Parenthesis Concord

Sometimes, some words may come between the subject of a sentence and the verb. Such words may hinder us from getting or selecting the appropriate verb that will agree with the subject. The obstructing information is what we refer to as parenthesis.

Examples:

1.  John, not his parents and siblings ____ around a. is b. are c. am

The answer is a 'is' because (not his parents and siblings) is the parenthetic information while 'John' is the subject and it is singular.

2.  It is I who ____ responsible for the quarrel.

To get the answer, we need to look for the subject requiring the 'x-verb' i.e. the verb we are looking for. Let us bracket the following words in the sentence.

(It) (is) I (who) am responsible for the quarrel

It is wrong to say: It is I who is responsible... It may sound 'sweeter' as some people would say or more pleasant, but it is wrong because the pronoun 'I' cannot agree with the auxiliary verb 'is', We cannot say: 'I is responsible'.

Only the auxiliary 'am' and its past tense 'was' should go with 'I' in this instance, except in a subjunctive relationship which will be discussed later.

3.  It is you who ____ being expected at the party a. am b. is c. are

Many students or speakers of English will take 'is' as answer thereby having:

'It is you who is being expected at the party' (wrong)

Let us use the same method as we have used earlier.

(It) (is) you (who) are being expected at the party.

'You' cannot agree with the auxiliary verb 'is' because it is regarded or used as a plural pronoun therefore, option c 'are' being a plural verb is the answer.

Also note these examples:

- (Not only John but even) his parents are good people.

- (Not only the teachers but even) the principal teaches well.

Subordination Concord

Subordination concord involves the use of subordinating conjunctions to join more than one subjects together. The rules stipulates that when a subordinating conjunction joins two subjects together, they are taken as one therefore, they take a singular verb. Examples of subordinating conjunctions or subordinators include: with, as well as, alongside, along with, together with, in conjunction with, in collaboration with, including, like, etc.

Examples:

i. Mr. Akpan with his children is traveling abroad. (Not 'are traveling...')

ii. The principal alongside the bursar steals money. (Not 'steal...')

iii. John as well as Mary sleeps late at night. (Not 'sleep...')

It should be noted that the determining subject is the first subject. The second is merely an attachment or a subordinate embedded in the first. Therefore, if the first subject is plural, the verb becomes plural.

Example: The teachers together with the principal travel every summer.

The verb 'travel' is plural because the first subject 'teachers' is plural.

Coordination Concord

This type of concord involves the use of coordinating conjunctions or coordinators to join more than one subject together. The rule stipulates that when two subjects are joined with coordinators, the verb is plural. A major example of coordinators is 'and'.

Example: Ojo and Ada are friends.

Note that this law only applies when the subjects refer to separate people or things. This means that sometimes, more than one subject can have the same identity.

For example: The pastor and president of the church ____ around. a. is b. are

The answer is 'a' and this is so because the 'pastor' and 'president' refer to the same person. The absence of article 'the' before the second subject'president' accounts for this assumption. Therefore, since the two coordinated subjects are having the same identity, they take a singular verb.

In the next article we will be treating topic on Words Often Misused.

Words Often Misused

1.  Lend/Borrow

Lend is used for the giver while borrow is used for the receiver. Thus means you lend to while we borrow from. For instance, if Mary gives money to John, it means Mary is lending to John while John who is receiving the money is borrowing from Mary.

2.  Fall/Fell

Fall means to drop down from a higher level or be defeated. The past tense is 'fell'. Fell is to cut down a tree or to bring down somebody on the ground. Example: an opponent in a boxing ring. The past tense is felled e.g. The former Vice-Chancellor felled some trees on campus.

3.  Steal/Rob

Steal is used when the action is quietly or secretly done without the use of arms or violence while Rob is used when it involves arms or violence.

4.  Latter/Later

Latter means being the second of two things while Later means at a time in the future after the time you are talking about.

5.  Hire/Rent

Hire means to pay money to use something for a short time such as a car while Rent means to regularly pay money to somebody so that you can continue to use what they own such as a house.

