These are common errors
made by second learners of English, especially Nigerian speakers of the English
Language. It is also important to state that no one is immune to making errors
when learning, writing or speaking the English language, but you should always
ensure that you don't repeat the following errors after learning their correct
forms:
1. Don't Say:
You're taking it personal. Say: You're taking it personally.
Reason: "Personal" is
an adjective, so it can't qualify or modify the verb "taking" in the
sentence. "Personally" is in the right position to do so since it is
an adverb. An adverb modifies a verbs, adjectives and fellow adverbs.
2. Don't Say:
The reason is because... Say: The reason is that... Or Say: It is because... (depending on the
sentence structure).
Reason: "Because" is
used to state a reason or cause. Therefore, placing both words together is
somewhat tautological.
3. Don't Say:
Get my stuffs ready. Say: Get my stuff ready (regardless of the number).
Reason: Like
"luggage", the word "stuff" does not take a plural marker.
It remains "stuff" irrespective of the number.
4. Don't ever use
"severally" to mean "several times" because both words are
semantically different. Whereas ‘several times’ means ‘many times’, ‘severally’ means ‘individually’ or ‘separately’.
5. Don't say:
My names are... Say: My name is...
Reason: The number of words in
your name collectively projects your identity whether your name has three
or more words. If you can't say, ‘The titles of the book ARE The
English language in Nigeria’, you shouldn't say, ‘My names ARE Tammy
Trust Reuben.’ Just like the name of a person, the title of a book consists of
several words, but we don't pluralize the title of a book because of the number
of words it is made up of. We usually say, ‘The title of the book is...’ Professionally,
we say it is a singular noun phrase or a collective noun hence doesn't need a
plural verb.
Here is another way to look
at its usage. Can you say, ‘Tammy Trust
Reuben ARE the owner of the car’? No! This is because Tammy Trust Reuben refers to one person despite the number of words
that make up the name. But you can confidently say, ‘Tammy Trust Reuben IS the owner of the car.’ Therefore, it should
be "my name is...", not otherwise.
6. Don't Say:
There is no two ways about it. Say: There are no two ways about it.
Reason: A plural noun should
take a plural verb. Therefore, "two ways" should take ‘are’, not ‘is’.
7. When travelling by
bus, Say: I'm on the bus. Don't Say: I'm in the bus. Click here to read the reason.
8. Don't Say:
Lacking behind. Say: Lagging behind.
Reason: "lacking
behind" is the Nigerian version of the standard expression, "lagging
behind".
9. Don't say:
Crack your brain. Say: Wrack/Rack your brain.
Reason: Your brain is not a
wall.
10. Don't say:
Don't repeat that again. Say: Don't repeat
that.
Reason: The use of ‘repeat’ and
‘again’ makes the sentence somewhat tautological.
11. Don't say:
The book comprises of three chapters. Say: The book comprises three
chapters. Or Say: The book is comprised of three chapters.
Reason: Unlike ‘consist’,
‘comprise’ does not collocate with the preposition ‘of’. However, there is an
exception to this rule. When ‘comprise’ takes its past participle form as a
result of a BE-verb preceding it, it
can collocate with the preposition ‘of’. The "be" verb has eight
variants: be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been. Therefore, we can also say,
‘The books are comprised of...’,
‘The books were comprised of...’ and
so on. Once you take any of these eight variants and place it before the verb,
‘comprise’, you get ‘comprised’, which can collocate with ‘of’, thereby giving
you ‘comprised of’. This is the only exception.
12. Don't say:
I forgot my phone at home. Say: I left my phone at home.
Reason: When you use the verb
"forget", you don't state the place where you left the item.
13. Don't say:
Letterhead paper. Say: Letterhead.
Reason: One of the definitions
of letterhead is ‘a paper marked
with letterhead.’ Therefore, adding ‘paper’ to the word ‘letterhead’ is a
needless repetition.
14. Don't say:
I have a running nose. Say: I have a runny nose.
Reason: As regards this,
‘runny’ is the correct adjective, not ‘running’. Moreover, your nose is not an
athlete. Lol!
15. Did you know that the
word ‘copious’ has nothing to do with ‘copy’? ‘Copious’ means vast in quantity,
e.g., copious examples. English can be crazy at times.
16. Don't Say:
ATM Machine, GTB Bank, PIN Number, BVN Number etc. Say: ATM, GTB, PIN,
BVN etc.
Reason: The last word in each
of these abbreviations is a reduplication of the final letter in each of the
abbreviations. For example, "ATM Machine" can be rewritten as
"Automated Teller Machine Machine".
17. The principal invited
my friend and ...... to his office.
(a) I (correct)
(b) Me (wrong)
Reason: You use ‘me’ if the
nouns/pronouns can be replaced with ‘us’ whereas you use ‘I’ if they can be
replaced with ‘we’.
