Tunde studies but Ayo plays
3. VO (wash the dishes, sweep the floor)
Wash the dishes or sweep the floor
4. SVO (The boy likes grammar, he doesn't like phonetics)
The boy likes grammar but (he) doesn't like phonetics.

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These are the basic ways to form compound sentences from our familiar simple sentences. Tomorrow, we look at another sentence type.

Questions are welcome here or via DM.
Thank you!

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Way 06- Variety is the spice (2)

In #Way05, we looked at how to equate simple sentences to form compound sentences. Today, the complex sentence type is considered.

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Complex sentences are formed from simple sentences also. But to achieve this, do the following:

i. Equate two simple sentences as explained in #Way05 (particularly the SV and SVO/C structures)
e.g.
a. Wale writes good essays
b. Wale gets good scores

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ii. Add words such as: because, when, since, although, as, while etc. (these are called subordinating conjunctions) to one part of the two simple sentences in (i) and leave the other in its original state.

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iii. The result of this integration is a complex sentence.

a. Wale gets good scores because he (wale) writes good essays.
b. Because Wale writes good essays, he (Wale) gets good scores.

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Note:
i. 'He' has been use to replace Wale since it is assumed that Wale is masculine; also to avoid repetition.
ii. A comma was put in (b) and NOT in (a) because sentence (b) started with a subordinating conjunction (because).

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NB: Many things are left unsaid because they are assumed to be given, for instance, the idea of clauses.

We'll look at the last sentence variety tomorrow.

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Way 07- Variety is the spice (3)

The compound complex sentence is another sentence variation you can adopt when writing or conversing. Multiple sentence is another type which, though ambiguous, is captured in all the other types we've discussed.

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Compound complex sentences are a mixture of:
i. a compound sentences (two or more SVO/C joined by a coordinating conjunction).

e.g.
(Wale's parents are proud of him; Wale's teachers always commend him)

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ii. at least one sentence that starts with a subordinating conjunction.
e.g.
(Because Wale performs brilliantly in class)

These two, we have discussed earlier in this thread.

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The outcome is: Because Wale performs brilliantly in class, his teachers always commend him and his parents are proud of him.

If you want to write it as written above, make sure a comma separates the subordinate clause (sentence ii) from main clause (sentence i).

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But why do you need to vary your sentences? It is needed to guide how you organise and express your thoughts.

Enough with sentence structures for now. The next series of lectures will expound some basic rules needed for constructing meaningful sentences.

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Way 08- Obey the salient rules

Like I said sometime ago, rules are meant to be obeyed. Disobedience leads to grammatical fatality.

Note that these rules work to fit all the elements of the sentence together as a meaningful whole. Thus, to KISS; master them!

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Let us start with some agreement rules (concord). For a sentence to be meaningful and correct, its constituents must be in perfect agreement.

These agreement rules fall under:
i. subject-verb agreement
ii. verb-object agreement
iii. pronoun-antecedent agreement

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A. Subject-verb agreement

This is a very important aspect of the agreement of sentence constituents. Know it; get the needed confidence in writing and speaking!

The two primary rules here are👇👇

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Rule 1: A singular subject attracts a singular verb
e.g.
Buhari IS a soldier.
The teacher SCOLDS the students often.
Janet READS a lot.

Note: A singular 'action' verb (scoldS) has 'S' added to it while a singular noun (teacher) is marked with no 'S'.

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Rule 2: A plural subject attracts a plural verb
e.g.
The boys often EAT rice.
Ayo and David ARE friends.
Married people always SEEK couples' fulfillment.

Note: A plural verb (eat) doesn't have 'S' added to it while a plural noun (boyS) is marked with 'S'.

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Way 09- Obey the salient rules (2)

Rule 3: When two subjects are conjoined by 'and', the verb is always in PLURAL form. Eg👇

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i. Cat AND dog are sworn enemies.
ii. The senator AND his wife LOVE themselves.
iii. Tayo AND Wale GET along easily.

