₦airaland Forum

TuFab:
You said you've interacted with Brits and Americans and noticed their blunders? Like seriously?
Are u sure you're normal at all?
So you want to be more English than a British?
You should be ashamed of yourself that u can't speak ur indigenous language fluently, yet u carry another man's own on ur head.
You reek of inferiority complex.
You need a cure fast!!!

I swear I laughed hard while reading this.



Very funny...

Phccareers:
Good one OP. The correct way to have written your title is "Some grammatical mistakes you make and things you say WRONGLY". Pls take note of this for future purposes.

I left there ANGRILY not I left there angry.
He acted RIGHTLY not he acted right.
They did it GOOD.

The above are all adverbs describing the verbs that come before them.

Okay, let me explain it to you.

Wrong or Wrongly.

In informal language, which is often the natural thing, wrong can be used instead of wrongly, when it means "incorrectly" and comes after a verb or its object.


My name was spelt wrong.

What did I do wrong?

You pronounced it wrong.

You guessed wrong.


Wrongly is usually used before a past participle.

My name was wrongly spelt.

Seebrian:
OP, I need help on the use of might and may. Thanks.

Both can be used interchangeably in some contexts.

It has been explained here:

https://writingexplained.org/may-vs-might-difference

Nfora:
Thanks for listening

Thank you for listening

I thank you for listening

Thanking you for listening

Thanks

Thank you.

I thank you.

Will you thank me?

Will you be thanking me?

Won't you thank me?

Thank God

Give thanks to God

Help me to thank him

Help me thank him

OP Which of the above is/are correct?

All the sentences are correct depending on how you use them. But some are awkward, for example, saying "I thank you." is grammatically correct, but it's not common to say it.

I'd like to throw more light on the last two sentences.

"Help me thank him." and "Help me to thank him." are correct. Using "to" is not necessary at all. To me, it sounds more natural without it.

Herbephe1:
Op
which one is correct:
the "reason" I did it/ the "reason why " I did it

Both are fine, a lot of people think it's important to add "why", but it's not necessary.

mhmsadyq:
the verb - to make
The verb – to allow etc.

whenever "to" comes before a verb in a sentence,
the verbal word goes together with the "to" before it.
Such phrase is known as ADJUNCT in English. So in the sentence
This picture makes me TO remember my past.
the verb is "Make" while "TO remember" is an adjunct.
The sentence is also CORRECT.

Hahaha! It's wrong, dude. Sorry. Look up the meaning of "adjunct" again.

I guess you'd say this sentence is correct: I won't let you to go.

orlymat:
The writer used a lot of "we are used to..." I think this is wrong. Instead use "we do" or "we did,".

Thank u

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-m_used-be-used-to.htm

Sweetcho:
Another is using 'his' indiscriminately regardless of whom you are referring to . The amount of times I have read an article speaking of a female that has been littered with his instead of hers and vice versa

That's why some people now use "singular they". I do use it as well.

Instead of saying: "To each his own." I'd rather say: "To each their own."

Someone left their phone here.

Here's more information: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

Votukpa:
Just thought I should make some corrections.
I didn't do all of it but I'm sure you get the message.

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Oops! Off target, dude. Sorry.

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Chukwudi4naija:
I hope this 'helps' is wrong. It's rather, I hope this help. See subjunctive mood.

The verb "to hope" is not used with the subjunctive.

I hope this helps ✓

I hope this will help. ✓

Click on this link for more information: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/51076/hope-this-help-or-hope-this-helps

Saynotoapc:
Op is this sentence correct.
These are the good stuffs

Of course not.


This is the good stuff.

It doesn't matter whether you're referring to two or more things, it's always uncountable. If you're uncomfortable with it, then you should consider using more of "thing" - this noun is countable.

Rebuke:
Veebliz, are yhu saying to say "just an advice" is wrong then?

Yes, it is.

Say these instead:

Just a piece/word of advice.

Just some advice.

.

babseg:
Despite speaking "wrong" English language in Nigeria, some still made their way in to the Oxford English Language in January 2020

"Ember months" -- used to describe the last months of the year, usually from September to December -- has also been added, while "next tomorrow," meaning the day after tomorrow, also made the cut.

"To rub minds," which means to consult and work together, and "barbing salon" -- a place to get a haircut -- also feature.

Yeah! I know about that. These expressions are very cool to me and I use most of them.

adeiza4u:
Thank you for this piece. Though apparently, you wrote this from a prescriptive perspective of Grammar, not descriptive perspective of Grammar. If you apply structural syntax to parsing your submissions in number 1 to 4, you'll realize your observations as regard To infinitive phrase are invalid. To infinitive phrase is one that has many functionalities; it could function as an object to transitive verbs, compliments to intransitive verbs, and adverbial, and even object compliment. Secondly sir, I'll suggest you check the differences between Nigerian English (NE), and Standard British English(SBE)and importantly note their different grammatical nuances. Speaking from a linguistic and syntactical perspective though.

