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The word "Cat walk" may mean to you a style of walk by models. Some people go as far as saying "cat walking" "to catwalk" and even " cat walked". Know that there is no English expression as "cat walking", "to catwalk" or even "cat walked" because the word is not a verb.Catwalk is a long narrow stage that models walk along in a fashion show. It is also a narrow path raised above the ground for workers to walk outside a building that is being built.

Do you know that there is no English word as "deep freezer"? The appropriate word in English is freezer or deep freeze.
You can confirm this in your dictionary.

We often here this expression "god sent". There is no English word as "god sent". It is often used to imply a person,in other words, a helper.
The appropriate word is godsend. It means something happening at the most needed time and not a person.
You can say,"This weather is godsend for the sellers of cold water.

Do you know that these statements are grammatically correct?
1.You know no English
2.I have drunk it.
3.Have you sung the song?
Okay.Let me explain this.
Anytime the auxiliary verb has/have/had is used, the participle form of the verb agrees with it
Go-Went-Gone
Drink-Drank-Drunk
You say Have you gone and not Have you went
So also is Have you drunk it and not Have you drank it
Many have been saying Have you drank it ?

If I say I want to befriended you,how will you feel?We mostly believe that befriending someone means to have a love affair with someone.It means to make friends with a person lower than you in age or position.

The word "gold digger" is often used to mean a greedy person. In many Nigerian movies,men are usually portrayed as gold diggers.
Know this now and to make the mistake again.
A gold digger is an attractive woman who uses her looks to get money from rich men.
I believe that we are really learning new things.

I am usually amazed when people say,"I am a hustler."They say this to mean that they struggle to make ends meet.This may interest you!
A hustler is a person who tries to trick people into giving him money or a prostitute.

This is for the young guys.You normally use this expression "parole". You say,"How far is that parole. Well,parole is a period that a prisoner is released before his/her period is finished in prison with the agreement of behaving well.How is this related to your meaning?

Grammatically, stative verbs are not expressed is gerund form.
Examples of stative verbs that indicate states and not actions are owe, hear, wish, trust, know, love and belong.
Don't say, I am owing you. Say,I owe you.
Don't say, I am hearing you. Say, I can hear you.

By gender classification, a noun can be masculine or feminine.
Husband-Wife
Dog-Bitch
Househusband-Housewife
Provide the feminine of these nouns
Ram
Gander
Peacock
Sultan
Manservant

Answers:
Ram-Ewe
Gander-Goose
Peacock-Peahen
Sultan-Sultana
Man-servant-Maid-servant

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A person who cheats is a cheat.
A person who gossips is a gossip.
A person who sponsors is a sponsor.
A person who cooks is a cook.
However, a dupe is not a person that dupes another person. A dupe is a person that is duped.
A person that dupes is also known as a cheat.

Drivers often use the word "traffic ate".They say,"You did not trafficate for me. They even use the word "trafficator".
The fact is this.The words trafficate and trafficator no longer exist in English.The right words to use are "indicate and indicator".

The two words "Maize" and "Corn" are not the same. Maize is British while corn is American. Corn,in British English, implies plants such as wheat, Barley and oats or their seeds.
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As Nigerians,we tend to pronounce all the letters in a word because our mother tongues are tonal.
These two words are pronounced the same way.....
ewe - you
prophet - profit
would - wood

Let's see who will correct these statements and provide the correct English versions
1.Health is wealth
2.Behind every successful man,there is a woman
3.Don't bite more than you can chew.
4.Heavens help those who help themselves
5.We are married for better for worse.
Answers:
1.Health is better than wealth.
2.Behind every successful man, there is a strong woman.
3.Don't bite off more than you chew.
4.God helps those who help themselves.
5.We are married for better or for worse.

If anybody tells you this,"I will take you out tomorrow."Always try to verify because it also means,"I will kill you tomorrow."

These three words pronounce, denounce and renounce usually change to nouns by dropping the letter 'o' withing before adding a suffix.
They become, pronunciation, denunciation and renunciation.

