Word Classes and Related Common Usage Errors

in Nigerian English

by

Oko Okoro, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of English
University of Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: +234 802 304 5444
E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

(First published as Chapter 8: “Word Classes (Parts of Speech) in English,” in Ukwuegbu, C. et.
al., 2002, The Heinemann Examination Success Series: Catch-up, English Language, Ibadan,
Heinemann Educational Books, Nigeria, PLC.)

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1.0 Introduction:
In this paper, we attempt a brief description of the word classes of English –
traditionally referred to as parts of speech. Every word that occurs in a sentence
belongs to one word class or another. There is no doubt therefore that familiarity
with these classes, their characteristics and different functions, and the way they
interact will help you to construct better sentences.
The word classes of English are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, deter-miners,
verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections. (Most classifications
of parts of speech exclude determiners, which are usually labeled as adjectives.
But there is a clear difference between the two, as we will show later.)

2.0 Nouns:
2.1 Definition:
We can define a noun in two different ways:
Definition A: A noun is a word that names a person (e.g., boy, Mary), animal (e.g.,
dog), place (e.g., Lagos, garden), thing (e.g., pencil), idea (e.g., freedom), incident
(e.g., accident) or event (e.g., Christmas).
Definition B: A noun is a word that has the following four characteris-tics:
1. It can occur in the positions immediately before and immediately after the
verb in a sentence, e.g., “The_____is good.” / “We saw a_____.”
2. It has a plural ending -s (or some other forms that mean “more than one”),
e.g., boys, churches, children, women.
3. It also has a possessive form, e.g., Olu’s book, the girl’s handbag.
4. It can be preceded by a “noun-marker” such as a, an, the, his, my, this, those,
several, many, as in: a book, my pen, those apples, several students.

2.2 Forms:
Nouns have four grammatical forms, namely, singular (e.g., boy), plural (boys),
singular possessive (boy’s) and plural possessive (boys’).
(a) The Singular Form:
The singular form refers to “one”. It is the form in which the noun is listed as a
headword in the dictionary, e.g., boy, pen, child.

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(b) The Plural Form:
The plural form refers to “more than one”. We make a regular noun plural by
adding -s or -es at the end of the word. The choice depends on the pronunciation
of the plural ending itself. If it is pronounced [s] or [z], we add -s, as in:
cats, cakes, books, pots ([s] sound); boys, dogs, cars, schools, ([z] sound).
But if it is pronounced [z], we add -es, as in churches, buses, watches, matches.
And if there is already an e at the end of the singular form, we add only -s, as in
ages, roses, wages.
Note, however, that although this rule will work with most nouns, there are
numerous exceptions as well. So when in doubt about the correct spelling of any
plural noun, consult your dictionary.
Regular and Irregular Plurals:
Those nouns that form their plural in the manner described above are called
regular nouns. Some other nouns however do not form their written plurals by
adding -s or -es, but instead do so in a number of other ways. These are called
irregular nouns:
i. Two add -en and -ren: ox/oxen; child/children
ii. Some change the vowel sound within the word, e.g., man/men; foot/feet
iii. Some change the final -f or -fe to -ve and then add -s, e.g., half/halves;
knife/knives.
iv. Some add no ending at all, e.g., aircraft, sheep, deer, species.
v. Finally, some can occur with or without the plural ending, e.g., fish(es),
herring(s), elk(s).
(c) The Singular Possessive Form:
When a noun occurs in the possessive form, it indicates ownership. In writing,
the singular possessive form is marked by an apostrophe followed by -s, e.g.,
boy’s, teacher’s, dog’s. Note that if the noun naturally ends in -s, the additional -s
of possessive is retained in writing if it is pronounced, but dropped if it is not, e.g.,
James’s, Charles’s; Jesus’, Moses’.
(d) The Plural Possessive Form:
In the plural possessive, the apostrophe is not shifted to the front of -s. What
actually happens is that the apostrophe is placed in front of the plural -s, and the

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possessive -s is dropped. However, if the noun forms its plural without adding -s,
the possessive -s is retained. Examples of the plural possessive are boys’,
students’, children’s, people’s.
Note that it is the mistaken thinking that the apostrophe is shifted to the front of
-s to form the plural possessive that often results in some students writing faulty
forms like *childrens’ and *peoples’. But by far the greatest problem is that many
people simply do not remember to insert the apostrophe when writing the
possessive forms of nouns.
2.3 Sub-Classes:
(a) Proper and Common:
Nouns are first sub-divided into proper and common. A proper noun is one that
refers to a particular person, place or thing. It usually starts with a capital letter,
and if it is made up of a group of words, each key word starts with a capital letter
(e.g., John, Lagos, the United States of America). On the other hand, a common
noun refers to a whole class of persons, places or things (e.g., team, audience,
committee), or to an unspecified member of that class (e.g., boy, city, country).
Those that refer to whole classes are called collective nouns.
(b) Count and Non-count:
Common nouns are further sub-divided into count and non-count (or “countable”
and “uncountable”). Count nouns are those that make a distinction between
singular and plural (e.g., boy/boys, child/children), while non-count nouns do not
make such a distinction and are grammatically treated as singular (e.g., furniture,
information).
(c) Concrete and Abstract:
Count or non-count nouns make a further distinction between those that are
concrete, that is, perceivable to the senses (e.g., pen, ant), and those that are
abstract, that is, exist only as ideas in our mind (e.g., freedom, equality).
2.4 Functions:
We can identify about eight functions performed by nouns in English sentences,
namely:
(a) As subject of the verb:
The subject performs the action of the verb, or is in the state identified by the verb,