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Rule 4: A subject in plural form that has singular meaning will take a singular verb.
e.g.
The army BARRACKS IS at Akobo

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The HEADQUARTERS IS located in Jebba.

NB: The capitalised subjects are called pluralia tantrums (e.g. Economics, measles).

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However, some pluralia tantrums (goods, relics, remains, minutes) TAKE PLURAL verbs
e.g. Her remains WERE cremated yesterday

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The GOODS BELONG to his wife
The MINUTES of this meeting ARE controversial
The country's RESOURCES CATER for a select few

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Rule 5: When two subjects are joined by a false conjunction (e.g. as well as), the verb is determined by the FIRST SUBJECT.

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e.g. PRESIDENT BUHARI together with his wife IS in London
THE BOYS in company of their father VISIT the clinic regularly

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These rules need no memorizing; get them and fix examples. We'll expound more subject-related rules as the lecture proceeds.

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Way 10- Obey the salient rules (3)

Rule 6: Indefinite pronouns such as everybody, somebody, everyone, nobody, anyone take SINGULAR verbs.
e.g.
Everybody PRAYS to God
Nobody PLAYS with fire
Somebody IS outside

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Rule 7: When two subjects are conjoined by 'either...or', 'neither...nor' or 'not only...but also' (these are correlating conjunctions), the VERB will be determined by the SUBJECT NEAREST TO THE VERB.

e.g.
Either John or HIS BROTHERS SLEEP on the couch at night

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e.g. (cont.d)
Neither his brothers nor JOHN SLEEPS on the couch at night
Not only John but also HIS BROTHERS SLEEP on the couch at night

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Rule 8: A PLURAL PRONOUN (they) serving as the subject of the sentence will take a PLURAL VERB, while A SINGULAR SUBJECT PRONOUN (he, she, it) will take A SINGULAR VERB.
e.g.
THEY SING Apala music
HE ABUSES people too much
SHE OWNS a limo
IT seldom BARKS

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NB:
1. Pronoun YOU (though refers to a singular entity) takes a PLURAL VERB
YOU SPEAK so fluently
2. Pronoun 'I' also appears to work differently; more on it next week.

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Way 11- Know more rules (1)

We have, for some days, explained some basic subject-verb agreement rules. Hereafter, we will discuss the second kind of agreement; the verb-object agreement.

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2. verb-object/complement agreement

This type deals with how the object (NOT the subject) determines the nature of the verb in a sentence. It is premised on the basic rules of singular object agrees with singular verb and plural object agrees with plural verb.

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To have a verb-object agreement relation however, one of these: THERE, IT, HERE must be occupying the SUBJECT position. These 3 words are called expletives; they have no specific function but to fill up the space of a subject (they DON'T PERFORM any action).

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Examples
1. Singular object & singular verb
Here GOES THE STORY
There IS A MAN
It IS MY BOOK

NB: ‘It’ can only agree with a singular verb

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2. Plural object & plural verb
There ARE MANY ARTISTES in Nigeria
There ARE 36 STATES in this country
Here COME THE AFRICAN LEADERS
Here LIE HIS REMAINS

NB: Always bear in mind the difference between singular verb/singular noun and plural verb/plural noun.

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Way 12- Know more rules (2)

Today, we’ll look at the third type of agreement, the pronoun-antecedent agreement. The pronoun-antecedent agreement rules are needed to be known, particularly because of the ubiquitous usage of pronouns in our everyday interaction.

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The pronoun is used in place of a noun. Therefore, it must accurately depict the noun it is replacing (its antecedent) in number (plural/singular), case (subject/object) and gender (he/she/it). Some rules to bear in mind for this agreement relation include👇:

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1. A singular pronoun is used when the antecedent subject is singular.
e.g.
THE PRESIDENT said that HE was ill
Although THE CAR costs so much, IT works so poorly
When FOLAKEMI celebrated her birthday, SHE was given a house.

