₦airaland Forum

As humans, we learn new things everyday. Only a dead man that doesn't learn and the foolish man picks offence unnecessarily when he's corrected! I'm not perfect and you, yes, you over there, reading this, can't be too. We all learn but it's good you share the knowledge you have because there could be others out there who might need whatever you have to share. You can also learn from what others have to share. Below are 10 common grammatical blunders we make in Nigeria when speaking:

1) 'Who is that'? People often ask this question when they hear a knock on their door. The proper question to ask should be: 'Who is it'? This is because you don't know who's at your door. It's even preferable to ask: 'Who be that'? At least, we know you are speaking Pidgin English

2) Answering a question with just a simple YES or NO only. This is very wrong. Example1: 'Do you work on Sundays'? Instead of answering 'No', you should say 'No, I don't'. Example2: 'Do you know him'? Instead of saying just 'Yes' if you know who the first speaker is referring to, you should say 'Yes, I do'. That makes it a complete answer.

3) Using the word 'offer' in school subjects. Many teachers make this terrible mistake!!! You would hear statements like 'My students don't offer Literature' or 'If you know you are not offering Government, leave the class'. WRONG!!! Students don't OFFER subjects; they TAKE subjects! To offer means to give or present something to someone. Does it mean you are presenting something to Literature or Government? Naija teachers, una no go kill person!

4) Using a plural verb for collective pronouns: 'Everybody ARE coming'. EVERYBODY is a collective pronoun. Collective pronouns (Collective nouns inclusive), carry a singular verb which is 'IS' and not 'ARE'. Many people also make the mistake of adding 'S' to staff, when addressing a collection of workers in an organisation. Don't say 'All the staffs in this firm'. Instead, say 'All the staff in this firm'.

5) 'I want to buy COOK egg' (Lol, not even cooked egg! ). It's a common blunder when we go to the neighbourhood shop. Bros, it's either you are buying a boiled egg or one that is not cooked (raw) because even the one that's fried is cooked!

6) 'The shoes do not size me'. Wrong!!! 'SIZE', in this context, is a noun! It cannot function as a verb here. The correct way to say this is: 'The shoes do not fit me' or 'The shoes are not my size'. You can still say 'The shoes are over-sized or under-sized'.

7) 'My stomach or my head is paining me'. WRONG! It's not only a terrible mistake to make grammatically; it's also a useless statement!!! Why add ING to PAIN to create a verb that's not only useless but non-existent? You can say 'My stomach aches' or 'I feel pain in my stomach'.

The following are more of Oral English (correct pronunciation; that's speaking right).

Pronouncing FEBRUARY as 'FEBUARY'. When you pronounce this word, the 'U' and 'A' are to be silent. Pronounce it as if you are saying 'FEBRY'.

9) When you pronounce WEDNESDAY, the 'D' should be silent. It should come as 'WENSDAY'.

10) When you pronounce POLICE, the 'O' should be silent. It should come as 'Plice'.

Godbless!

I was hoping to see something new... now some dude is gonna tell me i cant add -ing to hope. mtcheew walks outa thread.

Ye
Ye
Ye
I know some set of students that won't know all but lemme

Tanks Op
It's not easy to be a grammarian

boss096:
I was hoping to see something new... now some dude is gonna tell me i cant add -ing to hope. mtcheew walks outa thread.

People like you hardly learn! Why not move to the Celebrity Section if you don't have anything meaningful to say here? Busy body!!!

HateU2:
Ye
Ye
Ye
I know some set of students that won't know all but lemme

Tanks Op
It's not easy to be a grammarian

Thanks! I appreciate!