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e.g., ‘Ahmed borrowed a book’ / ‘Ahmed became a student.’
(b) As direct object of the verb:
The direct object receives the action of the verb, e.g., ‘The principal congratulated
Ahmed.’
(c) As indirect object of the verb:
While the direct object answers the question “what?” with respect to the verb, the
indirect object itself always answers the question “for/to whom?” with respect to
the verb, e.g., ‘The teacher lent a book to Ahmed’ / ‘The teacher lent Ahmed a
book.’ (The teacher lent what? A book [direct object]; to whom? Ahmed [indirect
object].)
(d) As subject complement.
The subject complement and the subject refer to the same person or thing, e.g.,
‘Janet is my friend’ / ‘Our candidate became the leader.’
(e) As object complement.
The object complement and the object refer to the same person or thing, e.g., ‘They
considered the boy a coward.’
(f) As prepositional complement.
The prepositional complement is required by the preposition to form a
prepositional phrase with complete meaning, e.g., ‘He placed the book on the
table.’
(g) As a qualifier of another noun.
Here, the noun functions like an adjective, e.g., ‘We are looking forward to the
Christmas holidays.’
(h) As an appositive.
This is a noun (or noun phrase) placed alongside another noun or noun phrase to
explain it, e.g., ‘Our English teacher, Mr. Smith, is a kind man.’
2.5 Common Usage Errors:
Among Nigerians, the commonest errors in the use of nouns include the following:
(a) The use of non-count nouns in the same way as count nouns:
We stated earlier that non-count nouns do not make a distinction between singular
and plural. Instead, they are usually treated as singular. Therefore, they should not

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occur with the following:
i. the plural ending -s;
ii. the indefinite article a or an;
iii. the numerals one, two, three, etc.;
iv. quantifiers such as many, few, several.
The following are a few of the non-count nouns often erroneously made plural, or
misused in one or more of the other ways, by many Nigerians:
advice furniture luggage
ammunition hardware potential
baggage information personnel
behaviour jargon slang
cutlery jewellery software
electorate junk stationery
equipment kith and kin underwear
To refer to specific instances of non-count nouns you should use partitives. These
are words that denote part of a collective whole. Thus you should say “an item of
furniture” instead of “*one furniture”; “a piece of advice” instead of “*an advice”.
Note that some nouns can be count in one sense and non-count in another, e.g.,

COUNT SENSE NON-COUNT SENSE

abuse - misuse foul language
capital - seat of government money
game - sporting activity wild animals
staff - stick or rod group of workers
damages - legal claims mental or physical destruction
concern - a business or company a feeling of worry about
something
You should therefore take care to use such nouns correctly.
(b) The omission of determiners, especially articles, before singular nouns:
A determiner should always precede the singular form of a count noun. But many
Nigerians frequently omit such determiners, especially articles (a, an, the), as in
the following examples:
i. He asked me to have Ø seat. (…to have a seat.)
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 ii. We were asked to fill Ø form. (…to fill in a form.)
iii. The teacher gave us Ø assignment. (…gave us an assignment.)
iv. We are writing Ø first term exam. (…our first term exam.)

3.0 Pronouns:
3.1 Definition:
A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase, mostly to avoid
the undesired repetition of that noun or noun phrase. For example:
If the boy comes, ask [the boy] him to wait.
The noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers to is known as its antecedent.
3.2 Sub-classes:
Like nouns, pronouns are made up of different sub-classes as follows:
(a) Personal Pronouns:
The pronouns I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, they, them, it, etc., are used in
place of persons’ names. They are called “personal pronouns” because their
distinctive forms identify the noun they stand for as the person speaking (1 st
person: I, me, my, we, us, our), the person spoken to (2nd person: you, your, yours),
or the person or thing spoken about (3rd person: he, him, his, she, her, hers, they,
them, theirs, it, its).
(b) Interrogative Pronouns:
When the pronouns who, whose, whom, which, and what are used to ask questions
(e.g., Who ate the apple? Which does she want? What was that? Whose is this
pen?) they are called interrogative pronouns.
(c) Demonstrative Pronouns:
The words this, that, these, and those are called demonstrative pronouns when
they are used to point out which one or which ones are meant. They are called
“demonstrative” because they point to what is meant, e.g., Take a look at that!
(d) Indefinite Pronouns:
These are pronouns that do not refer to a definite person or thing, such as anyone,
someone, each. Some indefinite pronouns are singular; some are plural, while
some can be both singular and plural.

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Singular:
anybody anyone anything everyone each
nobody no one nothing everybody either
neither one something someone much
another little less somebody
E.g., Everyone in this room is welcome. / Neither of them wants to go.
Plural:
both few fewer several many two three four…
E.g., Both were acceptable. / Few were chosen.
Both Singular and Plural:
any some enough more most all plenty
E.g., All is not well. / All have arrived.
(e) Reflexive Pronouns:
These are formed by adding -self or -selves to some of the personal pronouns, and
indicate that the person or thing being referred to acts on himself/herself/itself.
Some examples are: myself, herself, yourself, themselves, ourselves.
(f) Reciprocal Pronouns:
The two reciprocal pronouns in English are each other and one another. They are
used to indicate a reciprocal, or two-way, relationship between two or more people.
You should carefully note the difference between reflexive and reciprocal
pronouns:
Reflexive: The two boys blamed themselves.
(Each boy held himself responsible.)
Reciprocal: The two boys blamed each other.
(Each boy held the other boy responsible.)
(g) Relative Pronouns:
The words who, whom, whose, which, that, whoever, etc., are sometimes used to
introduce certain clauses which they relate to some other word in the sentence.
They are called relative pronouns when used in this way, and the clauses they
introduce are called relative or adjectival clauses. Example: This is the boy who