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2. A plural pronoun is used when the antecedent subject is plural.
e.g.
BISOLA and KAYODE agreed that THEY would get married next year
THOSE FOUR BOYS can sing and I love THEM
MY BROTHER and I were at the party but WE didn’t see the groom

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3. A singular pronoun must agree IN GENDER with its antecedent subject. That is, if the subject is masculine, the pronoun must be HE/HIM; if the subject is feminine, the pronoun must be SHE/HER and if the subject is neuter, the pronoun must be IT.

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e.g.
MOTUNRAYO was asked if SHE could operate the machine
BABATUNDE danced so well that HE got several accolades
THAT HOUSE is old but IT has good furniture.

Tomorrow, we'll discuss some more important rules.
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Way 13- Know more rules (3)
In today’s lecture, we’ll give other commonly accessed agreement rules in our daily language use. As these rules are stated, examples to back them up will also follow; take note!

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1. When definite article (THE) is used in a series of titles which refers to ONE INDIVIDUAL, the verb that follows will be SINGULAR.

e.g.
THE PRINCIPAL AND MATHEMATICS TEACHER COMES to our house always
THE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF PETROLEUM IS General Buhari

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2. When “one of” is used in the sentence, it attracts a singular verb.
('One of' refers to a single entity out of a multitude).

e.g.
ONE OF the three girls WALKS smartly
I noticed that ONE OF the dogs IS ill

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3. When ‘a number of’ is used in a sentence, it attracts a plural verb

e.g.
A NUMBER OF secondary school students PROCEED to higher institutions.
A good NUMBER OF African leaders ARE corrupt.

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4. When ‘the number of’ is used in a sentence, it attracts a singular verb

e.g.
THE NUMBER OF oranges in the basket IS ten.
THE NUMBER OF job seekers in Nigeria HAS increased.

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5. A length of time is regarded as singular, so it takes a singular verb.

e.g.
SIX MINUTES IS enough to read the article.
The first SIX YEARS of their marriage WAS spent in poverty

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6. Money, distance and weight are each regarded as a unit and they always collocate with singular verb.

e.g.
TEN LITRES of petrol COSTS more than a bag of rice nowadays.
SIXTY KILOMETRES IS the distance I cover daily.
FIVE DOLLARS IS enough for the weekend.

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7. Adverbs of time and place such as nowhere, everywhere, anytime, somewhere, everyday take singular verbs.

e.g.
NOWHERE IS safe in the world.
ANY DAY is Okay.
EVERYWHERE APPEARS dirty.

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That’s that for the commonly accessed agreement rules! The next series of lessons will dwell on a concept that will help us to keep our writing simple, short and meaningful.
Thank you.

Questions can be raised here or via DM.

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Way 14- Organise your thoughts (1)

Read this: “it was exciting last weekend the boy ayo said was happy my brother got married on a saturday i was available to attend.”

No doubt this👆seems almost nonsensical. It is so because of the lack of punctuation marks.

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Punctuation marks are very instrumental to helping a writer to organize his/her thoughts when representing them on paper. Punctuation marks are marks used to separate or link words/phrases/clauses in order to clarify their meanings in a sentence.

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They include: full stop(.), comma(,), question mark(?), exclamation mark(!), dash(—), hyphen(-), colon(:), semi colon(;), parenthesis(), apostrophe(‘’), capital letter etc.

The next series of lessons will focus on these & more, especially the commonly used ones.

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Way 15- Organise your thoughts (2)
1. Capital letters
They are used in the following ways:
a. To start the first letter of the first word of a sentence and the sentence after a full stop or question mark
e.g.
The man is my father. He is rich.
Do you know him? Yes

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b. To start a proper noun (names of places/countries, persons)
e.g.
Ayo went to Ibadan yesterday.

c. To start the days of the week, and months
e.g.
Tunde beat his friend on the first Saturday of April.