Rapmoney:
As humans, we learn new things everyday. Only a dead man that doesn't learn and the foolish man picks offence unnecessarily when he's corrected! I'm not perfect and you, yes, you over there, reading this, can't be too. We all learn but it's good you share the knowledge you have because there could be others out there who might need whatever you have to share. You can also learn from what others have to share. Below are 10 common grammatical blunders we make in Nigeria when speaking:

1) 'Who is that'? People often ask this question when they hear a knock on their door. The proper question to ask should be: 'Who is it'? This is because you don't know who's at your door. It's even preferable to ask: 'Who be that'? At least, we know you are speaking Pidgin English

2) Answering a question with just a simple YES or NO only. This is very wrong. Example1: 'Do you work on Sundays'? Instead of answering 'No', you should say 'No, I don't'. Example2: 'Do you know him'? Instead of saying just 'Yes' if you know who the first speaker is referring to, you should say 'Yes, I do'. That makes it a complete answer.

3) Using the word 'offer' in school subjects. Many teachers make this terrible mistake!!! You would hear statements like 'My students don't offer Literature' or 'If you know you are not offering Government, leave the class'. WRONG!!! Students don't OFFER subjects; they TAKE subjects! To offer means to give or present something to someone. Does it mean you are presenting something to Literature or Government? Naija teachers, una no go kill person!

4) Using a plural verb for collective pronouns: 'Everybody ARE coming'. EVERYBODY is a collective pronoun. Collective pronouns (Collective nouns inclusive), carry a singular verb which is 'IS' and not 'ARE'. Many people also make the mistake of adding 'S' to staff, when addressing a collection of workers in an organisation. Don't say 'All the staffs in this firm'. Instead, say 'All the staff in this firm'.

5) 'I want to buy COOK egg' (Lol, not even cooked egg! ). It's a common blunder when we go to the neighbourhood shop. Bros, it's either you are buying a boiled egg or one that is not cooked (raw) because even the one that's fried is cooked!

6) 'The shoes do not size me'. Wrong!!! 'SIZE', in this context, is a noun! It cannot function as a verb here. The correct way to say this is: 'The shoes do not fit me' or 'The shoes are not my size'. You can still say 'The shoes are over-sized or under-sized'.

7) 'My stomach or my head is paining me'. WRONG! It's not only a terrible mistake to make grammatically; it's also a useless statement!!! Why add ING to PAIN to create a verb that's not only useless but non-existent? You can say 'My stomach aches' or 'I feel pain in my stomach'.

The following are more of Oral English (correct pronunciation; that's speaking right).

Pronouncing FEBRUARY as 'FEBUARY'. When you pronounce this word, the 'U' and 'A' are to be silent. Pronounce it as if you are saying 'FEBRY'.

9) When you pronounce WEDNESDAY, the 'D' should be silent. It should come as 'WENSDAY'.

10) When you pronounce POLICE, the 'O' should be silent. It should come as 'Plice'.

Godbless!

OP no vex o.
is it neighbourhood shop or neighbourhood's shop

weblord1900:
OP no vex o.
is it neighbourhood shop or neighbourhood's shop

I saw it coming...before Moses, there was Jesus. What you saw up there is correct! There is no need for an apostrophe.

correct op. I just learnt something new now . Its FUNNYGUY again.

Thanks a lot @op, as a masscomm student my English needs to be near perfect and with this, I've learnt new stuffs and I'll keep my spoken English in check

Funnyguy83:
correct op. I just learnt something new now .

Thanks. We all learn everyday!

Opistorincos:
Thanks a lot @op, as a masscomm student my English needs to be near perfect and with this, I've learnt new stuffs and I'll keep my spoken English in check

Thank you; I appreciate

Fynestboi, Richiez, olawalebabs...let's promote learning on this platform. This is an educative stuff. We are all learning. There are people who this post might help. Thanks!

Who English don epp for Nigeria? Leave matter for dem Dogara and d polithiefcians

LOVEGINO:
Who English don epp for Nigeria? Leave matter for dem Dogara and d polithiefcians

That's why most of you fail job interviews!

That you no 1 and 2 is crap!!!!!....there is absolutely nothing wrong in saying who is that?..who is it sometimes is even demeaning,as it is used for animals or inanimate entities.my advise to anyone just saying who is that ,is that such individual should use''please".because it might be an elder...say who is that please? Or please,who is that?...you could also say who is there ,please?..