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phoned you this morning.
(h) Intensive Pronouns:
These are closely related to reflexive pronouns, but there is a clear difference:
while reflexive pronouns are used reflexively to refer to a preceding noun, intensive
pronouns are used for emphasis. Consider the following:
Amina injured herself. (herself = reflexive pronoun)
Amina herself swept the room. (herself = intensive pronoun – emphasizing
the fact that no one else but Amina did the
sweeping)

3.3 Usage:
The noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers to is known as its antecedent. A
pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, person and case.
(a) Number refers to singular and plural, e.g.,
Singular: I, you, he, she, it
Plural: we, you, they
(b) Gender indicates whether the pronoun is used for a male (masculine), female
(feminine), or neutral (neuter) antecedent, e.g.,
Masculine: He is a student.
Feminine: She is a student.
Neuter: They are students.
(c) Person refers to the speaker(s) (first person); or the listener(s) (second
person); or a third party referred to in the communication event (third
person), e.g.,
First person: I/We are students.
Second person: You are a student.
Third person: He/She is a student.
(d) Case refers to whether the pronoun is used as the subject or object of the
sentence, or to indicate possession. There are therefore three cases in English,
namely, the subjective case, the objective case and the possessive case. Pronouns
have different forms for each case as follows:

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 Subjective Case Objective Case Possessive Case
I me my/mine
we us our/ours
he him his
she her her/hers
they them their/theirs
you you your/yours
who whom whose
it it its

The usage rules here are very simple:

i. Use only subjective case pronouns in subject and subject complement
positions in the sentence.
ii. Use only objective case pronouns in object positions, or after prepositions.
iii. And use only possessive case pronouns in possessive positions.
For example:
1.a) The boy is a student. (the boy = subject)
b) He is a student. (he = subjective case pronoun)
2.a) It was Etim who broke the glass. (Etim = subject complement)
b) It was he who broke the glass. (he = subjective case pronoun)
3.a) I saw the boy. (the boy = object)
b) I saw him. (him = objective case pronoun)
4.a) It is up to Amina to decide what to do next. (to = preposition)
b) It is up to her to decide what to do next. (her = objective
case pronoun)
5.a) This is the boy’s book. (the boy’s = possessive)
b) This is his book. (his = possessive case pronoun)
These rules are easy enough to apply, and even when you are not aware of them
you are usually able to tell intuitively when they have been violated. But
sometimes your intuitions fail you, and only your knowledge and proper
application of these rules enables you to make the right choice of pronoun.

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3.4 Common Usage Errors:
You should learn to avoid the following common errors in the use of pronouns:
(a) Failing to make the pronoun agree with its antecedent in case:
Remember the simple rules we have just laid down for agreement in case. The
following sentences are all grammatically wrong because the highlighted pronouns
violate these rules: each occurs in the wrong case. (The correct pronoun is
enclosed in brackets after each sentence.)
1. *The teacher sent Olu and I to the bookshop. (me)
2. *It was me who sent for you. (I)
3. *I hate him snoring so loudly at night! (his)
4. *Musa invited my friend and myself to go out with he and his
fiancée. (me; him).
(b) Using reflexive pronouns in the place of reciprocal pronouns:
You will recall that reflexive pronouns indicate that someone has acted on
him/herself while reciprocal pronouns indicate that the action is mutual among two
or more people. Therefore, sentences such as the following, which are very
common indeed, are all wrong. (The correct forms are enclosed in brackets after
each sentence.)
1. *Amina and her roommate have not been talking to themselves since
they quarrelled. (each other)
2. *Ladies and gentlemen, let us get together to know ourselves better.
(one another)
3. *It was such a long time since we left school that when we met again we
almost did not recognize ourselves! (one another)
(c) Using pronouns without antecedents:
The antecedent of a pronoun should always be present in the context of its use.
The exceptions are indefinite pronouns, which can be used without antecedents.
The pronouns in the following typical sentences have no specified antecedents.
The sentences are therefore faulty:
1. *Listen, they are calling you.
2. *They asked me to bring two bottles (patient to nurse at a clinic).

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 3. *Nurse, I have come for my injection; they wrote five injections for me.
Who is calling you? Who exactly asked the patient to bring two bottles? Who
wrote (prescribed) five injections for the patient? We do not know because they in
each sentence has no specified antecedent. When the antecedent is unknown or
unimportant, it is better to recast the sentence:
1.a) Listen, you are being called.
2.a) I was asked to bring two bottles.
3.a) …five injections were prescribed for me.
(d) Using the plural “they” for singular antecedents:
This is a carry-over from many Nigerian languages, in which our culture of respect
for elders admits the use of they in reference to an individual. But this is not
permissible in English. Consider the following short dialogue:
Pupil: They are calling you, Sir.
Teacher: Who?
Pupil: The Principal, Sir.
The pupil’s first sentence contains two faults. Can you identify them?
(e) Using the contracted form “it’s” for the possessive pronoun “its”:
It’s is the contracted form of “it is” or “it has”, while its is the possessive form of
the pronoun “it”. So, you must be careful not to confuse the two forms. An easy
way to keep them apart is to replace them with the full form “it is” or “it has”. If
any of these makes sense in the context, then the correct form is it’s. If none
makes sense, the correct form is its. Consider the following sentences:
Correct: We know that it’s not true.
(We know that it is not true.)
Correct: He reported that it’s been done.
(He reported that it has been done.)