6.  Price/Prize

Price is the amount of money that you have to pay for am item or service while Prize is an award given to somebody who performs best in a competition.

7.  Sometimes/Sometime

Sometimes is an adverb which means occasionally rather than always e.g. Sometimes, I travel abroad. Sometime is an adjective which means a time that you cannot know exactly or a time that has not yet been decided e.g. I should travel abroad sometime next week.

8.  As/Like

As is used for a real identity e.g. The man is dressed as a Yoruba man: this means the man is really a Yoruba man. Like on the other hand is used for an imitated identity e.g. The man dressed like a Yoruba man: this means the man is not a Yoruba man but by his dressing, he looks like one.

9.  Everyday/Every day

Everyday is an adjective used to describe a noun. The two words are written together and when it is used, a noun comes after it e.g. This is an everyday event. Every day on the other hand is an adverb and the two words are separated e.g. I go to school every day.

10.  Talkative/Talker

Talkative is often used wrongly by most speakers of English. It is often used as a noun, whereas it should be used as an adjective. Talker is what we are supposed to use when we put an article before e.g. It is wrong to say: The girl is a talkative. It is because the word is an adjective which should not stand alone with an article. It could be written thus:

- The girl is a talkative person.

- The girl is a talker.

- The girl is talkative.

Since we cannot say: The girl is a beautiful, we cannot also say the girl is a talkative because they are both adjectives.

11.  Invaluable/Unvaluable

Invaluable means priceless, worthy or of a very high value or importance while invaluable if at all exists, would mean something that is worthless.

12.  Loose/Loosen/Lose/Lost

Loose is an adjective which means 'not firm' 'not tight'. It is often mistaken for Loosen which is a verb. When something is loosened, that is when it becomes loose. It us wrong to say: Help me loose the rope round the neck of the dog because it is too tight. Instead you say: Help me loosen the rope round the neck of the dog because it is too tight. I need it to he loose. Lose on the other hand is a verb in a present tense form meaning not to have possession of something anymore. The past tense is lost and the effect is loss. For instance, it is wrong to say: John, please don't lost my money. Instead you say: John, please don't lose my money. The sentence can then continue by saying: Last year you lost some and it was a big loss.

13.  Childish/Childlike

Childish is a behaviour typical or connected to a child. It is usually uncomplimentary or disapproving. It is usually used in a negative manner. For example: We all hate that man for his childish behavior. Childlike on the other hand means having qualities of a child usually used in a positive sense such as having the innocence of a child or the voice of a child e.g. His childlike behavior always earns him favour.

14.  Desirous/Desirable

Desirous means longing to have something e.g. The boy seems desirous if being a President. Desirable on the other hand means something that is worth getting e.g. Being a president is quite desirable.

15.   Ago/Since/For

Ago is used with numbers coming before it e.g. John travelled five days ago. Since on the other hand is used when we refer to a definite time. It does not require the use of numbers e.g. I have sat here since morning. For is used when a definite time to mentioned either in number or figure e.g. I have been here for ten days. It is wrong to say: I have been here for last week.

We will treat more on words commonly Misused has we move on.

English Sentences

I define sentence as a word or group of word beginning with a capital letter, ending with an appropriate punctuation mark such as full-stop, comma, question mark, or an exclamation mark, giving a complete sense with meaning. When a sentence is made up of just a word, such word must be a lexical finite verb. E.g. sleep, go, come, etc.

Types of Sentences

There are four classifications of sentences and these classifications are based on the structure of the sentences. They include:

- Simple sentences

- Compound sentences

- Complex sentences

- Compound complex sentences

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence is that which has a singular verb and expresses a single thought. It is made up of a single independent clause.

Note: An independent clause (also known as a main clause) is that clause which can stand on its own and make a complete sense while a dependent clause (also known as a subordinate clause) is a clause that cannot stand on its own to make a complete sense. A sentence is said to be simple when its structure comprises just one clause which must be an independent clause/main clause.

Example 1: I saw him.

Example 2: He went to the market.

