Subject or Predicate?
EXPRESSION
Ebere Wabara
THE GUARDIAN of May 31 did not nurture the truth: “Macleans alerts on (sic) dangers of fluoridated toothpaste in (sic) under-six” A rewrite: Macleans alerts to dangers of fluoridated toothpaste to under-six
THE GUARDIAN of May 29 also failed in its usage of the English language! The publication issued seven gaffes: “…he will engage in one form of electoral malpractice or the other including wanton violence.” The leadership question: one form of electoral malpractice or another.
“Danfo driver dies in NDLEA custody as wrap of cocaine he swallowed in Brazil burst” A rewrite: Danfo driver dies in NDLEA custody as a wrap of cocaine he swallowed in Brazil bursts”
“The expenditure on alternative power supply has made the cost of doing business in Nigeria the highest in (on) the continent.”
“We also congratulate all Nigerians on this occassion.” (Full-page Colour Advert by SIFAX Group) Sad Democracy Day: occasion.
“In November 2011, the Lagos State Government agreed to pay CONMESS as approved in the Federal Government circular and committed itself to same via a signed document.” The unhealthy tango in Lagos: itself to the same….
“…I will not allow race, religion, party, politics and so on to intervene between me and my patient.” Get it right: between my patient and me (as a predicate). But in a subject capacity: My patient and I were schoolmates in….
Lastly from Rutam House of Goofs: “…there is no way a dying doctor can threat (treat) a patient.”
“Without a doubt this president is overwhelmed” My comment: there should be a comma after ‘doubt’.
“It is unfortunate that the presidency appear (appears) rather comfortable playing politics with the lives of Nigerians.”
“Let me begin by congratulating Nigerians for (on/upon) having an uninterrupted….”
“All that matters, (needless punctuation) is his personality and his feelings towards me.”
Lastly from THE NATION ON SUNDAY of May 29: “…the views of many Nigerians out there is (are) that the policy leaves nothing to cheer about….”
DAILY INDEPENDENT of May 25 offered readers three blunders: “Road blocks (sic) are gone for good—IGP” I salute this super cop for the abolition of roadblocks. Your service profile reminds me of Mr. Tafa Balogun, a good friend of mine who was used and dumped disgracefully by…!
“Obasanjo should be commended over (for) statement on NASS members”
“NNPC laments lost (loss) of 180,000 bpd to criminals”
“…as the attending leaders would be falling over each other (one another) to get the attention of the world’s number one citizen….”
“Succeeding (Successive) governments have shown no inclination to overhauling our antediluvian criminal justice system.”
“Television footage of the visit showed a heart-rending scene of inmates kneeling and wailing and pleading to (with) her to secure their release….”
“By leaving so many frivolous laws on (in) our statute books….”
“One of Nigeria’s finest and pioneer professor (professors) of dentistry….”
“Real development in (on) the African continent cannot be achieved through coups.”
“Nigeria successfully restored Sierra Leone’s President, Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabba (another comma) into (to) government after he was deposed by ….”
“Although the government is still settling down into (to) its second term….”
“Transporters are usually the first to do so making workers spend the lion (lion’s) share of their salary on transportation (why not just transport, which is Standard English; not Americanism?)
“The coup I and Umar plotted” No lexical coup, gentlemen: Umar and I.
“Ex-Gov commends Jonathan over development of….” He surely commended GEJ for (not over) development.
An aside: ‘Demand’, when used as a verb, does not admit ‘for’ except in noun applications.
“10 arrested at Apapa Ports over (for) hemp dump.”
“With regards to the first question (a comma, please) the answer will be two-pronged.” Choose between ‘as regards’ and ‘with regard to’.
“…an issue further compounded (not too elegant an expression) in 1960 by the British government handover of the reigns of government in Nigeria….” A lesson for the Flagship: reins of government.
“How I lost my lover to a bossom friend” From this stable: bosom.
“Then came the launching (launch) proper….”
“They came to enjoy music, not pay through their noses (nose) for a few hours of fun.”
“…the dead would have done a dance of approval at the befitting honours accorded them by their offsprings.” ‘Offspring’ is uncountable.
“Teachers who supervise schools partake in the malpractices and, therefore, have turned a blind eye on it.” Fixed idiomatic expression: turn a blind eye to something.
“Today, not only is the civil conflict still raging, but the fall-outs of the war….” ‘Fallout’, just like stationery, is non-count.
LAST week’s mix-up: “I fact, it looks like increase in the prices of petroleum has (have) became (sic) an annual ritual.” (DAILY News, May 24) Correction: increase in the prices…has—not have. I apologize for the muddle.
FEEDBACK
I suggest you cover broadcast news in your column. Common mistakes on our electronic media (names withheld!) make listening to them boring. Most of the stations are fond of inflecting uncountable words and using wrong expressions. An example will suffice: ‘coverages’ instead of ‘coverage’.
Sunny Agbontaen (Benin City)/08055162531
I have been ardently following your interventions through your soar-away weekly medium. Can you edit books and write speeches?
Emmanuel Bassey (Lagos)/08055067429
Last Line: In response to the preceding mail, this columnist can edit any type of book, write speeches and carry out other communicative functions, professionally.