Did you mean something like:

It made it possible for me to do it? If not, I'd like you to give me some examples.

As regards Nigerian standard English and British English, I want you to tell me what the different grammatical nuances are. Both variants definitely have different items of vocabulary, but they have pretty much the same grammar rules.

Healthyway15:
Thanks for that piece of information... I would like you to say something concerning what someone with username 'Ionikit' said about 'reply' in page 2.

Done.

Kenmatt:
OP, you said you have spoken with so many British and Americans and noticed some errors in grammar they use.

Please, I am interested in knowing some of these English grammatical blunders these British and Americans make.

Do you think every native English speaker is perfect at grammar?

I've interacted with some of them on WhatsApp and Facebook, so I know what I'm talking about.

It wouldn't make sense to always take a screenshot of every grammatical mistake I see. But I've attached a screenshot below, say "hi" when you see it.

lonikit:
the explanation of "reply" is wrong. "reply" can be used both transitively and intransitively. so, preposition is not needed when it is transitive. it is correct to say: the teacher replied the student.

Oops! You're wrong. I'm sorry.

Here is the correct thing to say:

The teacher replied to the student.

lonikit:
"reply" is both transitive and intransive verb. so, u are wrong.

You're mistaken. I'm sorry.

Olayinka8793:
My biggest grammatical headache in English remains the correct use of the words : "being" and "been".
Still yet t master those two bastards.

What is the difference between "been" and "being"?

Use "been" after the verb "to have" (e.g., has, have, had, having). For example:
I have been to Paris.
The puma has been seen in the city.

Use "being" after the verb "to be" (e.g., am, is, are, was, were). For example:
The greatest benefit is being in Paris.
He was being rude.

Here is the source: https://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/being_been.htm

Click on the link for more information.

Gadafii:
Op you are posting in the rubbish, we have every right to speak how we are comfortable with in as much as we are not cursing or insulting anyone

Shakespeare used a lot of words,sentences,phrases etc that were not grammatically right in his time, now some of those words are in the Dictionaries.

I owe no one Good English,are we understood?

I knew someone like this would comment. I'm afraid you might need to read everything again. Shakespeare spoke older English, there's a huge difference between that and modern English. What you hear nowadays is pretty much modern English, so saying he used incorrect grammar in his time is wrong, get it? The language has evolved over the years but much of its grammar hasn't changed, so what you've stated doesn't make any sense at all.

mattbass:
Sorry bro... When do we use "Advise" in a sentence since it is a verb??

Okay, I will explain it to you.

Since Advise is a verb, you will most likely need to use a subject before it.

Check out these examples:

I have advised you too many times.

My mum always advises me whenever I do something wrong.

I would strongly advise against going out on your own.

They advised that he go back to his country.



Now, as a noun:


Dad, I have found two houses, but I'm confused about which one to choose so I need your advice.

They give advice to people who are about to get married.

Take my advice, don't get married.

I need some advice on how to get my head around it.


Both in a sentence:

We were advised to seek legal advice.

Lisa started giving advice after being advised by her friend.



Seun Lalasticlala Mynd44 please.

Some grammatical mistakes you make and things you say wrong.


Hello, everyone. Before I shoot, I’d like you to read this:

After learning some Spanish and having to correct a lot of English in WhatsApp groups, I’ve discovered that some of us say some things wrong. Some like saying things like “English is not our language”, “Who English epp? (Who does English help?)” “Does it add money to my account?” especially when you correct them. But most of these are said out of ignorance. English is not your language, but why do you use it? English has helped a lot of people, YES! It has. Why else do we use English to teach at school? In fact, more research has been done in English than in any other language, 98% of scientific materials published today are in English, I’m not saying that other languages are inferior, but the truth is that, some people do need to stop being ignorant and face it – English really DOES matter…and YES – it can add money to your account in so many ways; you think about it.

Yeah, I feel like it’s important for me to add this: I’ve come across some Nigerians who speak English as their first tongue; I do as well, so the idea of saying English is not our language doesn’t make any sense at all. I have no problem with anybody speaking any indigenous language.

The English language is not a foreign language to Nigeria, it has mixed with our cultures in a unique way, and therefore has become ours – one of our languages, even though I don’t speak the language of my indigenous tribe, I still have some of their cultural values instilled in me, I cherish and respect them.