Incorrect: The dog lost it’s bone.

(*The dog lost it is / it has bone.)
Correct: The dog lost its bone.

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4.0 Adjectives:
4.1 Definition:
An adjective is a word that modifies (or qualifies) a noun. A few examples are
tall, happy, beautiful, good, Nigerian, Indian, Islamic. The last three examples
belong to the class called proper adjectives. This is because they are formed from
proper nouns. Like proper nouns, proper adjectives always begin with capital
letters.
4.2 Usage:
(a) Attributive and predicative adjectives:
When an adjective precedes (i.e., occurs before) the noun it qualifies, it is said to
occur attributively (and is called an attributive adjective). But sometimes, an
adjective is separated from the noun it modifies by a linking verb. Such an
adjective is said to occur predicatively (and is called a predicative adjective).
Examples:
Attributive: The tall boy spoke.
(Here, tall qualifies “boy” and occurs before it.)
Predicative: The boy is tall. (Here, tall qualifies “boy” but is separated from
it by the linking verb “is” so that it occurs in the predicate part
of the sentence.)
Note that while most adjectives in English can be used both attributively and
predicatively, there are others that occur attributively only or predicatively only:
Attributive only: a main road an indoor game
Predicative only: The children are asleep Grandfather is awake.
(b) Regular and irregular adjectives:
The various qualities named by adjectives are often compared in terms of their
degree. To make this possible, adjectives have three forms, namely the positive,
the comparative, and the superlative.
Regular adjectives form their comparative and superlative degrees by the
addition of -er/more and -est/most to their comparative and superlative degrees
respectively:

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 POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
tall taller tallest
big bigger biggest
beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
hopeful more hopeful most hopeful
Irregular adjectives, on the other hand, form their comparative and superlative
degrees in a variety of other ways. Below are a few examples:
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
good better best
bad worse worst
little less least
(c) Gradable and non-gradable adjectives:
Gradable adjectives are those that name qualities that occur in varying degrees, as
discussed above. Thus, apart from having comparative and superlative degrees,
they can also be modified by adverbs that intensify or lessen the qualities they
name. In other words, they are gradable. For example, the following are varying
degrees or “grades” of the adjective ‘good’: good, better, best, fairly good, quite
good, very good.
On the other hand, non-gradable adjectives are those that name absolute or
extreme qualities. Such qualities cannot therefore be compared or expressed in
degrees. A few examples are fatal, superior, unique, terrible, ghastly.
4.3 Common Usage Errors:
Adjectives are a relatively easy word class to use, but you should watch out for the
following problems:
(a) The erroneous use of double comparatives and double superlatives:
As we have stated, the comparative form of a regular adjective is formed by the
addition of either -er or more, and not both together. Similarly, the superlative is
formed by the addition of -est or most. Therefore, you should avoid writing
sentences such as the following:
1. *The point is more clearer now. (double comparatives)
2. *It is much more easier when you take shortcuts.
(double comparatives)

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 3. *It was the most happiest day of my life. (double superlatives)
(b) The grading of non-gradable adjectives:
We have stated that non-gradable adjectives name absolute or extreme qualities
that should never be expressed in degrees. Sentences such as the following are
therefore grammatically unacceptable:
1. *It was the most fatal accident I have ever witnessed.
2. *This material is more superior to that one.
3. *It was a very ghastly accident.
4. *It was a very unique experience.
This is because fatal and superior are absolute: fatal means resulting in death,
whether of one or one thousand, while superior means of the highest quality.
Ghastly itself indicates an extreme degree of unpleasantness and should therefore
not be further graded. Other non-gradable adjectives are terrible, horrible, vicious,
inferior, unique, genuine, fake.
(c) The random ordering of multiple attributive adjectives:
When several adjectives qualify the same noun they do not just occur in any
random order but tend to follow a certain predetermined order of occurrence. For
instance, we say “a hardworking young man”, “a wicked old man”, “an old red
car” (and not *a young hardworking man, *an old wicked man, *a red old car).
The full ordering of co-occurring adjectives is as follows: quality + length +
weight + size + shape + age + colour + origin + noun as adjective + noun head.
(d) The occasional violation of the restrictions on ‘attributive-only’ or
‘predicative-only’ adjectives:
We noted in 4.2 that while most adjectives in English can be used both
attributively and predicatively, there are others that occur attributively only or
predicatively only. However, there are occasional widespread violations of these
restrictions in Nigerian English. For example, the 2003 edition of the Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English makes the following entry as the sixth
meaning of the word “late”:
6 DEAD [only before noun] dead: late husband/wife
Mrs Moore’s late husband

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But Nigerians will generally produce and interpret the following and similar
sentences to mean that the persons talked about are dead:
1. *Her husband is late.
2. *My mother is late.
Ironically, the bona fide meaning of ‘late’ in these sentences – that is, arriving or
yet to arrive after the expected time – is only considered a distant second meaning!