It is grammatically incorrect to say, "I want to off/on the generator, television, radio or other machines. Use the expression turn on/turn off.
Say,"I want to turn on/turn off the generator,radio,television or other machines.

Avoid saying "clap for him" because it means "help him to clap"
Say "Clap Him or Clap your hands for him"

People use the expression 'gist' to mean chat or private talk. Some people often say,'gisting', 'to gist' or even 'gisted'.
The word is not written as gist. It is usually written as 'the gist'. There is no English word as gisting, gisted, or to gist.
The gist is the main idea and meaning of what someone has said or written.

The two words "beautiful" and "pretty" must not be confused for each other. The two words are both adjective and they usually represent the look of a girl or woman and as well mean other things like good and pleasant.
Pretty is limited to the face alone.
Beautiful means extremely attractive.It is the overall look of a girl or woman.
You can say she looks pretty in her hair cut short.
She is beautiful.
Know the one you use for your lover(s)

Let's have some practice questions today.
1. It escaped -----, I am sorry. (me/my mind)
2. She---- on the bed for three days. (lay/laid)
3. I gave her a cheque---- five million. (of/for)
4. If I were----, I would do better. (him/he)
5. Ensure that you shoot---- sight. (at,/on).

Answers:
1. It escapes me.
2. She lay on the bed for three days.
3. I gave her a cheque for five million.
4. If I were he, I would do better.
5. Ensure that you shoot on sight.

The suffix "ed" in regular verbs is pronounced as "t" whenever it is preceded by the consonants "p,k,s,f,sh"
stopped-stopt
kicked- kickt
coughed-cought
washed-washt

I am not sure if you have been told this!
There is no English word as "key holder"
It is called "key ring"

Have you noticed the use of the expression "complimentary card" by people?
Do you use it also?
There is no English word as complimentary card.
The right word to use is "calling card" or "business card".

I read this in an advert,"Cheap handsets are sold here."
Handsets used to represent mobile phones.
This may interest you!
Handset is the part of the telephone that is held near the ear and mouth.
Or the outer part of a mobile phone which does not include the battery and the SIM card.
It means handsets represent of the phones peculiar to phone booths or a mobile phone without a battery and SIM.

I don't know if you know observe this.People use the expression handkerchief, hankie or tissue to mean even the piece of cloth worn on the head or round the neck.
Know this!
Handkerchief is a piece of cloth that is used for drying nose or eyes while "kerchief" is a square piece of cloth worn on the head or round the neck.

Are you a flasher?
A flasher is a man who entertains ladies with his nudity to get some money.

The word "chemist" can mean three things:
Somebody that studies chemistry
A place where drugs are sold
A person that sells drugs
You can say,"The chemist gave me the drugs in the chemist.

The expression "Tell the truth and let the devil be ashamed ." It may sound correct. The error in the sentence is known as a shift in voice.The sentence is a combination of an active voice "tell the truth" and a passive voice " let the devil be ashamed.This is not grammatical as the parallelism is faulty.
The correct expression is "Tell the truth and shame the devil."

Complete the following sentences with the options
1.I am angry----- your opinion.(at,with,on)
2.I saw him---- last year.(sometime,sometimes,some time)
3.----- drops of water make an ocean.(many,much,little)
4.Let you and---- be friends.(I,me,myself)

Answers
1.I am angry at your opinion.
You can only be angry with humans and at non humans
2.I saw him sometime last year.
Sometimes means rarely and some time means much time but sometime is a period of time in the past.
3.Many drops of water make an ocean.
Much and little only agree with non count nouns but drop is a count noun
4.Let you and me be friends.
Let means permit or allow.It can be followed by a verb in object form.I is in subject form.
5.Whom did you see in my office?
Who is only used for subjects and the question is on the object which is whom.

Are you one of those that introduce themselves as:"My names are James Chuks Okafor?"
This means that my name is James or Chuks or Okafor. In a formal gathering and even a serious conversation, this is not acceptable.
Use the expression,"My name is James Chuks Okafor."This indicates what I am known with.It also makes the noun proper. As James alone,Chuks alone and Okafor alone have some features of a common noun.

