AjanleKoko:

That must be some old grammar
It should be studying. Schooling sounds like Naija-Speak.

I also think so. I think it's either a noun or a modifier (noun).

Not sure about its participial forms.

Thanks.

Thanks@OLA and Serendpity

War of the breathing language. Who wins? You decide!



I don laugh tire oo

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14130942

Trust the Yanks. Winner dem don win oo, winner

This is funny man

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/07/peeves

And this one:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

Long time.
Please help me check if this is correct.
It was taken from the sun newspaper reports:
How I wish I could go back to Libya.
If I 'have' the money; I 'will' go back there.


http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/06/national-06-10-2011-006.html

Another one:
The husband 'had' been on the run since the incident happened.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/04/national-04-10-2011-001.html

Contumely:


How I wish I could go back to Libya.


http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/06/national-06-10-2011-006.html

You don come again, abi? LOL

This is correct. Please, read my post on the Subjunctive Mood (past).

Contumely:


If I 'have' the money; I 'will' go back there.


http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/06/national-06-10-2011-006.html

Most of your questions are ambiguous in the sense that they are open and have more than one interpretation.
They are the type I like to describe as "up to the user."

This one is an example of what is known as "conditionals." Well, present Conditionals. They can be real or imaginary. Thus, again, I would say "up to the user."

Let's examine it:

"If I have" and "If I had"- these are are present conditionals. It is now up to the user to interpret his comment as real or imaginary.

Okay, take it from this angle:

"If I have" - here, the user is telling us that it is REAL.

If you do something normally (regularly?), you can use "have". E.g. If I go to my brother's office, I regularly take my iPad.


"If I had" - this can be described as "present imaginary conditional." I mean imaginary situations. For example, if there is no chance of the user raising the money.

Personally, I think he meant "if I had."

Contumely:

Another one:
The husband 'had' been on the run since the incident happened.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/04/national-04-10-2011-001.html

For you to use the past perfect tense, there MUST be 2 actions in the past. One action occurred PRIOR to the other action - both in the PAST, that is.

With the use of "since", the second clause cannot be said to be in the past. To me, it is continuous.

Thus, the writer's statement is INCORRECT.

Now, Contumely, you have kept me busy lately. I think you want us to revive this thread. I have to reciprocate this good gesture from you, my friend. I think you need POSERS , too.

Maybe 3/day for the next ten weeks? All yours, my friend.





Oya, let's do it!


PS: Please don't come back with "I don't know these posers." NO! Do some research. Answer them and give reasons for your answers.




Thank you.

POSER.

Born in Nigeria, his most famous book is Things Fall Apart.




^^Something is wrong. Please help, Contumely.

Walking down the aisle with Ola, Isale's smile went brighter.





^Hmmmmmmm. Please help, Contumely.

"Steve Jobs, the world-renowned techie, whose innovative products made him one of the greatest brains of the last 100 years, died Wednesday," Konkobelow News said.



"Steve Jobs, the world-renowned techie, whose innovative products made him one of the greatest brains of the last 100 years, died on Wednesday," Konkobelow News said.


Which one, please? Or both? Or none, Contumely?

POSER.


The actions and inactions of GEJ must be scrutinized by all Nigerians.



^Something is wrong. Please help us, Contumely.

POSER.


Long live the king.


Long lives the king.

Which one, please? And, why? Help us, Contumely.

POSER.

After driving for more than 1 hour in Lekki, the map seemed unreal.


^Hmm. Please, help us, Contumely.

POSER.



Steve Jobs was so great that other techies had problems understanding his concepts.



Steve Jobs was so great that other techies had problems in understanding his concepts.


Please, help us, Contumely.









Thank you, Contumely.

Just kidding, Contumely.

You can answer the posers, nevertheless.

Chai! See posers, U wan kill me?

Ola one:

Now, Contumely, you have kept me busy lately. I think you want us to revive this thread. I have to reciprocate this good gesture from you, my friend. I think you need POSERS , too.

Maybe 3/day for the next ten weeks? All yours, my friend.





Oya, let's do it!


PS: Please don't come back with "I don't know these posers." NO! Do some research. Answer them and give reasons for your answers.




Thank you.

Thanks a lot. And please don't be annoyed with me, cos I really need to learn.

Ola one:

POSER.

Born in Nigeria, his most famous book is Things Fall Apart.




^^Something is wrong. Please help, Contumely.

Hmmm! I can't find anything wrong with this one. It look okay to me.
Or is it that the subjects name (maybe John) should have replaced 'his' in the second clause?

Ola one:

Walking down the aisle with Ola, Isale's smile went brighter.





^Hmmmmmmm. Please help, Contumely.

I can't see anything wrong. Hmmm.

Ola one:

Walking down the aisle with Ola, Isale's smile went brighter.





^Hmmmmmmm. Please help, Contumely.

I can't see anything wrong. Hmmm.

Ola one:

"Steve Jobs, the world-renowned techie, whose innovative products made him one of the greatest brains of the last 100 years, died Wednesday," Konkobelow News said.