5.0 Determiners:
5.1 Definition:
Determiners are a small group of words that qualify nouns, just like adjectives.
But the difference is that they do not name qualities that set one noun apart from
others of its type. Instead, they isolate the member or members of a class being
referred to and distinguish them from other members, e.g., “the man”, “her book”,
“that house”, “two dogs”. The full range of determiners in English is set out
overleaf:
articles - the (definite); a, an (indefinite)
possessives - his, her, your, our, my, its, etc.
demonstratives - this, that, these, those
quantifiers - some, many, few, a few, little, a little, etc.
numerals - one, two, three; first, second, third, etc.
5.2 Usage:
Determiners are easy enough to use, but you should take particular care to consider
the restrictions on how they combine with nouns. For example, while the and
some can occur with all nouns, these, those, many, few, several occur only with
plural count nouns, and much and little with non-count nouns.
5.3 Common Usage Errors:
You should avoid the following common errors in the use of determiners:
(a) The omission of determiners before singular nouns:
(This was first mentioned under nouns – see section 2.5 (b).)
(b) The use of possessive and demonstrative determiners together before the noun
that they modify:

16
Avoid sentences such as:
1. *I saw that your friend yesterday.
2. *This our English teacher is very strict!
3. *Can we hear that your suggestion again?
Instead, you should write:
1.a) I saw that friend of yours yesterday.
2.a) This English teacher of ours is very strict!
3.a) Can we hear that suggestion of yours again?
Another way of correcting the faulty sentences is of course to simply drop one of
the determiners (e.g., “I saw your friend yesterday”). But note that “that friend of
yours” has a certain meaning emphasis, while “your friend” is rather neutral.
(c) The use of two different quantifiers together to modify the same noun:
Avoid sentences such as:
1. *I went to the supermarket to buy some few things.
2. *There are some certain things you do that I don’t like.
This is because two determiners from the same sub-class cannot be used together,
as one of them will clearly be redundant. To correct each sentence, simply drop
one of the determiners, e.g.,
1.a) I went to the supermarket to buy some things; or
1.b) I went to the supermarket to buy a few things.
(d) The use of “few” in the place of “a few”:
Many people are not aware that there is a significant meaning difference between
few and a few.
Few means:
i. not many, and therefore not adequate (for a given purpose);
ii. below expectations;
iii. insignificant.
A few, on the other hand, means:
i. not many, but adequate (for a given purpose)
ii. some;

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 iii. a significant number.
Given these meaning differences, sentences such as the following are clearly
wrong and should be avoided:
1. *The accident occurred few kilometers after Damaturu.
2. *The dog was knocked down few metres down the road.
3. *Few days after he flew into the country, he was arrested by the police.
4. *The wealth of the whole nation is corruptly amassed by few people.

6.0 Verbs:
6.1 Definition:
A verb is a word or group of words that denotes an action or a state of being. The
action can be physical (e.g., write, sing, shout) or mental (e.g., think, hope, expect).
The most frequently used state-of-being verb is be (with its different forms: am, is,
are, was, were, be, been and being). Some others are appear, become, feel, grow,
look, remain, seem, smell, sound, taste.
6.2 Forms:
English verbs have the following five forms: the base or infinitive (V), the 3rd
person singular present tense (V-s), the past (V-ed1), the perfect (V-ed2), and the
progressive (V-ing). The way these forms are realized depends on whether the
verb is regular or irregular:
V V-s V-ed1 V-ed2 V-ing
answer answers answered answered answering
stop stops stopped stopped stopping
eat eats ate eaten eating
hit hits hit hit hitting
take takes took taken taking
The verbs above the line are regular, because their forms are uniform and
predictable. But those below it are irregular. This is because their past and perfect
tenses occur in a variety of unpredictable forms.
6.3 Functions:
You most likely already know much about the way verbs work in sentences and

18
how they combine. So this section will be very brief. The basic function of a verb
is to predicate, i.e., to say something, about the subject of the sentence. Each of
the five forms of the verb also relates this function to time. Action verbs,
sometimes in combination with auxiliary verbs (also known as “helping” verbs)
tell us whether the action is viewed as: (i) completed and isolated in the past; (ii)
completed but relevant to a subsequent time; (iii) in progress at a particular time,
past or present; or (iv) yet to take place. For example:
1. He killed the snake.
2.a) The burglars had left before the police arrived.
b) She has repaid the loan.
3.a) Amina was sleeping when I arrived.
b) You are reading this book now.
4. I will write a letter tomorrow.
There are two sub-classes of auxiliary verbs in English, namely, primary (have, be,
do) and modal (can, will, shall, may, must, ought to, etc.). The verb can occur by
itself in the sentence or can be preceded by one or more (but not more than four)
auxiliary verbs.
6.4 Common Usage Errors:
The following are common errors you should watch out for as you use verbs in
English.
(a) The addition of “-ing” to state-of-being verbs:
Verbs that denote states rather than action should not occur with -ing. This is
because -ing means “action in progress”, so it is contradictory to indicate action in
progress where no action at all is taking place! The following sentences are
therefore all grammatically wrong:
1. *We are not hearing you at the back, Sir!
2. *I’m knowing you for the first time.
3. *I am not seeing the board clearly from here.
4. *Remember you’re still owing me two hundred naira.
5. *The problem has been existing for two years now.
The last sentence should correctly read: The problem has existed for two years.

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Can you correct the rest?
(b) The use of transitive verbs intransitively:
The word transitive is derived from the Latin transire, meaning “to go across”. In
a transitive verb, the action moves or goes across from the subject to the object.
Therefore, a transitive verb must have an object. An intransitive verb, on the other
hand, does not carry action over from the subject to the object; instead, the action
of the subject is upon itself. As a result, an intransitive verb occurs without an
object. Consider the following examples:
TRANSITIVE INTRANSITIVE
The boy killed the snake. The man died.
The police arrested the criminal. The baby was sleeping.
Dad bought a car. The moon disappeared behind the cloud.
The guards caught the thief. The prisoners escaped.
Note, however, that many verbs may be transitive in one sentence and intransitive
in another:
TRANSITIVE INTRANSITIVE
Mum is cooking dinner. Mum is cooking.
Ade is reading a novel. Ade is reading.
I could not see the alterations. I could not see.
The student returned the book. Dad returned home.
Luckily, you are able to use the majority of transitive verbs correctly because they
sound so obviously incomplete and wrong when their objects are omitted. For
example:
The boy killed… (killed what?)
The police arrested… (arrested whom?)
However, there are a handful of transitive verbs that do not sound incomplete when
their objects are omitted. As a result they are frequently used erroneously without
the mandatory objects. These verbs include appreciate, assure, discuss, disturb,
enjoy, hold, pick, prostrate, resume and round off. The following sentences are all
wrong because these verbs occur in them without objects:
1. *Thank you very much – I appreciate.
2. *The Principal assured that the matter would be looked into.