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d. For the pronoun ‘I’ anywhere it is used in the sentence
e.g.
I like my teachers but I don’t want to be one.

e. For abbreviations
e.g.
USA, UN, OAU, Mr., PhD

f. For important (inter)national/religious days
e.g.
Christmas Day, Democracy day, New Yam Festival

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g. For the first letter of each content word in titles of books or newspapers
e.g.
The English Grammar
Ade Goes to School
Nigerian Tribune
The Punch

NB: Conjunctions, prepositions, articles (a/an/the) are not capitalized in a title except they start the title.

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h. For the first letter of any word that refers to God.
e.g.
God, Holy Spirit, Almighty, Lord etc

NB: church, pastor, prophet are not capitalized unless they are used in a specific way (e.g. in a name)

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Way 16- Organise your thoughts (3)

2. Full stop or Period (.)
a. Use a full stop after any sentence except a question.

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e.g.
Tayo loves football.
Would you please type this letter for me. (Polite request)
See me in the office. (Command)

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b. Use full stop to separate letters in abbreviations.
e.g.
U.K. (UK)
6 a.m. (6am)
Dr.
Intl.

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NB: Modern convention is gradually discarding full stop in abbreviations. Consistency of usage, however, is the key.

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c. Use a full stop as a decimal point in numbers, amount of money, percentages.
e.g.
22.5
34.7%
#76.45K

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Way 17- Organise your thoughts (4)

3. The comma (,)
a. Use comma to separate subordinate clause from main clause in a complex sentence.
e.g.
When Ade got home, he ate the food

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b. Use comma to separate items when listing
e.g.
He has been to Ghana, Georgia, Poland and Germany.
I went to the market to buy beans, yam, rice and tomatoes.

NB: There is no comma before ‘and’ in the examples above. You can however put it in certain contexts.

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c. Use comma to separate two or more adjectives modifying a noun
e.g.
He is a tall, dark, handsome, lanky boy.

d. Use a comma after words such as: yet, accordingly, in fact, however, hence, therefore etc when they introduce a sentence
e.g.
Yet, I am still single.

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e. Use a comma to set off the name or title of a person being addressed
e.g.
Thank you, John.
Funke, come here.

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Way 18- Organise your thoughts (5)

4. The Apostrophe (’)
a. Use an apostrophe +s with a singular noun to show possession.
e.g.
John’s shoe
The preacher’s kid
The farmer’s goods

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b. Use an apostrophe to show contraction (that a letter is omitted)
e.g.
Can’t (cannot)
It’s (It is)
Shan’t (Shall not)
I’m (I am)
Won't (Will not)

NB: IT’S differs from ITS; I’M is not AM!

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c. Use an apostrophe +s (’s) to show the plurals of figures, letters, words and symbols.
e.g.
Tunde has 7A’s
Dot your I’s and cross your T’s
She got two 59’s

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d. Use an apostrophe after plural words that end in s
e.g.
His parents’ car
2 weeks’ time
My uncles’ books

NB1: Singular nouns ending in ‘s’ sound (like a name: Chris) take only the apostrophe without an accompanying s.
e.g.
Chris’ book
Jesus’ name
Louis’ hands

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NB2: When the noun is plural but DOESN’T already end in an s, add apostrophe and s (’s)
e.g.
Men’s boutique
Children’s wears
People’s choice

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Way 19- Organise your thoughts (6)

5. Question mark (?)
a. Use a question mark to close a sentence that asks a question.
e.g.
Who owns the car?
Are you a teacher?
What are you thankful for?
Where is Evans, the kidnapper?

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b. Use a question mark in brackets after a word or phrase that seems questionable in a sentence.
e.g.
He was overjoyed (?) by your presence.

NB: A question mark (unless followed by a closing bracket) should always be followed by a capital letter.

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6. Colon (:)
a. Use a colon to introduce a list of things.
e.g.
Tayo bought these items: phone, calculator, oranges and books in Bodija market

b. Use a colon to show an explanation of what has been earlier said in the other half of the statement.

