Abroad and Oversea in use:

A daily writing tips note I picked to share:

“abroad” and “overseas” as adverbs meaning out of one’s own country, have often been used interchangeably, but is wrong.
Though they both are adjectives, but overseas is used before a noun, while abroad always comes after the word it describes.

E.g., Overseas food takes over local market;

Trainees of the municipal industries are scheduled to practice abroad

As adverbs, overseas and abroad are not always interchangeable.
Using with 'employment for instance; 'Overseas employment' or 'employments abroad' ,

Fateful and Faithful

They truly sound alike, but mean different things.

Fateful means 'important but having bad, undesirable consequences' as in; "the fateful day of the accident".

Faithful is a word that almost sounds the same as fateful. Faithful means 'obedient to instructions or loyal to an agreement', especially in religious use as in; "a faithful Muslim".

Ndipe:

Check this explanation on this site out, it will help you out.

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=255651

Thanks.

English1:

I'm always amazed at how good Nigerians are with languages - often speaking two, three, four or more! They may not be perfect in all of them, but there's a talent there! I only speak English so I would never criticise anyone who's made the effort to learn it even if it's still at a basic level.
I also don't think there's anything wrong with having an accent - everyone has an accent of one sort or other.

There are lots of varieties of English these days, all over the world, and none of them are exactly the same. I wouldn't worry too much about speaking 'Nigerian' English in Nigeria, why not? It only becomes a problem when you move to a place where they have a different form of English, and then it's wise to adapt to the local form. I know a lot of Nigerians have problems when they first come to the UK because most English people are not yet familiar with that accent or the mannerisms.

Anyway I have a question for you.

We have a new Nigerian lady at work. She keeps adding 's' to the end of people's names when she says them. Peter becomes Peters, for example. This is starting to irritate a couple of her collegues. I need to talk to her about it but I'm curious as to whether this is just an odd habit she has, or if it maybe comes from her language in some way (she is Yoruba)?

Note that your last statement in bracket does not connote any form of question. though you used question mark there. You probably meant (Is she Yoruba), right? Well, it could be her accent.

I am hearing you (wrong)

I can hear you (correct)

Caution: There are some verbs that cannot take "ing" except where they are used as Gerund nouns. They are called stative verbs. By stative, it implies that they are used in their simple present terms; they are not dynamic.

Other examples are; 'understand', 'love', 'hate', 'like', 'trust', 'think', 'regard', 'doubt', 'find', '(dis)believe', 'agree', 'detest', 'prefer', 'want', 'forgive', 'feeling', 'abhor', 'depend', 'see', etc.

E.g.;

I am seeing you for the first time (wrong)

This is the first time I am seeing you (also wrong)
but;
This is the first time I have seen you (correct)

Also;
I am now loving her (wrong)
I now love her (correct)

Also;
Sir, now, I am understanding the points (wrong)
Sir, I now understand the point (correct)

EASY NOTE: Any of the things you do with the sense organs are most inclusive -'see', 'hear', 'taste', 'feel' and 'smell'. Also, I guess anything that involves sensation or that is abstract falls in hear.

Be free to share your views or questions hear.

Receive free tutorials on English Language >> Sign up in my signature link below.

God bless those who initiated this site for learning. I am thrilled over what I see here in Nairaland.com

Am in,here is my email id.onystainless@yahoo.co.uk

Google should be pronounced as /GU:-gl/.

Illustration: the 'Goo' should be pronounced as spelled i.e. 'GU'. The : beside the U shows that it is drawn as if you have 'GUU'.

It is common to hear the resulting 'U' sound in G[u]oo[/u]gle pronounced as the 'o' in 'p[u]o[/u]t'.

It is 'G[u]u:[/u]gl' and not 'G[u]o[/u]gl'.

Thanks.

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@ Olawole you forgot to put this, you had better or you better e.g you better watch what you say or you had better watch what you say, please enlighten us more on this, thanks

nice one

@younggurl , sorry I saw this late.

