₦airaland Forum

English can be rather tricky sometimes, particularly for nonnative speakers all over the world. Moreover, it is even quite common for native speakers from countries such as USA, England, New Zealand, Australia and so on, to make major or minor errors sometimes in both spoken and written English too. One major key is to understand the rules of using different words of vocabulary and grammar structure in general; to make our expressions just right.

Many of us may not necessarily need to start reading grammar books or listening to audios due to the lack of time and other personal reasons to do that. However, if your studies or work demands a reasonable level of mastery of the English language (both written and spoken), then I suppose it won't be a bad idea to slug it out with few materials that can help smoothen it out. I quite need that personally as an educationist, and above all, as a christian, I do witness for Jesus every now and then.

Right, without further ado, let's take a quick look at some common errors in English:

1.
a) He has headache. WRONG

b) He has a headache. RIGHT

*Headache is countable; it's 'a pain' in ones head, and it's also used to describe 'a big trouble'.

2.
a) I am one of the staffs here. WRONG

b) I am one of the members of staff here. RIGHT

c) I am one of the staff here. RIGHT

*Staff, like army, personnel, committee is a group of people: does not refer to one person, and should not have an 's' at the end. Hence, it's wrong to say staffs or personnels, etcetera.

3.
a) The exercise has just finished 'all together'. WRONG

It should be 'altogether'. Altogether means completely or finished completely, whereas, 'all together' means everything or everyone.

Example sentences:

1. Are you all together? (With each other as friends or company) RIGHT
2. Put them all together. RIGHT
3. The system is dead altogether. RIGHT

4.
a) Should in case you see him, please tell him. WRONG

b) Should you see him, please tell him. RIGHT

c) In case you see him, please tell him. RIGHT
One should be used at a time, the same goes for 'so and therefore'.
Example:
So therefore, I shall go... WRONG
Therefore, I shall go... RIGHT
So, I shall go... RIGHT

*In case NOT 'Incase' (spelling)

5.

Alright: This is commonly seen, but the right form is 'all right'.

6.

Atimes: Like 'all right', the right form is 'at times'.
The same goes for ok--okay, etc. Some of these are simply chat-speak or social media language. It's essential to always use the right forms in official writings.

7.

a) Could you 'advice' me on this? WRONG

b) Could you give me some advices on this? WRONG

c) Could you 'advise' me on this? RIGHT

d) Could you give me some advice on this? RIGHT

*Advice is an uncountable noun, whereas, advise is a verb. Owing to the fact that advice is uncountable, you can't say advices or an advice; however, you could say, 'a piece of advice' or some advice.
Note: This goes for 'practice and practise' as well.
Get it? Right, excellent!


Hopefully, you've learnt and understood a couple of things here. It's however advisable to always practise as much as you can.
Feel free to share this with others if need be... Peace be with you.



Akande Bamidele David is a follower of Jesus; an educationist with a certain zest.

Headache is countable. Issokay

waxyung:
Headache is countable. Issokay

Yes, it is friend: grammatically or semantically.
Is money countable? No, not grammatically; you can have 2 naira NOT 2 monies.

Peace be with you.

davidinchrist:
Yes, it is friend: grammatically or semantically.
Is money uncountable? No, not grammatically; you can have 2 naira NOT 2 monies.

Peace be with you.

No wonder my friend had two headaches yesterday

waxyung:
No wonder my friend had two headaches yesterday

Now that sounds funny but actually correct... Sorry, I meant, 'is money countable' up there not uncountable; modified already.

Culled from Learner's Dictionary
Question

Is "headache" a count noun?

Answer

Question

Is headache a countable noun? How about toothache? Andstomachache? – Limuzi, China

 

Answer

A count noun (or "countable noun" is a noun that can be counted, can be plural, and can be used with both singular and plural nouns.Headache, toothache, andstomachache are all count nouns because they meet those three criteria, as shown in the examples below.

If you keep complaining ofstomachaches, I’m going to take you to the doctor. (stomachaches is plural)I feel fine today, but I had twobad headaches this week. (two + headaches)Toothaches are more common in this population. (toothaches + plural verb)

These “ache words” are more commonly used in their singular form, probably because people have only one ache at a time, but what matters is that these words do have a plural form and can be used with a plural verb.

Peace be with you.

Cat Idioms...

Politely disagreeing...