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e.g.
Nigerians are certain of one fact: many in the urban areas cannot afford a considerable standard of living.

c. Use a colon to introduce a quotation.
e.g.
At last President Buhari said: “I won’t be seeking a second term in office.”

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7. Semi Colon (;)
A semi colon is mid-way between a full stop and a comma in strength. Its ONLY USE is to join two closely related & equally complete sentences.
e.g.
The show was hilarious; everyone laughed
Nigerians are very rugged; they can weather any storm.

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We'll turn our focus to another very interesting but tricky usages of some aspects of the English language in the next series of lessons.
Thank you.

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Way 20- Mark the use of these perfectives (1)

The perfective form/aspect of an action (verb) is shown with three words: HAS, HAVE and HAD. Though closely related, these 3 words have different natures of functioning.

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HAS is singular and denotes present tense
HAVE is plural and denotes present tense
HAD is both singular and plural but denotes past tense

NB: We’re examining these perfectives as AUXILIARY forms and NOT AS MAIN VERBS. Check e.g. 1 & 2 below for the distinction:

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Ex.1 Bode HAS a car (Has is used as a main verb)
Ex.2 Bode HAS bought a car (Has is used as an auxiliary verb)

Tomorrow, we will examine how these words function in the sentence.

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Way 21- Mark the use of these perfectives (2)

When any of had, have, has is used as an auxiliary verb, the main verb that follows must be in PAST PARTICIPLE
e.g.
PAST PARTICIPLE: EATEN, GIVE, SIT, PRAYED
PAST: ate, gave, sat, prayed
PRESENT: eat, give, sit, pray

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So, you should say:
I have EATEN
Not *I have ate/eat

The fuel has FINISHED
Not *The fuel has finish

Toyin has COME
Not *Toyin has came

The pastor has PROPHESIED
Not *The pastor has prophesy

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Note: These perfectives (has, have & had) show that an action being described has been completed.

HAD is used when AT LEAST TWO ACTIONS OCCURRED IN THE PAST, with one occurring before the other.
e.g.👇👇

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I bought fuel| The scarcity started on Monday
=I HAD bought fuel before the scarcity started on Monday.

The police arrived late| The thieves eloped
=Before the police arrived, the thieves HAD eloped.

I ate| You called
=I had eaten when you called.

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Way 22- Mark the use of these perfectives (3)

Has/had/have can be combined with other verb tenses in sentences.

Combination 1: with progressive tense (…ing)
e.g.
I HAVE BEEN dancing merrily.
The man’s reputation HAS BEEN declining steadily.

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NB: To show a continuous but perfective action, we have added ‘been’. This is different from ‘being’ which shows only a continuous action.

Combination 2: with future tense
2a. Future present/past perfect progressive
e.g.
Bayo shall have been praying for 7 hours.

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2b. Future present/past perfect
e.g.
I shall have seen the man
She would have completed the work

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Way 23- Mark the use of the do-verbs (1)

The ‘to-do’ verbs are DOES, DO, and DID. These are a very interesting set of verbs. They can function as main verbs or as a helping verbs. This is why they are referred to as the primary auxiliary verbs.

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e.g.
As main verb...
i. Fola DOES great things.
ii. The boys DO the work regularly.
iii. Buhari DID that address last night.

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As auxiliary verb...
i. Fola DOES perform great things.
ii. The boys DO complete the task regularly.
iii.Buhari DID address the nation last night.

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NB: Just like the perfectives, these ‘to-do’ verbs have peculiar number differences.

i. DOES is SINGULAR and a PRESENT FORM
ii. DO is PLURAL and a PRESENT FORM
iii. DID is both SINGULAR & PLURAL but a PAST FORM

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Way 24- Mark the use of the ‘do-verbs’ (2)

When DO or DOES is used as main verb, it must agree in number with the subject. Thus, based on concord rules, singular subject will take singular ‘do’ verb (DOES) while plural subject will take plural ‘do’ verb (DO)

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e.g.

