Use of English Jamb Class

Continuation of Yesterday's Lessons...

These are equally worthy of note.
▪️There are many meats in the pot of soup.❌(Incorrect expression)
▪️The defense counsel tendered many evidences to prove his point in the court. ❌(un-English)
▪️The informations are very useful. ❌(Also incorrect)
Why?

The words "meat" (of same type), "evidence" and "information" are uncountable nouns. That is one. Two, being uncountable nouns, the appropriate determiner to qualify them should be "much", NOT "many". Three, as uncountable nouns, they should remain in their singular states, not take the plural marker, "-s", and consequently, should be used with singular verbs.

Suffice it to say that, those sentences are faulty for three reasons:
1. Preceded by the qualifier "many" instead of "much",
2. Pluralising the uncountable nouns as though they were countable nouns, and
3. Using them with plural verbs.

Thus, the sentences below are equally incorrect.
▪️There are many chalks left. ❌(except the chalks are of different colours)
▪️The fishes are alive. ❌ (except they are of different species)
▪️There are many sands in the rice. ❌Etc.

The sentences below are the correct versions of all the erroneous ones above.
1. There IS MUCH meat in the pot of soup. ☑️
2. The defense counsel tendered MUCH EVIDENCE to prove his point in the court. ☑️
3. The INFORMATION IS very useful. ☑️
4. There IS MUCH chalk left. ☑️
5. The FISH IS alive. ☑️
6. There IS MUCH SAND in the rice. ✔️

However, one could use PARTITIVES to show the plurality of each of the above uncountable nouns.

Drop any question/s in the comments section.

Did you learn something new today?

© Christopher Henry Udoka

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With regard to our last test question, it should be noted that the answer to question (2) is option B. This is so because when used as a verb, the word "reply" collocates with the preposition, "to".

Examples:

I am writing to reply to your letter.

I have replied to your message.

Today's Activity

1. Use the past tense forms of "lie" [as in "lie down"] and "lay" in sentences.

2. Which of these is correct:
A. She replied my message.
B. She replied to my message.

Which of the following structures is correct?

A) I would rather you come on Friday.

B) I would rather you came on Friday.

I'll make a post on which one is correct, but let's take your comments first.

Welcome aboard, everyone. Use of English Jamb Class is an online academic centre that's poised at equipping Jambites for this year's Jamb's Use of English test. The topics treated here are derived mainly from the syllabus provided for the exercise this year. This platform, therefore, promises to be effective both in its supply of lessons and in the quality of lessons supplied.