Now let's analyse the
sentence: ‘The principal invited my friend and ME to his office.’
The above sentence can as
well be written as: ‘The principal invited US to his office.’
You can see that ‘my
friend’ and ‘me’ have been replaced with ‘us’ without altering the
grammaticality or meaning of the sentence. You can't say, ‘The principal invited
WE to his office’ because ‘we’ cannot replace ‘my friend’ and ‘me’. It can only replace ‘my friend’ and ‘I’.
You can also get the
right pronoun to use by looking at the sentence from this angle. Can you say, ‘The
principal invited I to his office’ if you remove ‘my friend and’ from the sentence? The answer is NO. But you can
say, ‘The principal invited ME to his office’ if you delete ‘my friend and’ from the sentence.
Therefore, ‘me’ is the correct option!
18. Please, note that you
don't ‘WRECK HAVOC’. You WREAK HAVOC.
19. Don’t Say: Heavy Downpour. Just
Say: Downpour.
‘Downpour’ already means
‘a heavy rain’. Therefore, it is unnecessary to describe it with
"heavy".
20. The word is CAPSIZE,
not CAPSIDE. Are you still wondering? I mean a boat does not CAPSIDE, but
CAPSIZES.
21. When you are getting
fatter, you are GAINING WEIGHT, not ADDING WEIGHT. ‘Adding weight’ does not
mean getting fatter.
22. I don't like her, TALK LESS OF making
friends with her. (Wrong)
I don't like her, LET
ALONE/MUCH LESS making friends with her. (Correct)
Avoid the use of ‘Talk
less of’.
23. How have you been
saying this?
As at when due. (Wrong)
As and when due. (Correct)
24. Don't Say: ‘Should in case...’ Either
Say: ‘Should’ or ‘In case’
Example: Should it rain.../In case it rains...
Not: Should in case it rains...
25. Who is fooling WHO? (Wrong)
Who is fooling WHOM?
(Correct)
Use ‘who’ if it can be
replaced with ‘he/she/they’. And use ‘whom’ if it can be replaced with
‘him/her/them’. ‘Who is fooling whom’ is correct because the sentence can
be rewritten as ‘Who is fooling him/her/them?’
26. Which is your school
of thought?
Pump and plain. (Wrong)
Prompt and plain.
(Correct)
27. Don't Say: I ‘intentionally pretended’ I didn't see him. Say: I pretended I didn't see him.
Reason: ‘Pretence’ is something that is done intentionally.
28. Have you ever
wondered why your meals are always not tasty? You've been making use of
‘GROUNDED PEPPER’ instead of ‘GROUND PEPPER’. Always say, ‘Ground pepper’.
29. Police IS your friend. (Wrong)
Police ARE your friends. (Correct)
The policeman is my friend. (Correct)
30. Next time, Say: It slipped/escaped my mind. Don't
Say: It
skipped my mind.
31. A European. (Correct)
An European. (Wrong)
32. Dear choristers, is
it "The most Excellency is Jesus..." or "The most excellent king
is Jesus..."? Please, the latter is very correct.
33. I hear most people
sing, "I searched all over; I COULDN'T find NOBODY..." This means
you found someone. Always avoid the use of double negatives in English. Say: ‘...I could find nobody...’ or
‘...I couldn’t find anybody...’
34. If you're educated
but still pronounce or spell FORK as "FERK", you are not
ignorant. You are absolutely corrupt. The word, ‘fork’, is pronounced as
spelt. So, clear your negative thoughts. Lol!
35. Don't Say: I have rang the bell. Say: I have rung the bell.
Always use the past
participle of the main verb after the auxiliary verb, ‘have’.
36. Don't Say: I was OPPORTUNED to meet him in person. Say: I had an opportunity to meet him in
person. ‘Opportune’ is not a verb. It is an adjective.
37. Don't Say: The President CASTED his vote yesterday. Say: The President CAST his vote
yesterday. ‘Cast’ is an irregular verb. Irregular verbs are verbs that do not
form their past and past participle forms with the addition of ‘d’, ‘ed’, ‘ied’
and ‘t’.
38. You apportion BLAME,
not 'blames'. 'Blame', in this regard, is an uncountable noun; thus, it does
not accept a plural marker.
39. ‘It's a shame’
doesn't mean ‘you should feel embarrassed or ashamed over something.’ It simply
means ‘It's unfortunate.’ For example: It’s a shame you lost your purse.
40. The man is cunning,
not CUNNY; he takes things (too) seriously, not (too) SERIOUS. Learn to use
these words correctly!
41. A student who is
about to graduate or receive a degree is called a GRADUAND, not a
"GRADUANT."