His friend (singular) DOES (singular) his assignment for him
Their parents (plural) DO (plural) the art work everyday

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However, when DID is used as main verb, the singularity or plurality will depend on the nature of the subject.

e.g.
His friend (singular) DID (singular) his assignment for him.
Their parents (plural) DID (plural) the art work yesterday.

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Also, when any of the ‘do’ verbs is used as an auxiliary verb, the main verb that follows it in the sentence MUST ALWAYS BE IN THE PRESENT FORM (TENSE)

e.g.
i. Tunde DOES EAT rice every morning (Tunde EATS rice every morning)

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ii. His friends DO COME here on Sundays.
iii. The presidency DID AIR Buhari’s documentary (The presidency AIRED Buhari’s documentary).

NB: These auxiliaries function to extract the tense from the main verb as seen in ‘DOES’ eat (EATS) and ‘DID’ air (AIRED))

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Way 25- Greet grammatically

It is the festive season. Let us briefly outline the errors we often commit in our greetings.👇👇

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#MerryChristmas

1. Season’s greetings
NOT season greeting(s)
NOT seasons greeting(s)

NB: The apostrophe and 'S' come after the last letter in ‘season’. The 'greeting' is also with an ‘s’.

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#MerryChristmas

2. Compliments of the/this season
NOT compliment of the/this season
NOT complement of the/this season

NB: Compliments, compliment and complement have different meanings. For greetings, COMPLIMENTS is used.

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#MerryChristmas

3. Merry/Happy Christmas
NOT merry xmas

NB: The shortening is unreasonable and unneeded.

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#MerryChristmas

4. I WISH you a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.
NOT
I WISHING you a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Sounds funny, but it is ubiquitous and needs to be corrected.

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#MerryChristmas

Way 26- Avoid grammatical violence (1)

The pronoun I is a problematic personal pronoun which confines language users into a solvable dilemma; hence, it suffers a lot of grammatical violence. This will be our subject in today's lesson.

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#ComplimentsOfTheSeason

The pronoun I is a subject pronoun. That is, it occurs at the subject position in a sentence. I (subject) LIKE (verb) FOOD (object). ‘I’ is a first person PLURAL pronoun.

This, however, is the genesis of the problem.

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The semantic referent (entity being referred in real life) is one person (singular) but the semantic denotation connotes plurality.

Hence, one necessarily sees this as a huge confusion (i.e., between meaning and grammar).

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#ComplimentsOfTheSeason

To demystify this, I'll say the grammatical features of ‘I’ make it both singular and plural. But this depends on the form of use though.

1. In the present form ‘I’ agrees with a plural (aux) verb (AM)
e.g.
I AM praying.

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2. In the past form, ‘I’ agrees with a singular (aux) verb (WAS)
e.g.
I was praying.

3. In the perfective form, ‘I’ agrees with a plural (aux) verb (HAVE/HAD)
e.g.
I have/had prayed.

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#ComplimentsOfTheSeason

Way 27- Avoid grammatical violence (2)

Well, this is to show that the pronoun ‘I’ can and should not be divorced from the auxiliary verb(s) it appropriately agrees with.

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#ComplimentsOfTheSeason

What you need to know is that when I agrees with an aux verb (functioning as a helping verb is, am, will, etc), the two (SV) must co-occur.

e.g.
I am praying
NOT *am praying.

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#ComplimentsOfTheSeason

... This is because helping aux verbs cannot start a sentence unless such is a polar question.

It is only in polar questions that the aux verb is allowed to start the statement by coming before the subject.
e.g.
Am I your teacher?

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NOTE: ‘I’ agrees with only a plural main verb always.
e.g.
I pray always.
I eat three times a day.

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#ComplimentsOfTheSeason

Way 28- Speak boldly; but don’t imitate

The whole essence of the mastery of a language’s grammar is to preen one's written and spoken competences. So in this lesson, we’ll concern ourselves with ways in which we can communicate fluently and boldly.

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One very important stuff is: to speak fluently, you need some knowledge (accidental/non-accidental) of the sounds in the language.

But, the unfortunate thing is that there is no one to one correlation between the letters and the sounds in the English language.

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There are 26 letters in English (21 consonants and 5 vowels) whereas there are 44 sounds (24 consonants and 20 vowels).

This, thus, poses a big challenge to speaking fluently. However, to attain fluency in English, you need to intentionally master this sounds.

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Errmm, No we are not discussing these sounds; don’t run!
We only needed to highlight how big the issue with fluency might seem.

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Have you ever wondered why some slay queens and other peeps speak relatively well,but write so badly?

This might be attributable to their accidental knowledge of intonation and stress pattern.

PS: If you listen carefully though, you will highlight many errors.

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Aside this needed knowledge, tomorrow, I will give other possible ways to help speak boldly and fluently without copying/imitating unreasonably but keeping it short and simple.

See you later. Thank you.

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Way 29- Speak boldly; but don’t imitate (2)

For every language, there are 4 skills that must be mastered: listening, speaking, reading, writing. All these, perhaps except writing, work to enhance fluency.

What to do with these language skills are given below👇

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Listening
a. Listening actively; make it a habit
b. The things you listen to influence what you say and how you say it
c. One good model that enhances speech fluency is news, particularly the English news (BBC, CNN, VOA etc); take time to listen to the newscasters

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Reading

a. Read anything and everything
b. Through this, you get exposed to (un)familiar words and their meanings.
c. This expands your vocabulary and invariably elevates your speech confidence
d. A pronouncing dictionary is a good model.

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Speaking

a. Express yourself as much as you can, freely but cautiously.
b. Be open to criticism and feedback. Ask if you ‘threw missiles’ while speaking, you learn from such.
c. DO NOT IMITATE/COPY someone else’s speaking style

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d. If speaking slowly suits you, go with it. If it is speaking fast, go with it
e. Generally, speaking slowly is good; you consciously process the thoughts in the brain first
f. Know what suits you and develop in that line

A model? You are your own speaking model

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Way 30- Recapitulation (1)
The next to lessons will be a recapitulation of what we’ve been discussing since the first day. It will however be in the form of dos and don’ts.

We start with the don’ts…

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1. There is no good excuse for spelling errors; use a dictionary when in doubt.
2. Vary your sentence structures; not too lengthy, not too short.
3. Minimise the use of slangs and clichés.
4. Don’t miss out any punctuation mark.

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5. Don’t neglect an opportunity to learn
6. Don’t use double negatives in a sentence
7. Don’t omit a verb in a sentence; it is an obligatory element
8. Don’t use words you aren’t sure of their meanings; play safe!

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Way 31- Recapitulation (2)

a. If the subject is singular, use a singular verb; if the subject is plural, use a plural verb.
b. Your writing should remain in one tense, switching only when necessary to the meaning.

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c. Put ‘s’ after a verb to show that it is singular BUT put ‘s’ after a noun to show that it is plural.
d. A verb form without ‘s’ is plural WHILE a noun without ‘s’ is singular.
e. Remember to capitalize proper names, pronoun “I”, names of cities, states...

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f. Try not to use contractions at all in formal writing
NB: ‘Its’ is different from ‘it’s’. The former is a pronoun while the latter is the contraction of It is.
g. Be polite with you expressions (I said something about polite usages here: thegazellenews.com/2017/11/28/ass…)

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h. Understand the context of discourse and use words that suit such context.
i. To conclude your speech or written piece, use ‘in conclusion’ instead of ‘conclusively’.
j. Say several times when you mean more than one but less than five times, NOT SEVERALLY.

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k. Use ‘many’ when the event or thing referred to occurred more than five times; ‘many differs from ‘several’ in that wise
l. Speak with confidence but cautiously

The list goes on and on but we will stop here for now!

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This has been indescribable experience for me. Many thanks to those who followed the lessons.

I wish you all a prosperous New Year.

End!

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