Know Your English

Hi everyone! Good morning and happy new month. May this month of May bring us fresh blessings from all angles.

Weekend exercise, try it out.

Language is a vehicle of communication. What is said is as important as how it is said. The power of communication can not be underestimated. Linguistic competence can make or mar communication. Therefore, it is over imperative to know what you speak to speak what you know. Do not leave your communication to chance. You can do a lot better when you speak consciously.

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Kindly feel free to share language related posts, questions or inquiries on this page. We will do well to attend to them. Together we shall do better.

I had a long day no doubt. And it rained heavily beating the hell out of my colleagues and I.

This was a post made by a renowned Facebook user.
The question is: did he know that this grammatical construction is wrong?

I guess not.
Now let's analyse.

The first question to ask is what is the position of my colleague and I?- subjective or objective position?

Remember the subjective position of a noun or a pronoun is often before the verb.

If you look at my colleague and I critically, you will find out that my colleague and I is after the verb of the sentence, hence the object of the sentence.
However, in the other way round, my colleague and I would equal US and not WE which is the subjective form of it

Therefore, in that same vein, it would be MY COLLEAGUE AND ME not I.

Weekend exercise:
Good afternoon and happy Sunday to everyone.
I have the belief that everyone on this platform has the interest to improve on his or her language proficiency. Therefore, I welcome you onboard as we kick off with this exercise. Your full participation will make it worthwhile.

Let's go:

Kindly correct this sentence if possible:
I, John Obiozo is here to support you.

IS IT A CRIME?

From the peak of national GLORY,
We nosedived into the valley of sorry stories.
Things have totally fallen apart,
Yet the centre holds the battered parts.

Is it now a crime?
To belong to this clime?

What used to be a distant history,
Now lives with us, a daily story.
The venomous tide of a region,
Has risen to devour a greater legion.

Is it now a crime?
To belong to this clime?

Every fleeting day, births another nightmare.
Like the Niger, our sorrows overflow in despair,
While national authorities in senseless jamboree
For another cycle of aimless looting spree.

Is it now a crime?
To belong to this clime?

Holy place of prayers,
Now the abattoir of slayers
The sacred blood of martyrdom
Drowning our porous kingdom.

Is it now a crime?
To belong to this clime?

Where is the secularity of this contraption,
When people boldly kill for their religion?
What even is the essence of our religion,
Since humanity is the target of the obsession?

Is it now a crime?
To belong to this clime?

How can we truly be one entity,
When Regional interests rule the national's?
How can't we abet wonton killings,
When killers are treated as sacred cows?

Is it now a crime?
To belong this clime?

Where is the sacredness of human blood,
And the fear of the Almighty God?
From the fortress of the holy sanctuary,
Is the painful procession to the mortuary!

Is it now a crime?
To belong to clime?

Where is the labours of our heroes past,?
Where is the soul of justice in these blasts?
Where is the leadership of this clime and time?
Condolences recompense no lost prime
Save this ship now or we all shall sink.

For it is not a crime,
That we belong to this clime?

If you are on this platform and you have a question concerning any aspect or area of English language, feel free to drop your questions and be rest assured that they will be answered within the shortest possible time.

Hello my people! how are you doing today? I hope all is well with you all.

From a book written by a professor, a lecturer in one of the polytechnics in the country, I lifted this text. It goes thus: " These complex relationships to 'AN' untutored 'EYES' 'IS' a maze and merge of confusion."

Looking at this expression, the words look complex and academic, but the grammar is wrong. But, to an untutored eye or to untutored eyes the wrong grammar is not easily noticeable, unless you know what you speak and speak what you know.

However, if you look closely at the second paragraph of this write-up, you will observe that I a made a correction while borrowing Mr professor's expression. Instead of saying, 'to an untutored eyes, according to Mr professor, I rather said, to an untutored eye or to untutored eyes, which is the grammatically correct expression.

To know if this is correct or not, ask yourself, do you say an eyes or an eye? Do you say a houses or a house? I hope you now understand better.

Another incorrect part of Mr professor's expression is the fact that he used a single predicate with a plural subject, and that is grammatically wrong too.

I know that some grammatically untutored eyes would at this juncture be wondering 'HOW!!!'

I'll tell you how. Mr professor said: "these complex relationships to an untutored eyes is a maze and merge of confusion."

Now if you should reduce the complexities of this expression, you will understand better.
To rephrase and reduce this expression to a simple manageable size., it will run thus: 'These relationships is...'

The subject of this sentence is, 'relationships' while the predicate (verb) is, 'is' instead of are. So outside these two words, every other word that made up the sentence is only supporting the subject and predicate to achieve the purpose of the sentence/expression.

Take the correct: These complex relationships to an untutored eye (to untutored eyes) are a maze and merge of confusion

I hope you understand better now?

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Don't forget your words are your identity, so know what you speak and speak what you know.

If you received value from this post, please like and share. Also stay tuned for more language purification posts and exercises. Thanks.

Do you know that nothing can be More embarrassing than grammatical blunder, especially when you are a graduate?

Grammatical blunder is cable of putting your listeners/audience off and causing them to question the authenticity of your certificate and competence, no matter how good you are at other areas of knowledge.

Mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and other technical subjects cannot embarrass you as much as English could do, and English is even more practical than them because you speak it every minute and it carries your identity.

Save yourself the shame of grammatical blunder today. Enroll with us today, let's polish your grammar to the class of a pro.

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I saw this on Facebook and I was struck with mixed feelings of surprise and laughter. It goes thus: 'God will curse your joy to grow.' is this a blessing or a curse? I really wonder oo. Know what you speak and speak what u know now.

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Let's go people.