'You had better' simply is a form of counsel or piece of advice. It puts to a person what he/she is 'supposed' to do in a situation. E.g., "You had better agree with him on his views". It is a way of saying "You should agree with him on his views".

But for "You better", I can't really match it with any meaning in standard English. 'You' agrees with 'are', 'were', 'had', but not with 'better'. Using 'better' on its own should be followed with 'than' or other objects.

The correct expression in this wise is "had better".

Hope this piece answers it!

@olawoye thanks a million

Great Job bro, am in, kelmanwanted@yahoo.com, once again tank you!!

Pronouncing Words That End in 'lm'

Not many one-syllable English words end in the letters -lm. Sometimes the l in them is pronounced; sometimes it isn’t.

Here’s a list of the most common -lm words, together with the pronunciation in the phonetic notation given at Answers.com. Many Americans pronounce all of these words with an l.

alms [ämz]

balm [bäm]

calm [käm]

elm [ĕlm]

embalm [ĕm-bäm']

film [fĭlm]

helm [hĕlm]

palm [päm]

psalm [säm]

qualm [kwäm]

realm [rĕlm]

whelm [hwĕlm]

These pronunciations all agree with those given in the OED.

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Let me crack my brain (incorrect)

Let me rack my brain (correct)

I saw this somewhere on nairaland.

Although some academics are undoubtedly nuts, the usual English-language pronunciation of “academia” does not rhyme with “macadamia.” The third syllable is pronounced “deem.” Just say “academe” and add “ee-yuh.”

However, there’s an interesting possibility if you go with “ack-uh-DAME-ee-yuh: although some people will sneer at your lack of sophistication, others will assume you’re using the Latin pronunciation and being learned.

@poster, Great Job. However, you may as well tell us you are sorry for passing wrong grammar usage across to naira landers.
STIPEND is pronounced STI-PEND and not STAI-PEND as you informed us.

Ayowumie:

@poster, Great Job. However, you may as well tell us you are sorry for passing wrong grammar usage across to naira landers.
STIPEND is pronounced STI-PEND and not STAI-PEND as you informed us.

May I ask the source where you got the pronunciation representation from?

Please refer to dictionary.com to look up how it is represented.
Thanks.

@Olawoye, I'm als intrstd here is my mail addrez: somubz1904success@rocketmail.com

Olawoye:

May I ask the source where you got the pronunciation representation from?

Please refer to dictionary.com to look up how it is represented.
Thanks.

Here is my source:

sti·pend [st pènd, stpənd]
(plural sti·pends)
noun
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Excuse me Teacher, what is it with Nigerians and the use of the phrase "DOUBLE DATING" INSTEAD OF "TWO TIMING", ITS A SHAME

olawale i'm keenly interested my email is iton_godwin@yahoo.com. Thanks men.

I'm very much interested

i shall be submitting my own research too.

Ayowumie:

Here is my source:

sti·pend [st pènd, stpənd]
(plural sti·pends)
noun
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The concerned symbol isn't showing. It is what helps to determine whether to call it STAI or STI. Please let's know if the source is online and we could check through the website address.

It's good to learn together.

The source is not online. It is from Microsoft Student Encarta. I copied the signs, but the sign of contention refused to show. Just refer to an encarta dictionary or any Oxford dictionary.

All you need to do is pay her DOWRY and you will marry her - Incorrect

All you need to do is pay her BRIDE PRICE and you will marry her - Correct

Taxi Driver Who Hit JEG's Car Charged For Murder - Incorrect


Charged With Murder - Correct

The Reason is because (avoid it)

The reason is that , (use)


'The reason' already suggests 'because'. It would be repeated to use 'because' after 'the reason'.

Also, avoid "The reason why,

It's safe to use 'The reason is that'.

Mamaput's food is SWEET - Avoid it
Mamaput's food is DELICIOUS - Use it