Troublesome words

BEFORE dwelling on the suggested topic may I conclude the subject on understanding adjectives. Remember showing knowledge on the different parts of speech in isolation is meaningless unless used in sentence construction. Students should therefore learn how and when to use adjectives correctly. Briefly, let us examine finding adjectives by their features.

Two features can help identify adjectives: degrees of comparison and suffixes. Most adjectives have at least one of these features. Adjectives may change form to show degrees of comparison. Adjectives have three degrees for comparison: positive, comparative, and superlatives. Positive (describes one noun), for example, old, pretty, big, small). Comparative (compares two nouns), older, prettier, bigger, smaller). Superlative (compares three or more nouns), oldest, prettiest, biggest and smallest).

Sentence examples: His father is old. (positive). Ralph’s father is older. (comparative). Jesse is the oldest of the three men. The regular way to form the comparative and superlative forms is to add –er and – est to the end of the adjective. Sometimes there will be a slight spelling change as on: pretty, prettier, prettiest. Many two-syllable adjectives and all adjectives that have three or more syllables form their comparative degree with more and their superlative degree with most.

Positive (powerful) Comparative (more powerful) Superlative (most powerful). Positive (talkative) Comparative (more talkative) Superlative (most talkative). Positive (important) Comparative (more important) Superlative (most important). Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms. Positive (good) Comparative (better) Superlative (best). Positive (bad) Comparative (worse) Superlative (worst).

Peter scored a good mark at Science. Job scored a better mark than Peter. James scored the best mark. Adjective may be formed with suffixes. The following list gives the most often used adjective suffixes: Noun + Suffix = Adjective fool -ish foolish thought -ful/less thoughtful/thoughtless comment

danger -rous dangerous journey

Affect/effect: Affect is a verb meaning “influence.) As a noun effect means “the result of some action” Examples: That injury will not affect your overall performance. His negative attitude towards school work had no effect on his results. All ready, already: All ready means “completely prepared”. Already means “before a certain point in time.” Examples: Chipo was all ready for the final examinations. Rob had already passed the elementary examination when got employed.

All right. Used as an adjective, all right means “unhurt” or “satisfactory”. Used as adverb, all right means, “well enough. All right should always be written as two words. We wondered if he was all right after the accident. (adjective). Her work was all right after all. (adverb). Between, among: Use between when referring to two things at a time, even though they may be part of a group containing more than two. Examples: An agreement was struck between the two warring parties.

Use among when referring to a group rather than to the separate individuals in the group. He walked among the many flowers. Bring, take – Bring means “come carrying something.” Take means “go carrying something” Think of bring as related to come. Think of take as related to go. Examples: Make sure you bring all relevant items for the test. Take your warm clothes along for the holidays. Good, well – Good is always an adjective. Never use good as an adverb, instead, use well. Example: Jack did well in her examinations. Although well is usually an adverb, well may also be used as an adjective to mean “healthy.” He was well enough to play football. Hardly, scarcely – These are negative words. They should never be used with other negative words. Examples: She could hardly believe it. He had scarcely begun his homework when his friend came in.

Their, there, they’re – Their is used to show ownership. There is used to mean “at that place” or to begin a sentence. They’re is a contraction of they are. A contraction is a shortened form of a word, a number, a group of words. The apostrophe in a contraction shows where letters, numerals, or words have been left out. Other examples, in addition to, they’re, are as follows: I am – I’m, where is – where’s, of the clock - o’clock. Sentence examples: Will their parents come for function?

The strange animal was seen over there. They’re in celebratory mood after winning the match. Complete the following exercise by choosing the correct words: The (deceased, diseased) – was buried at the local church. Some of the animals were (deceased, diseased) – and had to be put down. There is a (statute, statue) – of King Mzilikazi in the park. A (statute statue) – must first be passed by the Lower House of Parliament. Mother bought her first (suit suite) – of furniture from OK Stores. I will need to wear a (suit, suite) – if I am to attend the wedding. Villagers were on their way to the fields to (thresh, thrash) – the corn. Not so long ago teachers used to (thresh, thrash) – pupils for misbehaving. My little sister likes (wading, wedding) – in shallow water at the beach. My sister enjoys having to (bath, bathe) – the baby each night. I shall have to (bath, bathe) my sore heel in disinfectant or salt water.

Students please note that this article is the last before schools close. Can you suggest topics to be covered during the holiday. I would love to assist on those areas of need.

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