ENGLISH CLASS

USES OF ENGLISH: 

A. The Indefinite Articles e.g., a, an, some, etc. The "a" and "an" are specially used with SINGULAR NOUNS only. While "some" is used for plural forms as well as singular mass count nouns. Of course the definite article "THE" can be used for both singular and plural noun forms.

Use of a/an: We use "a" before nouns and noun phrases that begin with a consonant sound. If the noun or noun phrase starts with a vowel letter but begins with a consonant sound, we also use "a". For example;

i. a university (/ju:n.../)  

ii. a European (/ju.../

iii. a one-parent family (w^n.../).

We use "an" before words that begin with vowel sound, including a silent letter "h", e.g., an orange, an Italian, an umbrella, an hour, an honour, etc and abbreviations said as individual letters that begin with A,E,F,H,I,L,M,N,O,R,S or X. For example; an MP, an FBI agent, an SMS message, an IOU, etc. But compare abbreviations said as words; e.g., a NATO general, a FIFA official but an OPEC meeting.

Note that we say: a history (book) but an (or a) historical (novel).

B. There are some words that must not be used side by side. Its usage is termed TAUTOLOGY or REPETITION in English language. Some of them are:

i. The REASON is BECAUSE

ii. I want you TO BE... ABLE TO DO this...

iii. She has RETURNED BACK from work

iv. SHOULD IN CASE she come, encouraged her

v. Despite that Nigeria is an oil-producing nation, STILL YET, unable to develop.

Instead, we can say;

i. The reason is that...

ii. I want you to do this...

iii. Should she come or in case she comes, encouraged her.

iv. She has returned or she's back from work.

v. Despite that Nigeria is an oil-producing nation, yet unable to develop.

C. We should be mindful of how we use the negative forms of words so that we don't confused ourselves and make our expression meaningless. For example, consider these;

i. Don't go nowhere (an expression common with the media stations)

ii. Iran can't do nothing to USA

iii. She is not afraid of nobody.

Instead, we should say;

Don't go anywhere.

Iran can't do anything.

She is not afraid of anybody.

*Nothing will change to anything, nobody to anybody, nowhere to anywhere.

Thanks!