Hello there! Welcome to the third session of CORO GRAMMAR. As in the second session, we have tried to make the lesson as casual as possible. Hope you enjoy and learn from it.
CASE SENTENCE
Much people have tested positive to coronavirus (How much was paid for the test?)
ERRORS/ANALYSES: There are 3 grammar errors in this sentence. Yes, 3!
ERROR 1: Wrong modifier
ANALYSIS: Much and many are both modifiers. Much is used as a determiner, a pronoun or an adverb (depending on the context) to modify or say more about a noun.
Many serves a similar function, but mainly as an adjective.
The major difference between much and many, however, is that many is used with count (or countable) nouns, while much is used with non-count (or uncountable) nouns.
Examples:
- Much rain fell last night.
- Many people were asleep at the time.
A simple way to know which of the two words to use in context is by converting the statement in which they occur into a question.
Examples:
How many rain fell last night?
How much people were asleep at the time?
How much people have tested positive?
(How do they sound now?)
Therefore: Many people have tested positive to coronavirus?
ERROR 2: Wrong preposition
ANALYSIS: To, for and of are prepositions that are often wrongly misused interchangeably.
BTW: Basically, prepositions are words that indicate direction, position, time, or location. Common prepositions include words like in, on, to, from, of, with, about, before, up, above, behind, down, near, through, upon, across, below, after, beneath, off, within, against, beside, for, onto, without, along, between, out, toward, among, beyond, under, around, inside, over, underneath, etc.
Prepositions connect a noun or pronoun to a verb or adjective in a sentence.
In the case sentence, to is used instead of for.
You perform a test for the purpose of getting a result. It is like searching for something and not searching to something. So, you test for something and not to something.
It is also wrong to say: She has tested positive of coronavirus.
However, to is used with immune.
- He is immune to the virus and NOT He is immune for the virus.
NOTE ALSO:
- He has been diagnosed with malaria and NOT He has been diagnosed of malaria. (He has been found to be with malaria parasite.)
- He is suffering from the disease and NOT He is suffering with the disease. (The disease is not suffering with him.)
- He is responding to treatment and NOT He is responding for treatment.
- He has recovered from the sickness and NOT He has recovered of the sickness.
ERROR 3: The third error is so common and so simple that it is laughable.
ANALYSIS: Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. The case sentence has no full stop or period, as it is also called.
This is a serious punctuation error. It is like driving on a busy street without stopping at the red light.
CASE SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Many people have tested positive for coronavirus.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
NEXT CASE SENTENCE:
- The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps are among the agency enforcing the lock down policy.
Have you come across a wrong coronavirus-related word or expression? Present it in the COMMENT section of this page and/or the NewsPlus FACEBOOK page and let’s analyse it together.
REMEMBER: A good way to learn is to share what you know with the hope that those who don’t know would learn from you and those who know better than you would correct what you thought you knew.
See you in the next class!