Only a single thought or message is expressed in the sentences above and are conveyed through the verb saw and went respectively. It should therefore be noted that, the messages or thoughts in a sentence are expressed or conveyed by the verb.

Compound Sentences

This is made up of at least two independent clauses. This implies that the structure of a compound sentence comprises only independent/main clauses i.e. clauses that can stand on their own. Compound sentences express at least two thoughts or messages. The clauses in a compound sentence are joined by coordinating conjunctions. There are three major types of coordinating conjunctions and they include: and, but, or. Examples:

1. I saw him but I did not greet him.

There are two clauses in the sentence above joined by the coordinator 'but'. These two clauses can stand separately with each having a complete sense. We call such sentences compound sentences.

2. She went to the market but she did not buy oranges. (Two independent clauses)

3. You should sleep on the floor or you sleep on the bed. (Two independent clauses)

4. I saw Peter but he did not see me and I pretended. (Three independent clauses)

A compound sentence can also have commas as the conjunction e.g.

5. We came, we saw, we conquered.

Complex Sentences

These are sentences that are made up of one independent/main clause and one or more dependent clauses. The clauses in a complex sentence are usually joined by subordinators or subordinating conjunctions. Such subordinators includ: although, however, instead, when, etc. Examples:

1. I saw him (main clause) although I did not greet him (dependent clause).

2. He went to the market (main clause) when I was hungry (dependent clause) despite our quarrel (dependent clause).

Compound Complex sentences

These are sentences that contain at least two main clauses plus one or more subordinate clauses. These means that we should have a minimum of two main clauses and a minimum of one subordinate clause. Examples:

1. He went to the market (main clause) and he brought me oranges (main clause) although we were quarrelling (dependent clause).

2. He came (main clause) and we meet him (main clause) although we could not speak with him (dependent clause) because he was sick (dependent clause).

The classification of sentences discussed above is known as Structural Classification of Sentences. We have another classification known as Functional Classification of Sentences. It should be recalled that the structural classification is based on the clausal structure (make-up) of the sentence. The functional classification on the other hand is based on the functions of the sentences. There are four types of sentences under this classification and they include:

Declarative sentence: its function is information giving. For example: John is coming tomorrow.

In this sentences, the subjects are naturally fronted.

Interrogative sentence: its function is information demanding, e.g.

Is John coming home? (Polar interrogative)

What is your name? (Non-Polar interrogative)

In this sentences, the operators (auxiliary verbs) are naturally fronted in polar interrogatives while 'wh' words are fronted in non-polar questions.

Imperative Sentence: its function is to give commands. Examples:

Get out now. (Exclusive imperative)

Let's go now. (Inclusive imperative)

In these sentences, the predicators (verbs) are fronted for the exclusive imperatives while 'let' is fronted in the inclusive imperative. Imperatives naturally do not take subjects but do in some cases.

Exclamation Sentence: its function is expression of feelings. Example:

How lucky we are!

These sentences sometimes appear as interrogatives but they are not. They normally end with the exclamation mark.

Articles 'The' 'A' and 'An'

Articles are pre-modifiers normally used before noun. We have two types of articles: the definite article and the indefinite article.

Definite Articles (The)

A definite article is used with specific names of people, animals, places or things. It is used with nouns that we are familiar with. That is, the noun should be what we were talking about previously. For example:

• I saw a boy yesterday; the boy gave me some money.

It is called the definite article because it is used specifically.

Observe this dialogue!

First speaker: The boy came here

Second speaker: Oh! You mean John?

First speaker: Yes!

In the dialogue above, you will observe that 'John' being the subject matter, is not new in the conversation.

Article 'The' is used in the following areas:

- With Names of Countries

Examples:

i. The Federal Republic of Nigeria

ii. The United State in America

iii. The People's Republic of China

- With Geographical Location

Examples:

i. The Pacific Ocean

ii. The River Niger

iii. The Red Sea

iv. The Sahara desert

v. The Atlantic Ocean

- With Family Names

Examples:

i. The Ayanwoles

ii. The Babalolas

iii. The Dangotes

Note: When article 'the' is used with family names, 's' is added to that family name as seen in the examples above.