To your number 2,there are questions that we call yes or no questions,therefore telling me to answer in full sentence sounds funny,if someone should ask me;are you at home? And I answer yes.what's wrong with that!!!!....am I not clear enough?...language is all about competence and performance....comprehension is paramount....Nice points from 3 though

babyfaceafrica:
That you no 1 and 2 is crap!!!!!....there is absolutely nothing wrong in saying who is that?..who is it sometimes is even demeaning,as it is used for animals or inanimate entities.my advise to anyone just saying who is that ,is that such individual should use''please".because it might be an elder...say who is that please? Or please,who is that?...you could also say who is there ,please?..

To your number 2,there are questions that we call yes or no questions,therefore telling me to answer in full sentence sound funny.If someone should as me,are you at home? And I answer yes.what's wrong with that!!!!....am I not clear enough?...language is all about competence and performance....comprehension is paramount....Nice points from 3 though

Pick up English Grammar books and see if you are not entirely wrong for saying the first and second points are wrong! You don't just sit somewhere and assume that what someone has posted is wrong without you doing any research to find out the facts! I challenge you today to do better than this. Are you trying to tell me that you know English more than the English man? Who introduced the language to you? Was it introduced to you by your ancestors? Or you think this is African tradition we are discussing?

learn a new thing today

Cephydeen:
learn a new thing today

Thanks

Rapmoney:
Pick up English Grammar books and see if you are not entirely wrong for saying the first and second points are wrong! You don't just sit somewhere and assume that what someone has posted is wrong without you doing any research to find out the facts! I challenge you today to do better than this. Are you trying to tell me that you know English more than the English man? Who introduced the language to you? Was it introduced to you by your ancestors? Or you think this is African tradition we are discussing?

There is more to language than picking up English grammar books? Even the English man himself is confused?why do we have various shades of English? ,the Briton has his own version(even within Britain the variant someone from newcastle(Toon) speak is different from the liverpool (scouse)),while the American(AME) has its own,likewise the Canadians and Aussies!!!...My friend even the English that you so much defend is an accumulation of different indo-germanic languages.English is crap!!!!!!....what do they have?...see different dictionaries with different phonetic transcriptions all by renowned linguist and English scholars!!!!.....Just go and sit down!!!!!....Speak and be understood...yeye

babyfaceafrica:
There is more to language than picking up English grammar books? Even the English man himself is confused?why do we have various shades of English ,the Briton has his own version(even within Britain the variant someone from newcastle(scouse) speaks is different from the liverpoon(toon)),while the Americans has its own,likewise the Canadians and Aussies!!!...My friend even the English that you so much defend is an accumulation of different of indo-germanic languages.English is crap!!!!!!....what do they have?...see different dictionaries with different phonetic transcriptions all by renowned linguist and English scholars!!!!.....Just go and sit down!!!!!....Speak and be understood...yeye

Chill and take a glass of water. Sorry, you can claim to have more knowledge than the English man when it comes to your local language! Not on this one! Bye!

Rapmoney:
Chill and take a glass of water. Sorry, you can claim to have more knowledge than the English man when it comes to your local language! Not on this one! Bye!

yimu

Op
Enlightening or enlightning

thanks Op, I will save that

abeg leave am for the QUEEN

2) Answering a question with just a simple YES or NO only. This is very wrong. Example1: 'Do you work on Sundays'? Instead of answering 'No', you should say 'No, I don't'. Example2: 'Do you know him'? Instead of saying just 'Yes' if you know who the first speaker is referring to, you should say 'Yes, I do'. That makes it a complete answer.

Answering question with "yes" or "no" is not "grammatical blunder" as your title says.

You may say it is not the best way to answer someone, but it is not a blunder. It's perfectly grammatically correct.

Here's one I hear too often---[size=18pt]"DID NEPA BROUGHT THE LIGHT?"[/size]

I'll be like...https://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/OoOoo.gif

Rapmoney you try
Nice

Nice info


But that Police own go hard to correct oh

u mean grammar like "shortnicker"

op leave us is it your grammer?