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 3. *I met him and we discussed for a long time.
4. *Go away from here – you’re disturbing!
5. *If you work hard, you will enjoy in the end!
6. *The lecture did not hold.
7. *I called her mobile phone several times, but she did not pick.
8. *Children must prostrate before their elders.
9. *We resume at 8 o’clock every work day.
10. *Let us round off by summarizing the main points.
The correct version of sentence 8 is “Children must prostrate themselves before
their elders.” Correct the other sentences by inserting a suitable object after each
transitive verb.
(c) The redundant insertion of prepositions between transitive verbs and their
grammatical objects:
As a rule, transitive verbs not only require grammatical objects but are followed
directly by these objects; inserting a preposition between a transitive verb and its
grammatical object generally amounts to a redundancy. But this is done regularly
by many Nigerians. Transitive verbs frequently misused in this way include the
following (with the redundant prepositions italicized):
order for request for demand for advocate for
highlight on heed to stress on lament on
voice out air out span over/across book for
contest for emphasize on contemplate on seek for
solicit for consolidate on discuss about/on deny of
ask from scale over
A few sentence examples:
1. *The company ordered for more equipment.
2. *Janet requested for more time.
3. *The family demanded for their own share of the proceeds.
4. *The study spans over a five-year period.
5. *The bridge spans across the River Niger.
6. *We werer advised to book for hotel accommodation in advance.
7. *I sat there and contemplated on what to do next.
8. *This year, the company is consolidating on its gains of last year.
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 9. *Kindly allow me space in your widely read newspaper to voice out my
views.
1. *Permit me to air out my opinion.
2. *The burglars escaped by scaling over the fence.
Note that the expression “…in advance” in sentence 6 is also redundant, since to
book something is to secure its use ahead of when it is needed.
(d) The misuse of phrasal verbs:
A phrasal verb is a combination of a lexical verb and one or two prepositions or
adverbs. In this combination the preposition or adverb is described as the phrasal
verb particle. Examples, with their meanings in brackets, are given below:
round up (arrest/bring together/make a whole number)
cave in (collapse) round off (conclude)
hand out (distribute) put up with (tolerate)
give in (succumb) lie low (hide)
give up (abandon) look down on (despise)
turn down (reject) do away with (discard)
The misuse of phrasal verbs falls into four categories, namely: (i) the substitution
of wrong particles for the right ones; (ii) the redundant insertion of particles; (iii)
the omission of particles; and (iv) the omission of the lexical verb itself. A few
examples:
Substitution of wrong particles:
1. *The anniversary celebration was rounded up with a cocktail. (rounded off)
2. *The women refused to take the matter lying low. (lying down)
3. *He has handed over the management of his shop to his son, and now
only puts up an appearance once in a while. (puts in)
Redundant insertion of particles:
1. *When the police arrived, the burglar bolted away. (bolted)
2. *Stop loitering about here and move on. (loitering)
3. *They escaped by scaling over the fence. (scaling)
Omission of particles:
1. *Driver, please drop me here. (drop me off)
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 2. *I will pick you at ten o’clock. (pick you up)
3. *We were asked to fill some forms. (fill in)
Omission of the lexical verb:
1. *Remember to off the television before you leave the room. (switch off)
2. *Please, on the light for me. (switch on or turn on)
3. *Moslems are supposed to off their shoes before entering the mosque.
(take off)
(e) The confusion of the perfect and the progressive forms in certain irregular
verbs:
The following pairs of verbs are frequently confused by many students: been/
being, given/giving, taken/taking, as in:
1. *Your complaint is been attended to. (is being)
2. *Have you taking pains to investigate the matter? (taken pains)
Note that the -en form of the verb is usually preceded by have, has or had (e.g.,
have been, has given, had taken), while the -ing form is usually preceded by an
appropriate form of be (e.g., is being, was given, were taking). It is only in passive
sentences that the -en form can be preceded by be, e.g., “He was taken to the
hospital.” A little extra care is really all you need to save you from confusing these
verb forms.
(f) The faulty application of tense:
We cannot delve in detail into the complexities of tense. So we will single out for
mention only the problem of handling tense in reported speech. The important
point to note is that in reported speech, each tense generally takes a step
backwards, e.g.,
Direct speech: I will do it.
Reported speech: She said (that) she would do it.
Direct speech: I saw him yesterday.
Reported speech: He said (that) he had seen him on the previous day.
Also, you should learn to be consistent in your handling of tense: do not swing
erratically from past to present tense, especially in narrative writing. Once again,
extra care will help a great deal.

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7.0 Adverbs:
7.1 Definition:
An adverb is a word that modifies verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, e.g.,
Adverb modifying verb: Mr. Smith arrived yesterday.
Adverb modifying adjective: My sister is very tall.
Adverb modifying adverb: He answered the question quite correctly.

