Sentence construction
LEARN correct use of the following words: A person has a bath to get clean. A person bathes something or bathes when swimming. Bath is a noun or a verb. Bathe is a verb only. For example: The mother gave her baby a bath. It was time to bath her baby. The nurse bathed the child’s wound. They bathe in the lake every day.
In competition a person beats other people, and thereby, wins a game, prize or war. It is wrong to say: She won her brother at draft. But it is correct to say: She beat her brother at chess. Besides is a preposition meaning “by the side of.” Besides is also a preposition but means “in addition to” or “except”.
It is wrong to say: Beside Joshua, David also passed the test. But it is correct to say; Besides Joshua, David also passed the test. Nobody, besides Joshua passed the test. David sat beside Joshua. Select the correct answer from the brackets to complete following sentences. The soldiers (arrived, reached) at the base during the night. They wondered (how as, as how, whether) they would win. He ate (as, as if, like) he was starving. “I will never ask another favour “from, of ”.
He is (awfully, very) clever. She walked (back of, behind) her parents. He did not go to work as he was feeling (badly, ill). The nurse began to (bath, bathe) the cut on his leg.
Both born and borne are derived from the verb “to bear.” Born is used in the sense of “came into being.” Borne meaning “carried” is used in relation to bearing children or carrying a burden. For example: The idea of an engine was born as Stevenson watched a kettle boil.
She was born on the first of January last year. She had borne four children in four years before passing on. The wardrobe was borne by four strong men. Borrow from, Borrow off: In formal English borrow from is the correct expression. Borrow off should be limited to informal use. Informal: He borrowed 10 dollars off him. Formal: She borrowed two dollars from him. Borrow means “to get something from someone with the intention of returning it.”
Lend means “to give something to someone with the expectation that it will be returned”. This is wrong: “Please lend me your pen.” But is correct to say: “Please lend me your pen.” Wrong to say: He asked to lend my pen. Right: He asked to borrow my pen. Both refers to “two things together”. Each refers to
“two or more things separately”. Careless use of both can lead to ambiguity.
For example: Both books cost two dollars. (Is the price of one book two dollars, or do you get two books for two dollars?) Right: Each of the books costs two dollars. Right: The books cost two dollars each. Right: To buy both books will cost dollars. Break. Break implies that something has smashed into two or more pieces. Burst is used when gaseous or liquid pressure has caused the damage. Bust is nonstandard English for break.
It is wrong to say: He dropped the plate and bust it. Right: The tyre of the car burst. Right: I will break your stick into little pieces.
Breath is only used as a noun, whereas breathe is a verb. He was losing his breath in the pool and the guide helped him out. Can you breathe under water? The use of claimed instead of said carries a stronger implication that the statement is not true. For example: He claimed to have visited every
country in the world.
A collective noun names a group of people, animals or things. The following are examples of some common collective nouns: a congregation of worshippers. An army of soldiers. An orchestra of musicians. A choir of singers. A collection of stamps. A class of pupils. A flock of birds or sheep. A herd of cattle. A litter of pigs or puppies. A cast of actors. A bunch of bananas. A crowd of people. A team of players or oxen. A set of tools. A library of books. A forest of trees. A troop of baboons. A swarm of bees. An audience of people. A plague of locusts.
It is evident from the general performance of learners that the Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating toll on them. Most have forgotten even the basics of what they learnt before. Beware of skipped classes. Learners need to work extra hard to cover lost ground.
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