- With Names of Popular Figures

Examples:

i. The Soyinka of Nigeria

ii. The Miss Sanda of the United Africa Organization

Note: Article 'the' is used with names of popular figures when we want to differentiate between them and other people bearing the same name as seen in the examples below.

i. I saw Mr Buhari, not the Buhari of Nigeria.

ii. I saw Mr Oyetola, not the Oyetola of Osun State.

- With names of Associations, Clubs and Unions

Examples:

i. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

ii. The Ife Descendants Association

iii. The Lions Club

- With Designations/Titles

Examples:

i. The Inspector General of Police

ii. The Chairman of NURTW

- With Musical Instruments

Examples:

i. He is good with the piano

ii. She enjoys playing the saxophone

But not that article 'the' will not be used with modern musical instruments. For instance, you do not say:

He enjoys the jazz music

She plays the bass in our band

But:

He enjoys jazz music

She plays bass in our band

The Indefinite Articles

There are two indefinite articles: Articles 'a' and 'an'. The indefinite articles are used with nouns requiring unspecific information. That is, they are not specific. They are used when we are not referring to any particular person or things. For example:

i. A man came here.

ii. An orange was stolen.

The difference between article 'a' and article 'an' is that, article 'a' is used with nouns that begins with a consonant (sound) while article 'an' is used with nouns that begins with a vowel (sound).

For example:

An orange, an egg

A car, a table

Note: Articles 'a' and 'an' are used only with singular countable nouns.

Examples:

1. She came from a good and an honest family.

2. The boy is a European.

3. We spend an hour to this time.

4. John is quiet an honest man.

5. The man is planning to build a house.

6. The chairman slept over in a hotel.

7. We went to Oyo state to experience a historical event.

8. What I see is merely a utopia.

9. I saw the king riding on a horse yesterday.

Moving on to the next article: Subjunctive (Real and Unreal Future)

Grammatical Names And Functions In English

Clauses and Phrases

Phrases and clauses are two common grammatical names in English. Whereas a phrase is defined as a word or group of words without a finite verb which has meaning and has a particular linguistic function, a clause is defined as a word or group of words with a finite verb (finite clauses) or with a non-finite verb (non-finite clause), may make a complete sense (independent clauses) or may not make a complete sense (dependent causes) and has a particular linguistic function.

A clause is different from a phrase typically by the absence of a verb in a phrase. In Modern Grammar, a phrase is also know as a Group. There are five common types of phrases in English and they include Noun Phrases, Adjectival Phrases, Verbal Phrases, Adverbial Phrases and Prepositional Phrases. Clauses on the other hand include: Noun Clauses, Adjectival Clauses and Adverbial Clauses.

Noun Phrases

A Noun phrase is also known as a Nominal Phrases and it is headed by a noun or a pronoun. To identity a noun phrase from a sentence we ask the questions: 'what', 'who', 'whom' or 'where' in place of the phrase. If the question is logical and the phrase can directly answer the question, then it is a noun phrase.

A noun phrase can be a word e.g. man, boy, house, he, she, they, etc. These are simple noun phrases. A noun phrase can also be complex. Complex noun phrases have some words coming before the noun Head represented by "H". The words coming before the noun head are known as Modifiers represented by "M".

Examples:

i. The (M) man (H)

ii. The (M) two (M) houses (H)

A noun phrase can also have some words coming after the noun head, telling you more about the noun (head). When this is so, such words are known as qualifiers represented by "Q".

Examples:

i. The (M) house (H) in the street (Q)

ii. The (M) man (H) behind the tree (Q)

iii. Stars (H) above (Q)

Grammatical Functions of Noun Phrases

Noun phrases function as nouns in a sentence and these grammatical functions are discussed below:

- As Subject (S) of the Verb of a Sentence

Examples:

1. The man behind my back (S) is (P) a thief (C)

Let us use our question method to test whether the grammatical name is really a noun!

Question: "Who" is a thief?

Answer: The man behind my back

2. Stars above (S) are much (P)

Question: "What" are much?

