₦airaland Forum

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English is not our mother tongue. But for the most of us down here in Southern Nigeria, English is our first language.
We use English more than the way we use our mother tongue. It is important that we express ourselves well in this language.
Yet, there are some phrases, words or expression that even native speakers battle with. Some of them would be surprising to you. Yet, others are obvious.
Let's run.
#1 – Misuse of I and Me
I is the subjective form of oneself. A subject is the doer of an action, or is something in a sentence. It is always capitalised. On the other hand, me is the objective form of oneself. An object is the sufferer of an action or is something that is acted upon
One rule to note is that I can never end a sentence and me can never start a sentence.
E.g:
The house was built by Peter and I. – wrong
The house was built by Peter and me. – correct
Me and Simon bought the fish. – wrong
I and Simon bought the fish. – correct. Note that some authorities insist that for courtesy, I should be after the other person which in this case can be “Simon and I bought the fish”
#2 – Substituting contraction for possessive pronoun
Many of us are in the habit of using “Your” and “you’re” to mean the same thing.
They are different. Your is used in saying something belong to you, while you’re is a short form for you are.
There are others contraction that are mistaken with possessive. E.g their and they’re.
#3– Who or Whom
If the almighty Twitter could get this wrong, I wonder who won't get this wrong too.
Who is a subject while whom is an object.
For instance:
Whom to follow. – wrong
Who to follow. – correct
* I hope Twitter pay me for this
You can also use whom where you use who by putting with before the whom. E.g With whom will he go?
#4– Farther or Further
Farther refers to a distance while further refers to time or space in a literature sense.
For example:
The assistant asked some further questions.
The nearest house was much farther than she thought.
Tip: Use Farther for physical distance only.
Use Further when emphasising on an addition or an extent of something. Although you can use further for distance, use farther instead.
#5– Lie or Lay
This one is the most annoying of all.
Understand that there are different types of lie, one is word that's not true. Another is a kind of resting. This is the one we are concerned about.
Lie is what one do to oneself.
E.g: I want to lie down.
Lay is what you do another person or thing.
E.g: Lay the child on the floor.
Lay the book on the table.
That seems simple until you remember that the past tense of lie is lay. The past tense of lay is laid.
I.e:
I lay down, when I got home.
He lied the child on the ground.
#6– Which, that or who
Who is used for a person while that is used for an object or person.
For instance:
It was the chief who did it.
It was the chief that did it.
It was the candle that burnt it.
Which is used for a thing.
E.g: He bought a car, which was red.
You can use who and that, which and that interchangeably but try to stick to who when talking about a person.
When talking about things, you can use that or which. However, you should know if the which clause is a defining or non-defining clause. A defining clause need no comma, non-defining needs a comma.
#7– Using a or an
The article “a” is used when the next word has a consonant sound while the article “an” is used if the next word has a vowel sound.
Note that it is consonant sound not consonant word.
For instance: A university.
An honourable man.
In this cases, the “u” is pronounced as a consonant while the “h” is silent in “honourable”
#8– Year anniversary
Many of us who are elated by our parent’s marriage anniversary would be quick to say “This is my parent’s 25th year marriage anniversary” That is incorrect. A better way to say it “This is my parent’s 25th marriage anniversary”
#9– Worse come to worse
I hear this around Obalende Area. You will see two well-dressed brothers who are revelling in their elegance saying this phrase.
This is actually wrong! The correct form is “worse come to worst”
Worst is the superlative of bad. Something can only go from up to down or down to up.
#10– How was your Night?
Many Nigerians use this expression most time without caring to know its effect. Although in the Nigerian context, it is a phatic question. Phatic that it is not intended to give information but to communicate sociably.
Outside Nigeria, this question sound awkward. It is an intrusive question that seems to know what someone did in the night.
When talking to someone next, just say “how are you?” and stop there. It is not a normal question.
Except you're very close to the person, then the question can be normal.
What do you even want to know about how someone spent a period that is intimate to them?