. Below are 10
common grammatical blunders we make in Nigeria
when speaking:
1) 'Who is that'? People often ask this question when they hear a knock on their door. The proper
question to ask should be: 'Who is it'? This is
because you don't know who's at your door. It's
even preferable to ask: 'Who be that'? At least, we
know you are speaking Pidgin English.
2) Answering a question with just a simple YES or NO only. This is very wrong. Example1: 'Do you
work on Sundays'? Instead of answering 'No', you
should say 'No, I don't'. Example2: 'Do you know
him'? Instead of saying just 'Yes' if you know who
the first speaker is referring to, you should say 'Yes,
I do'. That makes it a complete answer.
3) Using the word 'offer' in school subjects. Many
teachers make this terrible mistake!!! You would
hear statements like 'My students don't offer
Literature' or 'If you know you are not offering
Government, leave the class'. WRONG!!! Students
don't OFFER subjects; they TAKE subjects! To offer means to give or present something to someone.
Does it mean you are presenting something to
Literature or Government? Naija teachers, una no
go kill person!
4) Using a plural verb for collective pronouns:
'Everybody ARE coming'. EVERYBODY is a collective pronoun. Collective pronouns (Collective nouns
inclusive), carry a singular verb which is 'IS' and not
'ARE'. Many people also make the mistake of adding
'S' to staff, when addressing a collection of workers
in an organisation. Don't say 'All the staffs in this
firm'. Instead, say 'All the staff in this firm'.
5) 'I want to buy COOK egg' (Lol, not even cooked
egg! ). It's a common blunder when we go to the
neighbourhood shop. Bros, it's either you are
buying a boiled egg or one that is not cooked
(raw) because even the one that's fried is cooked!
6) 'The shoes do not size me'. Wrong!!! 'SIZE', in this context, is a noun! It cannot function as a verb
here. The correct way to say this is: 'The shoes do
not fit me' or 'The shoes are not my size'. You can
still say 'The shoes are over-sized or under-sized'.
7) 'My stomach or my head is paining me'. WRONG!
It's not only a terrible mistake to make grammatically; it's also a useless statement!!! Why
add ING to PAIN to create a verb that's not only
useless but non-existent? You can say 'My stomach
aches' or 'I feel pain in my stomach'.
8)The following are more of Oral English (correct
pronunciation; that's speaking right). Pronouncing FEBRUARY as 'FEBUARY'. When you
pronounce this word, the 'U' and 'A' are to be silent.
Pronounce it as if you are saying 'FEBRY'.
9) When you pronounce WEDNESDAY, the 'D' should
be silent. It should come as 'WENSDAY'.
10) When you pronounce POLICE, the 'O' should be silent. It should come as 'Plice'.
Godbless!!!!!
