LET’S CHECK THE BELOW “GRAMMATICAL TREASONS” What I learn I share. Correct yourself if you also commit the below grammatical treasons: 1. In an interview with Kojo Mensah, he said so-and-so. Surely, Mensah could not have interviewed himself, could he? This is a case of a misplaced modifier. The correct form should be, In an interview with [the media house or person], Kojo Mensah said so-and-so] So, “in an interview with Flex newspaper or Osarfo Anthony, Kojo Mensah said….” That is correct. 2. It may be recalled that....” Recalled by whom? Just go ahead and quote the right information and save space and time. Who do you want to think for you? Lazy writing and speaking at its apex! 3. “Last but not least” is the correct form and not “the last but not least” or the last but not the least.” Note it well because we often get it wrong. 4. “Abreast of” is the correct one and not “abreast with.” Never get it wrong in writing or speaking again. 5. Disregard for the parenthetical: The Minister of Sports and Recreation, Ms Araba Banson, left Accra for Kampala last night. This is the correct form – you end the designation with a comma and another comma to end the name. The incorrect and more common version is, “The Minister of Sports and Recreation, Ms Araba Banson left Accra for Kampala last night. Without the second comma, we have a run-on sentence, an aberration. 6. Electrocuted to death! Is that so? How could a dead person be killed again? Electrocuted means killed by electric shock; electrocuted to death, therefore, is a tautology. 7. From the word go though popular, the correct expression is from the get go. It comes from horse racing where jockeys urge their horses at the beginning of a race to get going, later shortened to get go.” 8. Opined is not just a substitute for said. To opine is to express an opinion without fear. 9. Whiles is a verb and has nothing to do with whilst or while which are conjunctions. Whilst is common in the UK, while while is favoured by the Americans - known for their parsimony in spelling (color, favor, flavor, judgment, acknowledgment, etc.) It is therefore wrong to say or write, for instance, whiles Kofi was in the room, Jojo arrived. The correct word should either be while or whilst but not whiles. 10. Survivor of a fatal accident! Never write or say this anywhere! Unless someone died, an accident cannot and should not be described as fatal. 11. Despite its popular misuse, borders on,” does not mean about or relating to. It means close to. Hence, questions that border on economics, for instance, are not necessarily about economics but they could be; they suggest so. Behaviour that borders on the criminal is not necessarily criminal; it could be but its not. For example you can write or say “the lawyer at the Supreme Court simply asked the witness questions about pink sheets” and not “questions bordering on pink sheet.” 12. Bid your time has become quite common, although the correct form is bide your time. You bid for something (at an auction) but not time. Of course, the present continuous tense is biding, not bidding, one’s time. 13. Hyphens connect words, such as Secondi-Takoradi, without any spaces between the joined words. A dash, by contrast, is a pause and has spaces before and after it - such as appears in this sentence. Hence, Atta-Mills, and not Atta - Mills. Or Agyemang-Rawlings, not Agyemang – Rawlings, 2012-2013, not 2012 – 2013, etc. 14. The correct form should be, I am or the contracted Im but never use am in any formal writing. 15. “Its” - is a contraction of it and is and “its” is a possessive pronoun. It seems obvious and basic enough, but we often get it wrong. 16. God-sent or God-send – they both sounds correct, but the dictionary says otherwise. The correct form is “godsend (one word, small g, and no hyphen). 17. A building gutted by fire has only its inside (guts) burnt but is otherwise intact. The fire outbreaks (we often see on TV are buildings that have in fact been razed by fire and not gutted as the headlines scream gutted in newspapers. 18. Whooping amount? Really? Hahahah! That is wrong! Whooping is either the sound of human excitement or the cry of a bird. It has nothing to do with quantities. The correct word is “whopping.” 19. Severally does not mean several times or repeatedly. It means separately and is most commonly used in tort claims. Two persons may be held jointly and severally liable for a breach of contract. According to one dictionary, you can even wash and dry your laundry severally – whites first, followed by coloured. So therefore, “severally” means separately, not several times. If you also have more, please don’t be selfish. Be kind enough and share it here for others to also learn. After all, no one is claiming perfection here! We are all learning. Until then…MOTWUM!!
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 09:42:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015