Aha! I must not skip this; I've interacted with Brits and Americans on the internet, so I see them make silly mistakes as well, but the ones I've written here are some of the mistakes I see my country people make often. Let’s see some of the grammatical mistakes people make and things they say wrong.

1) The verb – to make;

Of course, you would have definitely seen some people make mistakes with this verb, it’s common to hear people say things like:
“This picture makes me TO remember my past.”
“Eating all the time will make you TO be fat.”
“If you use this medicine, it will make you TO sleep.”
I am sure you’ve already spotted the mistake, right? – Yeah, I made it obvious. The verb – to make doesn’t take “to” after it, so the correct thing to say in each sentence above is: “This picture makes me remember my past.”
“Eating all the time will make you (be) fat” – in this kind of sentence, it’s more common and therefore more natural to skip the verb – “be”.
“If you use this medicine, it will make you sleep.”
The only time it’s fine to use “TO” after the verb – to make is when it is in the passive; for example, “I was made TO kneel down yesterday at school.” NOT I was made kneel down yesterday at school.”


2) The verb – to enable;

This verb requires “to” after it, but it is so amusing that some people would leave out “to” using this verb but would use it with the verb “to make”.
Here is an example: “This software will enable you TO work on your computer efficiently.” NOT “This software will enable you work on your computer efficiently.”


3) The verb – to allow;

This verb also requires “to” after it.
Here is an example: “My parents will not allow me TO go out today.” NOT “My parents will not allow me go out today.”


4) The verb – to reply;

The mistakes made with this verb are pretty common, this verb is intransitive, which means it cannot go with a direct object, therefore, it needs a preposition for it to make sense, and therefore, you reply TO somebody or TO something. NOT reply somebody or something.
“Why didn’t you reply my messages?” is WRONG. The correct thing is: “Why didn’t you reply TO my messages?”


5) The idiom – to be about to do something;

Hahahaha , I remember hearing someone say: “I was just about asking same thing.” Well, the correct thing is: “I was just about TO ask you THE same thing.”


6) The noun – stuff;

Yeah! This particular noun is such a pain in the ass for some people, it is uncountable, so, it cannot take an S after it and an indefinite article can’t be used with it either.
“Please give me five minutes – I want to get my STUFF” NOT “Please give me five minutes – I want to get my stuffs”.
“Where did you get all this stuff?” NOT “Where did you get all these stuffs?”
“Where IS all my stuff?” NOT “Where are all my stuffs?”
“This is good stuff.” NOT “This is a good stuff.”
The only context where stuff can take an S is if it’s used as a verb: “Ade always stuffs himself with so much junk food.”


7) The nouns – slang and jargon;

English is weird, yeah…but it’s not hard. So many people make mistakes with these nouns - These nouns are uncountable – yeah you read it right; UNCOUNTABLE.
I remember reading an article sometime ago, it had: “20 slangs you will hear in Nigeria” as its title: If you’ve been reading this article carefully, you will have known what is wrong with the sentence.
Numbers can’t be used with uncountable nouns, so the correct thing is: “20 SLANG WORDS/EXPRESSIONS/TERMS you will hear in Nigeria”. Or simply put: “Some slang you will hear in Nigeria.” – So you can use “some” with uncountable nouns and countable nouns as well.
“That is internet slang.” NOT “That is an internet slang.”
“Too much slang was used in the movie.” NOT “Too many slangs were used in the movie.”
“His messages were full of jargon.” NOT “His messages were full of jargons.”


8 ) The noun – information;

I don’t need to explain this, just keep it in mind that it is UNCOUNTABLE.
“Thank you for that information.” NOT “Thank you for those informations”
“What a wonderful piece of information!” NOT “What a wonderful information!”
“I want to share some information with you.” NOT “I want to share you an information.”


9) The noun – advice;

This is uncountable as well: make sure you do not mistake it for the verb: advise. The noun is spelt with a C and the verb with an S.
“I need (some) advice from you.” NOT “I need some advices from you.” NOT “I need an advice from you.”


10) All what;

If you’ve been saying this, then you need to STOP saying it! This is WRONG! It should be either: “All (that)” or “All OF what”.
“All (that) I’ve been saying is that….” NOT “All what I’ve been saying is that…”


11) The noun – headache;

Just as people make mistakes with uncountable nouns, they also do the same thing with countable nouns – it’s very common to hear “I am having headache”. This sentence is wrong. It should be: “I have a headache.”


12) The noun – news;

This is an uncountable noun.
“This is good news!” NOT “This is a good news!”


13) The expression – in the twinkling of an eye;

I’ve heard and seen people say: “In the twinkle of an eye.” – This is wrong of course: it should be: “In the twinkling of an eye.”


14) The famous – “I don’t get”.

