DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 20-09-2018

1a. The man may appear difficult but deeply down, he is a nice person. (No)

The man may appear difficult but deep down, he is a nice person. (Yes)

1b. The two teens are deep in love when they should be focused on their studies. (No)

The two teens are deeply in love when they should be focused on their studies. (Yes)

1c. The young lady provided additional facts to deep the debate. (No)

The young lady provided additional facts to deepen the debate. (Yes)

(Both “deep” and “deeply”, meaning “a long way into something,” are used as adverbs. “Deep down” is usually used to talk about a person’s nature. “Deep” is usually an adjective while “deepen” is a verb.)

2a. The shepherd plans to sheer all his sheep tomorrow. (No)

The shepherd plans to shear all his sheep tomorrow. (Yes)

1b. I need a shear to cut the flowers. (No)

I need (a pair of) shears to cut the flowers. (Yes)

1c. It is share stupidity for terrorists to start a war they know they can’t win. (No)

It is sheer stupidity for terrorists to start a war they know they can’t win. (Yes)

1d. We should sheer love, not war. (No)

We should share love, not war. (Yes)

1e. What is our own shear in this business?

What is our own share in this business? (Yes)

(To “shear” is to cut the wool of an animal or remove the hair of a person. The word “shears” is a garden tool like giant scissors used for cutting bushes and hedges. “Sheer,” usually an adjective, is used to emphasise the size, degree or amount of something. To “share” is to let someone have what you have or part of it while one’s “share” is one’s portion.)

3a. The fight against corruption is now in shambles. (No)

The fight against corruption is now in a shamble. (No)

The fight against corruption is now in a shambles. (Yes)

3b. Now that he is tired, he shamble on his way home. (No)

Now that he is tired, he shambles on his way home. (Yes)

(“Shambles” is a singular noun meaning a situation in which there is a lot of confusion or mess. To shamble is “to walk in an awkward or lazy manner, often requiring dragging one’s feet along the ground.” A singular subject agrees with a singular verb.)

Did You Know?

Something that is “execrable” is extremely bad.

What is execrable about some Nigerians you have interracted with?

About the Author

Aptly described by the Independent newspaper as “a man of many parts”, Prof. Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Fulbright scholar, interdisciplinary researcher, university don, public affairs analyst, communication consultant, peace advocate, interfaith worker and public intellectual. He obtained his academic degrees from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, where he was a Professor of English (Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics) before his appointment as Vice Chancellor as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria, in February 2021. He started his academic career in 2000 at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, shortly after which he joined the services of his alma mater, the University of Ilorin. A man of eclectic academic background, Prof. Adedimeji was educated in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Markaz Shabaabil Islam, Iwo, Osun State and Markaz Ta’aleemil Araby, