De-English Tutors

08/01/2022

Which Word, Emigrate or Immigrate?
Emigrate- To leave or move away from your own country; to exit your country
Immigrate- To enter or move into another country.
N.B: You emigrate from your home country, while you immigrate to another. For instance, those who leave Nigeria for America are Nigerian emigrants, but American immigrants. Examples:
a. Mr. Tunji has emigrated from Nigeria.
b. Tunji has immigrated to America.

30/10/2021

Not Barbing Salon
We all have been misusing words and pharses in sentences. I have posted a few number, in an attempt to correct these blunders.

Barbing Salon:

The term “barb” in standard English refers to the pointed part of a particular type of wire and if you use the phrase “barbing salon”, you are absolutely wrong because it doesn't refer to a place where people go to have a haircut. Realistically all adverts with barbing salon are wrong! The right phrase is 'A Hair Salon'

The word, “barb” is a different meaning from cutting the hair, so, there is no such thing as, “I went to barb my hair.” The right way to say it is, “I went to have my hair cut”.

10/09/2021

TODAY'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASS

1. AGREE TO and AGREE WITH

The two expressions often get misapplied by many people.

One AGREES TO a proposal or a suggestion, a plan, or a recommendation, but AGREES WITH a person.

"I agree to your plan" (proposal)

"The Board agreed with the Chairman" (person)

2. BETWEEN and AMONG

BETWEEN is used when referring to TWO (things, ideas, persons, etc).

AMONG is used when referring to more than TWO.

"John and Jerry divided the task between them." (two persons)

"The task was divided among the six students." (more than two persons)

3. BESIDE and BESIDES

BESIDE means by the side of...

BESIDES means in addition to...

"Gold stood beside the fridge."

"I chose the job for other reasons besides money"

4. FORMER vs FORMAL

These two words also get misused.

FORMER means happening or existing before, but not now.

"I was with a FORMER student of mine all night."

"He is my FORMAL landlord."❌

"He is my FORMER landlord" ☑️

FORMAL, made or done officially or publicly.

It has many other usages, though.

"He received FORMAL recognition at the event."

5. DIFFER WITH vs DIFFER FROM

These ones are also often misapplied by many.

One DIFFERS WITH a person in the matter of opinion.

A thing or person DIFFERS FROM another in some respects; that is, the thing or person is NOT LIKE another in certain ways.

"She differs with me about his efficiency." (matter of opinion or view)

"Ijebu-Imusin differs from Ode-Irele in many ways." (in certain respects)

It's at this juncture that we end today's session.

30/07/2021

Differences between Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives
Possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives can easily be confused as both refer to possession and convey a similar meaning. While a possessive adjective describes and modifies its preceding noun, a possessive pronoun is used to replace a noun or noun phrase.
i. A possessive adjective is always used before the noun it describes whereas a possessive pronoun is used after the noun it replaces. Examples: your, my, his, her, their, etc. (possessive adjectives); yours, mine, theirs, hers, etc. (possessive pronouns)
a. Your phone is bad (possessive adjective)
b. The phone is yours (possessive pronoun)
c. We went to their house yesterday (possessive adjective)
d. The red car is faster than ours (possessive pronoun)
e. This is my passport. Where is hers (possessive pronoun)
f. ‘Whose phone is this?’ ‘It’s ours’ (possessive pronoun)
ii. Possessive pronouns act as subjects or objects whereas possessive adjectives act as modifiers. Examples:
a. That is my pen; Tunde has lost his (possessive pronoun acting as an object)
b. That is your pen; mine is in my bag (possessive pronoun acting as a subject)
c. Their father has a car (possessive adjective acting as a modifier)
iii. Possessive pronouns usually take the ‘–s’ inflection, but without an apostrophe whereas possessive adjectives do not usually take the ‘–s’ inflection. Examples:
a. Her wardrobe is full of nice clothes (possessive adjective)
b. The ticket we took was actually hers. (possessive pronoun)
Exception: ‘its’ takes the ‘–s’ inflection for both possessive pronoun and possessive adjective. So, how do you tell them apart? If the sentence has it before the noun, it is an adjective. But if it comes after the noun, it is a pronoun. Examples:
a. The cat has become shrunk; its tail has been cut (possessive adjective)
b. One of the legs of the table is missing; the one over there cannot be its (possessive pronoun)
Note: It is common to mistake ‘it’s’ for ‘

22/07/2021

Correct use of English is a mark of good communication. It endears us to our listeners and convinces them that we are communicating well.
Accordingly, it is rewarding to listen to and read good English, which translates into sound use of it. However, it does not have to be bombastic.