Answer: Stars above

- As Object (O) of the Verb of a Sentence

A noun phrase can also function as a object of a sentence.

Examples:

1. Mary (S) saw (P) the man in a white shirt (O).

There are two types of object: direct (Dir) and indirect object (Ind). Let us consider the examples below:

2. John (S) gave (P) him (Ind) a book (Dir)

Note that the ' giving object' is the indirect object and it normally comes first while the one 'receiving object' is the direct object and normally comes last.

- As Complement (C) of a Sentence

A noun phrase can also function as the complement of a sentence. The complement of a sentence is that part of a sentence which tells us more about either the subject or object of a sentence. They are objects referring to the subject or object.

A noun phrase can function as the object or subject complement of a sentence

• Noun phrases functioning as the subject complement e.g.

3. John (S) is (P) the new Vice President (C)

4. Peter (S) is (P) the chairman of his father's company (C)

• Noun phrases functioning as the object complement e.g.

5. John (S) made (P) his father (O) a proud man (C)

- As Apposition/Appositive in a Sentence

An Appositive is that part of a sentence that tells more about the subject or object but unlike the complement, comes immediately after the subject or object. Appositions are also referred to as two nouns in same subject or object position referring to each other.

Examples:

1. Mohammed Buhari (S), the President of Nigeria (A) is (P) my uncle (C)

2. I (S) saw (P) Frank Okotie (O), the pastor of my church (A)

- As Object of Preposition

In this function, the noun phrase will come after a preposition.

Examples:

1. I saw her behind a slim man.

Question: I saw her behind "where"?

Answer: a slim man

Where "behind" is the preposition.

2. The girl fainted during the class.

Question: The girl fainted during "When"?

Answer: the class

Where "during " is the preposition.

We continue in the next article.

Part of Speech (Part 1): Pronouns in English

We define pronouns as words we use instead of nouns to avoid unnecessary repetition. We have different types of pronouns and they include: personal pronouns, reflective pronouns, reciprocal pronouns, possessive pronouns, interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, etc.

Note that all the pronouns mentioned above are Definite pronouns. We also have Indefinite pronouns. They are pronouns that do not specifically and exactly point out the nouns they represent. Examples include: somebody, anybody, someone, nobody, everybody, everything, everyone, something, none, etc.

The Definite Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns are directly used to refer to individuals. We have three types of personal pronouns, they include:

- First Person Pronouns

- Second Person Pronouns

- Third Person Pronouns

There are two major cases associated with these personal pronouns. They include:

i. The Subjective Case

ii. The Objective Case

When we say subjective case, we mean the first or initial position of a sentence before the verb. It is also referred to as a subject position. The objective case on the other hand, is the position after the verb of the sentence. It is the position occupied by the receiver of the action. Note that once the pronoun crosses the verb, it becomes an object pronoun, so you must not make the mistake of using a subject pronoun in an object pronoun.

Note these examples!

i. Baba and he (not him) participated in the tournament. It cannot be 'him'. It has not crossed the verb - 'participated'.

ii. Those men helped Dupe and me. (Not I, myself, or we) because it has not crossed the verb 'helped'.

First Person Pronouns: I (subject) / me (object) - first person singular and we (subject) / us (object) first plural.

When we say first person pronoun, we are referring to the person who is speaking. The first person singular pronoun 'I' may be singular but it takes a plural verb.

Examples:

i. I see John every day. (Not sees)

ii. He greets me.

iii. We slapped the man.

iv. He insulted us.

Second Person Pronoun

The only second person pronoun we have is 'you'. The object case is also 'you'.

Examples:

i. You are lazy (subject position)

ii. John slapped you? (object case)

Third Person Pronouns

He, She, It (singular subjective case)

Him, her, it (singular objective case)

They (plural subjective case)

Them (plural objective case).

Rules for using the subjective and objective case

Rule one

When a third or second person, be it noun or pronoun, is used with the pronoun 'I/me', the second or third person should come first before 'I'. This is called rule of selflessness.

