Daily Grammar – Week 8

DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 20-04-2018

1a. Leave this place, I am annoyed at you. (No)

Leave this place, I am annoyed with you. (Yes)

1b. I am annoyed with the nonsense called BBNaija. (No)

I am annoyed at the nonsense called BBNaija. (Yes)

(You are “annoyed with” a person; you “are annoyed” at a thing. The form, “annoyed to”, precedes a verb. For example, “I was annoyed to learn you could behave that way.”)

2a. I have not seen you for some times. (No)

I have not seen you for some time. (Yes)

2b. He is a nice man but he is some time impatient. (No)

He is a nice man but he is sometimes impatient. (Yes)

(The adverbial phrase, “for some time”, means “over a relatively long period of time”. It is used to indicate duration. The form, “for some times”, is not allowed but there is an adverb, “sometimes”, which means “occasionally”.)

3a. The man dead in his prime. (No)

The man died in his prime. (Yes).

3b. The sad news is that he is died. (No)

The sad news is that he is dead. (Yes)

(“Died” is the past tense and participle of the verb, “die”. “Dead” is an adjective, which can also function as a noun. For example, “when the dead get buried, a new phase of life begins for them.”)

Did You Know?

Though “girl” means a female child or a young woman and “man” means a male adult, it wasn’t always the case this way. Until the 1300s, “girl” meant a young child (i.e. a boy or a girl) and “man” meant a person, regardless of sex.

Can you give examples of words that have undergone meaning change?