Correct the following sentences by changing some expressions in them
1.Certainly,the boy is a secret cult member.
2.Our lecturer berated all the gossipers and cheaters in class.
3.Nigeria is celebrating her one hundred years anniversary.
4.The youths of today are the future leaders of tomorrow.
5.This book comprises of ten chapters.

Corrections
1.Certainly,the boy is a cult member.
There is no such expression as "secret cult"
2.Our lecturer berated all the gossips and cheats in class.
3.Nigeria is celebrating her one hundred years
or her one hundred anniversary.
4.The youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow.
5.This book comprises ten chapters.

The word "banker" is usually used to indicate a person that works in a bank.
The word is not only related to banks but also means a player who is in charge of money in a gambling game.
However,the word BANKER,in relation to a bank,means a person who owns a bank or has an important job at a bank.
Used the word "bank worker" for people working in a bank but not in any of the categories mentioned.

I often hear this expression even on the electronic media:"Like I said before....".The statement is incorrect because the word "like" is not used to introduce a subordinate clause.
The correct statement should be:"As I said before..

People say,"There is a heavy traffic or the traffic is much."They use this to suggest a traffic jam or a hold up.
A heavy traffic or much traffic implies the movement of vehicles on the road as well as large number of vehicles on the road and this does not suggest a hold up.
Good morning and have a blessed holiday.
We were offline for three days due to some circumstances beyond us.
Our practice questions will be broadcast tomorrow.

This popular statement is often written as "first come,first serve" The correct version is " first come,first served".

The major use of the suffix "ly" is to convert an adjective into an adverb.
Serious- seriously
Personal-Personally

One of the expressions very common among us today is "instalmentally".
The word instalment is noun and never occurs as an adjective such as "instalmental".
The two words "instalmentally" and "instalmental" do not exist in English.
Don't say, "I will pay you instalmentally."
Say, "I will pay you by instalment."

Is it because the v-shaped flat shoes usually made of rubber slip and that's why we call them slippers or even bathroom slippers.Slippers are usually by the side of the bed.
They have a top that is usually with leather.
They are worn within an house.The v-shaped top shoes usually made of rubber or plastic worn by many of us to the bathroom or toilet or even in our compound as well at home are known as flipflops. I don't know how convenient this will be but that's the appropriate name especially for those interested in using the Standard English.

The word CATEGORY should be pronounced as/katigri/
Prophet as profit
Exam as /igzam/
Sachet as/sashei/
Estate as /isteit/

Iced Block", a popular phrase that can be seen all over Nigeria. When we say, "Iced water" it means that the water was iced but when we say "iced block" does that mean the block was iced?
The appropriate expression in the Standard British English is "block of ice".

Our use of English in Nigeria is worsened by what we read in some books and what we hear and see through the media to the extent that we use words that do not exist like:
invitee instead of guest
indigene instead of native
talkless instead of not to talk of

Let me share my experience in the classroom yesterday with you.
A student asked, "Is there any difference among the words,' offhead, offhand and by heart.?"
The word offhead is unEnglish.
Offhand means immediately,without time to think about it
-I can't remember offhand where the file is.
By heart, however, implies when one can remember everything about something.
-Actors have to learn their lines by heart.

If someone says,"That was a nail-biter. "What do you think of?
Hmmmmm...I can guess your thought. A person who bites the nail!
Well, know this!
Nail-biter is a very exciting story,film etc .
Nail-biting extremely exciting .
That was a nail-biting story.

You should be wondering why the word"late" is not used before the names of some people who are already dead. Like Adam, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and even Shakespeare.
Late is used for someone who died recently that people are not really aware of especially people that died a long time and it is obvious.
Note this tautology.
The widow of the late Mr Williams.
Everyone knows that Mr Williams is late that's why he has a widow.No need of using late.

Did you observe the omission of the verb in the phrasal verbs used in the following sentences:
1.Off the generator.
2.On the light.
3.Off your shoes before you enter.
The prepositions were used to function as verbs.The appropriate expressions should be:
1.Turn off the generator.
2.Switch/Turn on the light.
3.Take off your shoes before you enter.