Examples:

i. Efe and I should eat the food (Not I and Efe)

ii. You and I have been selected for the game. (Not I and you)

iii. The man gave John and me some money (Not me and John)

Rule two

Please note that when a prepositions such as amongst and between are used, the objective case of a personal pronoun should be used.

Examples:

i. Share this money amongst John, them and me.

ii. The profit of the business was apportioned between her and him.

Rule three

When comparing, we should use the subject case. Actually, in this instance, there is an ellipsis of a verb coming at the ending of the sentence.

Examples:

i. We seems stronger than they. (Stronger than they are)

ii. My sister cooks better than I. (Better than I cook)

Rule four

When a question is asked with a verb of performance, we reply with a subject pronoun but when the verb is not performed verb, we reply with an object pronoun.

Examples:

i. Speaker A: Who is knocking at the door?

    Speaker B: It is I.

The reply is in subject case 'I' because the question is asked with a performance verb 'is knocking'

ii. Speaker A: Who is at the door?

    Speaker B: It is me.

The reply is in objective case 'me' because the question is not carrying a performance verb. No action is actively performed. In Physics, they would say "there is zero work done"

iii. Speaker A: Who ate the food?

    Speaker B: It is I. (There is work done)

Sometimes, it may not be the form of a question, but just referring to a person.

iv. The Ibos like Ojukwu, it was he (not him) who fought for their race.

Rule five

When citing sentence, the introducer we use determines the case. If the introducer is 'like', note that the pronoun will be in the objective case but if the introducer is 'such as' the pronoun will be in the subjective case.

Examples:

i. I am used to ruffians like him (Not he)

ii. Bad leaders such as they (not them) should be punished forthwith.

iii. Lazy boys such as he (not him) should suffer.

iv. Students like them (not they) should be encouraged.

We will treat more on the other types of pronouns later on

Subjunctive (Real and Unreal Future)

When using certain phrases to express certain actions we should be mindful of the verbs that follow. When expressing the future we use present tense to express what will most likely occur, this is known as Real Future. And when we use past tense, it implies that the action will most likely NOT occur. This is known as Unreal Future. Note that there are always two clauses in this types of sentences and the verb in the first clause must agree with the verb in the second clause in terms of their tenses. That is, if a verb in the first clause is present tense, the verb in second clause will be present tense (vice versa). Examples:

1. If he arrived late, everyone would blame him.

2. If I go to the church tonight, I will return late.

3. If I went to the church tonight, I would return late.

4. If things were going as planned, I would have been in London next week.

Note that it is not all cases that there are only clauses in the sentences; there may be a phrase and a clause e.g.

i. By the end of next month, I will have finished my exam. (The speaker is certain of this therefore, it is a real future).

ii. By the end of next month, I would have finished my exam. (The speaker is not sure therefore, it is unreal future).

In subjunctives, there are also certain phrases that are significant in choosing the verb of a sentence, they include: It's time, it's high time, it's about time, etc. When they are used, the verb should be in past tense.

Examples:

i. It's high time I left home. (Not leave)

ii. It's about time we saw him. (Not see)

iii. It's time we ate the meal. (Not eat)

The general rule in changing verbs from one tense to another is - if phrases such as: if, as if, I wish, I'd rather, suppose/supposing are used in expressing unreal situation. Note that:

i. Present actions will take past tense verbs

ii. Actions referring to the future will take past tense verbs

iii. Actions in the past will take past perfect verbs

Note that the past perfect is indicated by auxiliary verb 'had' in front of the main verb. Examples:

1. If I were you I would disappear. (Present action taking past tense verb)

2. If I were you, I would never visit him again. (Present action taking past tense verb)

3. I wish I could fly. (Present action taking past tense verb)

4. I would rather you saw him next week. (Future action taking past tense verb)

5. You talk as if you were a parrot. (Present action taking past tense verb)

6. I wish we had seen last month. (The action is in the past therefore the verb is in the past perfect form)

7. I'd rather we visited her without further delay. (Here the action is in the present therefore the verb will be past)

8. I'd rather we had visited her yesterday. (Here the action is in the past therefore the verb will be past perfect).