42. Which have you been
saying?
OIL MAY MARKET. (Wrong)
or
OIL MILL MARKET.
(Correct)
43. Say: ‘On
a platter’ or ‘On a silver platter.’ Don't Say: On a platter of
gold.
Example: Tammy got his
admission on a (silver) platter.
44. Did you know that the
letter 'f' in 'OF' is pronounced /v/, not /f/? Yes! This simply means that 'OF'
is pronounced /ov/, not the way it is spelt.
45. How have you been
writing this?
In other to (Wrong)
In order to (Correct)
Example: "I teach
people in order to learn."
46. Please, note that
‘fiancé’ and ‘fiancée’ are pronounced the same way: /fi-on-say/ or /fi-an-say/.
47. How have you been
writing this?
Inspite of (Wrong)
In spite of (Correct)
48. Do you use "wicked"
as a verb? For example, ‘You like to wicked someone. If you wicked me, I will
wicked you.’ Please, STOP IT.
49. Your smartphone has a
TOUCHSCREEN, not a ‘SCREEN TOUCH’. Stop saying ‘SCREEN TOUCH’.
50. Father, may
affliction never rise up the second time in the mouths of those who still make
use of this expression: ‘She/He is jealousing me.’ LOL!
51. ‘Delve’ is the
appropriate term, not ‘dive.’ You don't DIVE into an issue or a topic (of
discussion); you DELVE into it.
52. If you still make
ends meet in spite of the hardship caressing the country,
Say: I am surviving.
Don't Say: I am managing.
53. Never spell ‘Good
luck’ as ‘Goodluck’ except you are referring to the former President of
Nigeria.
54. Did you know that the
correct idiom is, ‘Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know’?
There is no "angel" in this idiom.
55. IDIOM
(Never) bite more than
you can chew. (Wrong)
(Never) bite off more
than you can chew. (Correct)
56. You don't WET your
appetite; you WHET it.
Both words have the same
sound but different meanings and spellings. Take note of this when you write.
57. To ask someone who is
upset to calm down,
Say: Pull yourself
together.
Don't Say: Put yourself
together.
58. This is Nigeria where
someone can rain insults on you for saying they are LOCAL. Please, note that
"LOCAL" is not an insulting word.
59. As a student,
Don't Say: I'm running an MA
or a PhD programme.
Say: I (am) enrolled in
an MA or a PhD programme.
60. Don't say ‘The
shirt/trousers is BOGUS’ except it is fake. ‘BOGUS’ does not mean ‘oversize’;
it means fake or counterfeit.
61. As a student, you
don't OFFER a course; you TAKE a course. It is your institution that OFFERS a
course.
62. Before you ask
someone to shut up, try to know the difference between QUIET and QUITE! It is
'Keep QUIET’, not 'Keep QUITE.'
63. The rectangular metal
plates bearing an alphanumeric code, fixed to the front and rear of motor car
to show its identity as registered with the DVLA is called a NUMBER
PLATE/LICENSE PLATE, not a PLATE NUMBER.
64. How have you been
writing these words?
Continuous (Correct)
Continous (Wrong)
Pronunciation (Correct)
Proounciation (Wrong)
A lot (Correct)
Alot (Wrong)
At least (Correct)
Atleast (Wrong)
65. A herbalist isn’t the
same thing as a ‘native doctor’ or ‘babalawo’. In English, a ‘native doctor’ or
‘babalawo’ is called a witch doctor,
not a herbalist.
66. Always know that
‘teeth’ is the plural form of ‘tooth’.
Your teeth IS dirty. (Wrong)
Your teeth ARE dirty. (Correct)
Your tooth IS dirty. (Correct)
67. The word is
EMACIATE(D), not ‘maciate/mashirt’. I mean when someone is extremely thin and
weak because of illness or lack of food.
68. How have you been
writing this?
Complements of the season. (Wrong)
Compliments of the season. (Correct)
69. The plural form of
‘sister-in-law’ is ‘sisters-in-law’, not ‘sister-in-laws’.
70. Did you know that
only the buyer is called ‘a customer’ in Standard English? Therefore, it is
wrong to call the seller ‘a customer’.
71. You scratch your body
because it itches, not the other way round. Therefore, stop saying ‘My body is
scratching me.’
72. The flat scoop
with a short handle (in your house), into which dust, dirt and other materials
is conveyed with a brush or broom is called a dustpan, not a ‘parker, or ‘dirty parker’.
73. A child’s doll
designed to look like a baby is called a baby
doll, not ‘don baby’, ‘doll/dull baby’ or ‘tom baby’.
74. Don’t Say: The job is tasking. Say: The job is taxing.
75. Before you call
someone a ‘tout’, first check the meaning of lout. You might be using them interchangeably.