13/04/2021

Learn from De-English Tutors
1. Wrong:Kenny has headache.
Correct:Kenny has a headache.
‘Headache’ is regarded as a countable noun which can either be used with an indefinite article or with the plural marker, 's'. Using it without article ‘a’ makes the sentence above wrong. You can also say:
(a) She suffered from headaches.
(b) He had a splitting headache the other day.
2. Wrong: Ann was in hospital because she had cough.
Correct:Ann was in hospital because she had a cough.
‘Cough’ is a noun that can be used with an indefinite article. Using it without article ‘a’ makes the sentence erroneous.
3. Wrong: I’m catching cold.
Correct: I’m catching a cold.
We often hear people say ‘catch cold’ instead of ‘catch a cold’. This should be avoided.
4. Wrong: What would you like to become in future?
Correct:What would you like to become in the future?
‘In future’ in British English means ‘from now on’, while ‘in the future’ means ‘in the time that will come after the present’. It is this latter meaning that the speaker wanted to express.In American English, one can use ‘in the future’ to mean ‘from now on’.
In the future, I leave you to your devices. (American English)
In future, I leave you to your devices. (British English)
5. Wrong: I’ve read the half of the story.
Correct: I’ve read half the story.
Or: I’ve read half of the story.
We do not use ‘the half’ this way. The only time we are permitted to use ‘the half’ is when we are talking of a particular half. Examples:
I’ve read the first half of the story.
The officiating referee was beaten up after the second half of the match.
6. Wrong: It took me only one and half year to finish this building.
Correct: It took me only one and a half years to finish this building.
There are two errors in this sentence. First, the speaker excluded article ‘a’ from the expression. Second, ‘year’ is not pluralized. A plural noun should follow ‘one and a half’.

22/03/2021

Invasive vs. evasive
Invasive: (of a disease, w**d, etc.) Spreading quickly and difficult to stop. Examples:
a. Cancer, generally, is an invasive disease
b. The elephant grass is not easy to get rid of: it is invasive.
Evasive: (of a person) trying to avoid answering questions directly. Examples:
a. Some of the politicians were evasive about their assets.
b. an evasive reply

04/03/2021

Which word, ‘sweat’ or 'sweated'?
The verb, ‘sweat’, is a polysemous word. This means that it has more than one meaning.
i. It means to excrete a salty liquid from the pores or skin.
ii. It means to labour in order to get something done, that is, to work very hard.
iii. It can also mean to be worried, anxious or nervous about something.
When ‘sweat’ literally means ‘to produce moisture from the skin’ as a result of heat, fright, illness or doing exercise, the more acceptable form for the past tense and past participle is ‘sweat’. Examples:
a. I have sweat through those shirts.
b. She sweat much yesterday and got dehydrated.
c. You'll not leave the sun until you've sweat profusely.
It is equally correct to use ‘sweated’ in this sense, but ‘sweat’ is more acceptable.
If ‘sweat’ is used in any sense other than to produce a salty liquid from the pores, ‘sweated’ is more widely accepted for the past tense and past participle. Examples:
a. I sweated to get the laundry done.
b. They sweated a bit before I showed them their results.

22/08/2020

18/08/2020

Which Word, ‘Evict’ or Eject?
Both ‘evict’ and ‘eject’ mean ‘to drive out’ or ‘force out’.
‘Evict’ mainly applies to turning someone (a tenant) out of a rented building or land. Examples:
a. His landlord has threatened to evict him if he doesn't pay the rent soon.
b. They were evicted from their apartment.
c. He was evicted for nonpayment of rent.
‘Eject’ means to force a person to leave a place or position. In other words, it means to expel or force out. Examples:
a. The police ejected the patrons from the bar.
b. The governor was ejected from office by the lawmakers.
Note: A letter sent by a landlord stating a termination of an occupant’s tenancy is an eviction notice, notice of eviction or notice to quit. It is not called quit notice. There are two types of these notices, curable and incurable.
A curable notice allows the tenant to make amends or ‘cure’ a violation. An incurable notice requires the tenant to vacate the property by a specific date.

17/07/2020

Uses of the Prepositions ‘in’ and ‘into’ with 'Divide'
Both ‘in’ and ‘into’ can be used with the word, ‘divide’.
i. When ‘two’ and ‘half’ are used as adjectives, ‘into’ should be used with ‘divide’. Examples:
a. You can divide the apple into two halves.
b. Your lesson can be divided into half days.
c. The conference was divided into two parts.
ii. However, if ‘two’ and ‘half’ are used as nouns, the preposition, ‘in’ should be used. Examples:
a. You can divide the apple in half.
b. You can divide the apple in two.
iii. When a number that is more than two is involved, always use the number as an adjective and use ‘into’ with ‘divide’. Examples:
a. We divided the apple into three parts.
b. The activities were divided into five working days.
c. He divided the kola nut into four lobes.

13/07/2020

Correction
1. b if you are applying make-up on yourself without anybody helping you to do it, you are wearing or putting on make-up. However, if someone else is helping you, then the person helping you is making you up or you are being made up by the person
2. b When a language is used as a means of communication, 'the' is used before it if the word 'language' comes after it. But note that 'language' in this context begins with a small letter.
However, if a school subject is meant, 'the' should not be used before the name of the language and the word 'language' must begin with a capital letter.
3. c a teetotaller is a person who does not drink alcohol.
4. b when 'appendix' means an organ of the body, the usual plural form is 'appendixes'. But when it means a part of a book, the plural form is either 'appendices' or 'appendixes'.
5. b the disease that attacks the appendix is appendicitis