These words may look alike and can be pronounced almost the same way.In usage,they belong to different parts of speech. The first part represents a noun and the second a verb
Advice - Advise
Licence - License
Practice- Practise
You can say,
1.I advise you to take my advice.
2.She will practise the practice.
3.It was licensed at the licence office.

The punctuation mark "apostrophe" is easy to use to mark a possession except for some words that original end in "s"
Consider the following names for the possession of a book:
1.James
2.Charles
3.Moses
4.Jesus
You write as
James's book
Charles's book
Moses' book
Jesus' book
The words Charles and James contain one syllable so the possession is marked by an apostrophe and an "s"
The words Moses and Jesus contain two syllables and sibilants/s,z/ so the possession is marked through an apostrophe.

One of the errors in the use of English today is overgeneralization.
The fact that a professional football player is called a FOOTBALLER does not imply that a good basketball player is basketballer.
The good player is called BALLER.

I ate to my satisfaction" is a popular expression among us today.
The appropriate statement should be,"I ate to my fill."

Do you normally say or hear people say, "I want to further my education?"
The speaker usually implies that he or she wants to go a higher institution of learning to continue his or her education.
However, the word, "further" ; as a verb, means to help something to develop or successful and not progressing with oneself.
She took a new job to further her education.
Further means promote.
It means, she took up a new job to promote her education.
If you say, "I want to further my education,it means you want to promote your education.
Our findings reveal that the phrase "further education"exists as one word.It means education for adults after leaving school but not a university.
Say, "I want to pursue a higher education instead.

On the high side is a phrase which is popularly used by people negotiating on the price of an item.
We are not here to say it is incorrect today. Don't be scared.
We want to say that there is a need to specify what is on the high side because we can also say,
on the big/small/heavy/tight etc. side as well.
Examples:
These shoes are a little on the tight side.
The trousers are a bit on the small side.

It is known that:
A person who teaches is a teacher
A person who writes is a writer
However, a person who vulcanizes is not a VULCANIZER.
The word VULCANIZER does not exist in English.
The appropriate word is FITTER or TYRE TECHNICIANS.

These two expressions look like an aspect of lexical tautology(repetition of words):
Reason why
Extreme end
Reason why is acceptable and it means reason that.
I don't know the reason why he behaves like that.
Extreme end emphasizes how far something or somebody is from the center.

I heard these and was wondering if everybody would identify the redundant prepositions:
1.I want to seek for knowledge.
2. I requested for some money.
3. We discussed about you.
4. He emphasized on the topic.
5. He demanded for his change.
The five sentences are incorrect. All the verbs in the sentences are transitive. They need no preposition after them.
We seek knowledge.
We discuss something or somebody and not about.
We request or demand something and not for.
We emphasize something and not emphasize on.

This expression has been semantically and syntactically altered.
People say, "It is a slap on your face."- to imply a disgrace.
The appropriate expression is, "A slap in the face" meaning an action that seems to be deliberately intended to offend someone esp. someone who has tried very hard to do something..

Just recently, somebody said, "Don't wear sunshade in a room."
Sunshade is a big umbrella used by some sellers by the road side. The dark glasses that are worn by some people are called "sunglasses"

The two words "impact" and "impart" are not the same.

In structure, impact usually occurs as a noun in the British English and occurs as a verb especially in the American English.

Impart only occurs as a verb and never as a noun.

Impact (verb) means to have an important or noticeable effect on someone or something.

It is followed by the preposition on/upon- It will be impact on the way the business operates.

Impart means to give information, knowledge, wisdom etc to someone.

He imparts knowledge to the students....

Another popular statement among us today is "to give something a trial".
People say, "I will give it a trial".
The appropriate expression is, "I will give it a try.

I don't know may be you also observed this! Every container for disposing waste objects is called a dustbin by a typical Nigerian.
Know this!
A dustbin is a large container outside the house used for holding waste until it is carried away.
What name do we give to the basket used in offices and homes?
That is called wastepaper basket.
The container in public places for people to throw away things such as papers and cans is called a litter bin.

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