Okay, I don’t want to be too annoying because I KNOW that some will get angry reading this article, but guess what? Learning never ends. We are used to saying this, but you should know that the verb – to get in this case is transitive, so it needs an object to sound okay.
So I recommend that you start saying: “I don’t get IT.”
Saying “I don’t get” has always sounded weird to me, I’ve asked some foreigners just to be sure it's not just me but they said it sounded weird to them as well.


15) The noun – furniture;

I usually see furniture makers put up a sign like “ABC furnitures.”
This doesn’t work in English; it’s an uncountable noun, so you already know the drill.
“They like playing with furniture.” NOT “They like playing with furnitures.”


I am Nigerian, so I speak more Nigerian English, I don’t hate it, I just like when people make good use of it because I know what it feels like when you murder someone's language. When I was in junior secondary school, I remember saying something wrong in Yoruba while I was playing with my friends, you needed to have seen how three of them were throwing corrections at me. (
There are so many people who care about mistakes – especially in English.
These are just a few of the mistakes. I could keep on writing and writing, but I will leave it here.
So, I hope this helps your English if you’ve been saying it wrong.




Ermmmm, one last thing before the final full stop: This is for people who can’t do without starting a sentence with or using “Am”; What exactly is wrong? Please stop making this horrible mistake, if you can’t use the contraction: “I’m…” then use: “I am…”
It’s not hard work. The pronoun I is just one letter.

Thanks for reading.

Veebliz.

GrammarNazi1:
Mine...

I'm happy to see a fellow grammarian.

Micky002:
There is this scenerio i usually observe with my landlord and his children which always makes me curious and also raises unanswered question within me. This prompt me to post this here.

My landlord is idoma by tribe and has six grown up children, three boys and three girls. He should be in his late fifties or early sixties. Here is the issue.

This man despite having grown up boys and girls always do his chores by himself while the children will be lazying around engaging in trivial discussions. This man will wash his clothes by himself while his girls, the youngest being twenty years of age will be chatting with friends in the compound. This man will go to fetch water with kegs using a wheel barrow every morning while the boys will sit outside doing nothing.

Meanwhile the water he fetches is used by every member of the house. This man can go up to three to four trips while the boys will be busy arguing about Manchester United and Chelsea with friends.

What baffles me the most is that they see nothing wrong in this because the man doesn't complain and his wife, their mother is also witnessing everything.

My question now is, is this an acceptable norm in their (Idoma) culture? For a father to be doing the house chores while the children will be playing. I'm asking because where I come from, it is unacceptable.

I'm Idoma and we don't do this, it's wrong. There's more to this than meets the eye.

Treasure28:
What's the name?

I remember this very animal, very delicious meat.
It's a bit slow. I weakened it by kicking it and had to use a sharp cutlass to destroy its skull before it could die.

englishmart:
Well, if I were a teacher, I would be proud of it.

Me too.

MRAKBEE:
I have heard one or two persons use take instead of teach in sentences.
For example, instead of saying "I teach Mathematics" someone would rather say "I take Mathematics"
I know that it means to offer a particular subject but does it also make sense when you use it in the above context. Nigerian English can be very tricky sometimes.
Englishmart, caplocked, n others make una come here oh..

No, it doesn't work in that context, I take mathematics sounds more like you're saying: I study mathematics.


Of course, "to take" can be used instead of "to teach" if you use it this way: I take students for mathematics.

You can also use it instead of "to lead": "I took the morning service" instead of "I led the morning service".


"To take" can also mean "to do an exam or a test".

nairalandposter:
How could you say pidgin English is not native Nigerian but English itself is?

Are you joking?

Anyway, English speaking Nigerians are not native speakers, perhaps you mean Nigerians for whom English is their first language? Trying to understand your point.

In the African context, native refers to indigenes associated with a country, so using the term native speaker in reference to Nigerian speakers of English, isn't the same connotation as what you're inferring. You still have to quantify and explain your meaning.

Exactly, I was referring to Nigerians whose first language is English, plus I wasn't joking, being a Nigerian doesn't mean you can't speak English as your native language regardless of the cultural setting.


I recommend you look up what "native speaker" means.

African context, or whatever I'm still trying to get your point.

Basically, the point you've made is more like saying that Americans, Australians...e.t.c. aren't native English speakers.

Sleekbaby:
Please I need urgent and clear answer on this. An assignment was given to my niece to complete the following sentences with (a) or (an) and one of the questions is
-------------- happy girl.

I told her to fill it with (a) but the teacher marked it bad, I wrote on the book and asked if the "H" is silent in happy and she wrote back that it is a vowel.

I want to go there tomorrow but I want different views on it first.

Trust me, it's always "a happy..." in every standard variant of English.

The (H) is not silent AT ALL.