7.2 Forms:
Many adverbs are formed by adding the suffix -ly to adjectives, while others are
independent words, e.g.,
ADJECTIVE ADVERB OTHER ADVERBS
active actively here yesterday
brave bravely soon now
quick quickly fast then
Many adverbs can also be compared, like adjectives, e.g.,
soon sooner soonest
quickly more quickly most quickly
7.3 Functions:
Adverbs that modify verbs tell the place, time, manner, how many times,
frequency, in what order, etc., the action of the verb is performed, e.g.,
He returned home. (place)
It happened yesterday. (time)
She ate quickly. (manner)
It happened twice. (how many times)
Amina visits us regularly. (frequency)
They rescued the children first. (in what order)
Adverbs that modify adjectives and other adverbs mostly indicate degree or point
of view, e.g.,
The water is very hot. (very indicates the degree of heat)
His decision is politically sound. (it is sound from a political point of view)

24
7.4 Common Usage Errors:
Adverbs as modifiers are relatively easy to use. They are a highly mobile class of
words, meaning they can occur in different parts of the sentence. But be careful
here, because the position of the adverb also often affects the meaning of the
sentence. Consider the following example:
1a. Curiously, he read through the book.
(His act of reading the book was curious.)
b. He curiously read through the book.
(He himself was curious.)
c. He read through the book curiously.
(His manner of reading was curious.)
The main reason for such meaning changes is that modifiers in general, including
adverbs, relate to the nearest modifiable word. So the usage problem to watch out
for is misplacing the adverb. An adverb modifier is misplaced when it occurs in
such a position that it:
i. appears to modify a word other than the intended one – and therefore
alters the intended meaning of the sentence;
ii. appears to modify either one of two different words – and thus makes the
sentence ambiguous; or
iii. makes the sentence awkward, if not ungrammatical.
Consider the following examples:
1.a) *I was so hungry that I almost ate all the food.
b) *The disease nearly infected the whole village.
c) *He nearly lost everything he owned in that fire disaster.
2.a) *I advised him always to do what was right.
b) *Obi’s father encouraged him frequently to study.
3. *Nearly, the policeman shot an innocent boy.
In sentence 1a what is clearly meant is that the speaker ate most of the food; in 1b
that nearly everyone in the village was infected; and in 1c that the person talked
about lost almost all of his possessions. But the truth is that none of the sentences

25
as they are says what the speaker intends! To almost eat something is not to eat it
at all; to nearly infect a village is to infect no one after all; and to nearly lose
something is not to lose it in the end. Why do these sentences not say what the
speakers intend? Because the adverb modifiers (italicized) have all been
misplaced. The correct forms should be:
I was so hungry that I ate almost all the food.
The disease infected nearly the whole village.
He lost nearly everything he owned in that fire disaster.
In 2a it is not certain whether always relates to “advised” or to “do”. That is, it is
not certain which of these two sentences is meant by the speaker:
I always advised him to do what was right.
I advised him to do always what was right.
Sentence 3 should read:
The policeman nearly shot an innocent boy.
As we can see in each case, the problem is resolved by placing the adverb as close
as possible to the word it modifies.

8.0 Prepositions:
8.1 Definition:
A preposition is a word that shows a relationship between its object, which is
usually a noun or pronoun, and some other word in the sentence, e.g.,
I placed the book on the table. (The preposition on shows the relationship
between its object, table, and book.)
The most frequently used prepositions in English include in, on, to, of, at, out,
about, before, across, by, down, for, from, until, off, with, over, through. There are
many more, including phrasal prepositions such as in spite of, in front of, instead
of, except for, on account of.
A preposition and its object form a prepositional phrase, e.g., “on the table.”
8.2 Common Usage Errors:
Although a simple looking class of words, prepositions pose a lot of usage
problems for the simple reason that they do not have any explicit rules specifying
26
the choice of a particular preposition over others in a given context. For example,
why are the expressions on the left below correct, while those on the right are not?
The reason is not at all obvious!
charged with murder *convicted with murder
convicted for murder *charged for murder
desirous of success *desire of success
desire for success *desirous for success
jump at an offer *jump at conclusions
jump to conclusions *jump to an offer
The result is that most of the time, your intuitions are all that you have to guide
you as you make your choice of prepositions. And as your intuitions often fail
you, you are bound to make mistakes! Three distinct categories of such mistakes
can be identified, namely:
i. the substitution of some other prepositions for the right ones;
ii. the insertion of prepositions where they are redundant; and
iii. the omission of prepositions where they are needed.
Let us look at some examples:
o Substitution (the correct preposition is inserted in brackets after each
sentence):
1. *The meeting started promptly by 2 p.m. (at)
2. *The robber was shot on the leg as he tried to escape. (in)
3. *We waited until the bus arrived, but he was not in it. (on)
4. *She is the wife to our principal. (of)
5. *The quarrel resulted into a fight. (in)
6. *He dabbled into politics. (in)
o Redundancy (each preposition is unnecessary and should be dropped):
1. *I was contemplating on what to do next when he arrived.
2. *Our village has been denied of its fair share of social amenities.
3. *They demanded for their own share of the money.
4. *The beggars were soliciting for alms.
5. *He ordered for more beer.