"Steve Jobs, the world-renowned techie, whose innovative products made him one of the greatest brains of the last 100 years, died on Wednesday," Konkobelow News said.


Which one, please? Or both? Or none, Contumely?

I think both are okay.

Ola one:

POSER.


The actions and inactions of GEJ must be scrutinized by all Nigerians.



^Something is wrong. Please help us, Contumely.

I think this is also normal.

Ola one:

POSER.



Steve Jobs was so great that other techies had problems understanding his concepts.



Steve Jobs was so great that other techies had problems in understanding his concepts.


Please, help us, Contumely.









Thank you, Contumely.

I think the second.

Ola one:

POSER.

After driving for more than 1 hour in Lekki, the map seemed unreal.


^Hmm. Please, help us, Contumely.

I can't see any mistake o!

Ola one:

POSER.


The actions and inactions of GEJ must be scrutinized by all Nigerians.



^Something is wrong. Please help us, Contumely.

I think it's correct.

Ola one:

POSER.


Long live the king.


Long lives the king.

Which one, please? And, why? Help us, Contumely.

live with no (s) sounds normal.

I can't wait to learn the correct answers to the posers on top.

Mr Ola you are too much sir

interesting threed

Ola one:

POSER.

Born in Nigeria, his most famous book is Things Fall Apart.




^^Something is wrong. Please help, Contumely.

i know something is wrong here, not sure what

Ola one:

Walking down the aisle with Ola, Isale's smile went brighter.





^Hmmmmmmm. Please help, Contumely.

the sentence gives the impression that it was Isale's smile doing the walking.

hmm, lets give it a try:

while isale was walking down the aisle with ola, her [/b]smile went brighter. (whose smile?)

or berra still,

Isale's smile went brighter as she was walking down the aisle with Ola.

Ola one:

[b]POSER.


Long live the king.


Long lives the king.

Which one, please? And, why? Help us, Contumely.

since its more like a wish (subjunctive mood), the first option is correct.

how come i can't modify my post

is this sentence really correct?

Isale's smile went brighter as she was walking down the aisle with Ola.

Ola one:

POSER.

After driving for more than 1 hour in Lekki, the map seemed unreal.


^Hmm. Please, help us, Contumely.

after driving for more than 1 hour in lekki, we noticed that the map seemed unreal.

am i correct?

Ola one:

POSER.

Born in Nigeria, his most famous book is Things Fall Apart.




^^Something is wrong. Please help, Contumely.

Hi,

This is similar to the Split Infinitives. Both are here to stay. "To boldly go" is here to stay. This is for puritans . . . this is for those who live in the so-called linguistic cusp. And, we are all culpable.

Also, this is a mistake if you work for the Nigerian Tribune. LOL . This is a mistake if you are a paid fault-finder. This is a mistake if you work for The Nation.

My point is: this is a mistake if you're hired to attack the mouthpiece of a popular politician. Hmmmm.




This sort of mistake is a desperate attempt at nitpicking! I mean examining the whole hotchpotch of highbrow and lowbrow grammar, style and delivery. Don't do it!
We are learners - all of us! Anyone can fall prey to this type of error; even literary experts.



Unpicking the poser

This type of error is called a "dangling participles." Or a "dangler."

Here, there are 2 clauses:the main and the subordinate clauses. From the subordinate clause, 'born' is the participle.



So, Ola, what is a participle?
A participle is a VERB. Or, well, a form of it.
There are 2 types: present and past participles. The present ones end in -ing. The past ones take different forms depending on whether they are regular or irregular VERBS. E.g. Give (given), play (played). ETC.

We all know that a subordinate clause depends on a main clause. Thus, a participle MUST support a certain explicit subject (in the main clause).
A subject is the noun performing the action of the main verb. The main verb in this poser is "is."

The subject in the main verb CANNOT be "his most famous book." And, "his" itself CANNOT be a subject. Since a book cannot be "born" (participle).

The subject of the main clause MUST be a person and as a subject.

"Born in Nigeria" must qualify the person in question and not his literary work. It must modify the subject and not the object.
You can change the main clause to "Achebe is. . . . ." Or "he is. . . ."
Got it?
More explanations to follow. Let's take it one. . by. . er. . did you just say one?

Mind you, "dangling" isn't only about participial clauses and phrases. We also have "dangling modifiers."
A modifier can be a word. Or a group of words (word group). They 'add' to the meaning of another word. Or a group of words. But, care must be taken in order to avoid pitfalls.

E.G.

"Now almost 2 years in the college, the VC said Isale will be OK."

If I may ask:
Who has been almost 2 years in the college? Isale? The VC?

Now, you can see why it's a dangler
Of course, one can say "My audience will fathom that out." But, it's better to be explicit!

In order to avoid this confusion, move the modifier close to the noun it's meant to modify:

The VC said that Isale, now almost 2 years in the college, will be OK.



Hmm. The example below is from Wiki (couldn't resist it ):

Reaching the station, the sun came out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangling_modifier

If I may ask: the sun reached the station?

Read more:
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/WritingGuide/10dangpt.htm




PS: Thanks Contumely and Muyoto.