27
 6. *We requested for more information.
7. *They were discussing about the matter when I entered the room.
8. *He is advocating for a two-party political system.
As these examples show, most instances of redundant prepositions involve
inserting them after transitive verbs (cf. 6.4 above).
o Omission (the point of the omission is marked with the symbol ‘Ø’ and the
omitted preposition is entered in brackets after each sentence):
1. *My friend, what are you talking Ø? (about)
2. *We reached there Ø exactly 4 o’clock. (at)
3. *They did not reply Ø our letter. (to)
4. *I knocked Ø your door in the morning, but there was no response. (on)
5. *I bought that book Ø five hundred naira. (for)
6. *I want to get Ø Abuja by 3 o’clock. (to)
7. *The president arrived Ø the airport Ø Tuesday morning. (at; on)
The last example of omission results from an increasing imitation of American
English, which has a tendency to drop prepositions before days and places. While
there is nothing ungrammatical about Americanisms, when there is a choice
between them and British English expressions, you should prefer the latter for the
sake of consistency – because Nigerian English is modelled on British English.

9.0 Conjunctions:
9.1 Definition:
A conjunction is a word that connects words or groups of words, e.g.,
Olu and Musa
the new vice-principal or the English teacher
We abandoned the search because it was getting dark.
Conjunctions can be grouped into the following sub-classes:
Coordinating: and, but, or, nor, for, yet
Correlative: both…and; not…but; not only…but also;
either…or; neither…nor; hardly…than;
scarcely…when

28
 Conjunctive adverbs: however, moreover, nevertheless, therefore,
so, still, etc.
Subordinating: because, when, if, as, although, though, since,
before, after, etc.
The first three groups are used to join sentence parts of equivalent status, while the
last group is used to link subordinate clauses to main clauses. As you are already
fairly familiar with these uses, we shall go on to a discussion of the common usage
errors you should watch out for.
9.2 Common Usage Errors:
The following are common conjunction errors:
(a) The use of double conjunctions:
Note that only one conjunction at a time is necessary to link up two sentence parts.
So, avoid such double conjunctions as still yet; so therefore; although…but;
though…but; although…yet; should in case; as in:
1. *You committed the offence, so therefore you must suffer the consequences!
2. *Although she looked for the money everywhere, but she did not find it.
(b) The use of “*moreso” for “moreover”:
The expression *moreso is not even an English word and so should be avoided
completely. It should not be confused, however, with instances where the word
more is followed by the different word so, as in: “The man was very angry and his
wife was even more so.” (That is, the wife was even angrier than her husband.)
(c) The use of “both…and” for more than two:
This correlative conjunction conjoins only two components, no more:
We invited both John and Mary.
not:
*We invited both John, Peter, Janet and Mary.
(d) Failure to make conjoined sentence parts grammatically parallel:
Note that when you join sentence parts with a coordinating or correlative
conjunction, the connected elements must have parallel (i.e., similar) grammatical
structures, e.g.,

29
 She dressed and fed the baby. (verb + verb)
Choose the orange or the apple. (noun + noun)
She’s not only beautiful but also intelligent. (adjective + adjective)
But the following sentences are wrong because the combined parts are not
grammatically parallel:
1. *Nosa has talent, imagination, and is willing to work hard.
(noun + noun + verb)
2. *He is not only lazy but also tells lies. (adjective + verb)
3. *Amadi is poor but with a great desire to help others. (adj. + prep. phrase)
The correct forms of these sentences are:
1a. Nosa has talent, imagination and a willingness to work hard.
2a. He is not only lazy but also untruthful.
3a. Amadi is poor but eager to help others.
(e) Misplacement of the components of correlative conjunctions:
Correlative conjunctions, like coordinationg conjunctions, are used to link up two
sentence parts of equivalent status. Here, care must be taken to position the
components of the conjunction so that they immediately precede the sentence parts
being conjoined. But out of ignorance or sheer carelessness, many Nigerians often
insert these conjuctions in the wrong parts of the sentence, as in the following
examples:
1. *You can either tell the desk officer the name of the course lecturer or the
title of the course.
2. *In the world of automobiles, the first cars manufactured neither had
airconditioners nor airbags.
3. *The African border situation is not only examined in terms of the problems
but also the prospects for solution.
The conjoined parts of these sentences respectively are:
1a. the name of the course lecturer / the title of the course
2a. airconditioners / airbags
3a. the problems / the prospects for [a] solution.
Therefore, in each sentence, the first component of the correlative conjunction

30
must be inserted directly before the first sentence part, while the second component
must be inserted directly before the second sentence part, as follows:
1b. either the name of the course lecturer / or the title of the course
2b. neither airconditioners / nor airbags
3b. not only the problems / but also the prospects for a solution.
Thus the three sentences here should be correctly re-structured as follows:
1. You can tell the desk officer either the name of the course lecturer or the
title of the course.
2. In the world of automobiles, the first cars manufactured had neither
airconditioners nor airbags.
3. The African border situation is examined in terms of not only the problems
but also the prospects for a solution.

10.0 Interjections:
We end this paper with a brief mention of interjections. An interjection is simply
an expression of strong feeling, such as Oh! Gosh! Good grief! Damn! Ouch!
Interjections are not usually part of the grammatical structure of sentences.
They occur sparingly, if at all, in formal writing, and hardly pose any significant
usage problems. If they must be used, care must be taken not to overuse them!

Bibliography:
Burns, Marjorie L. (1979): Grammar, New York, Scholastic Book Services
Greenbaum, Sidney and Whitcut, Janet (1988): Longman Guide to English Usage,
UK, Longman.
Jowitt, David and Nnamonu Silas (1985): Common Errors in English, UK,
Longman.
Jowitt, David (1991): Nigerian English – an Introduction, Nigeria, Longman.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, New Edition, 2003.
Quirk, Randolph and Greenbaum, Sidney (1973): A University Grammar of
English, London, Longman.
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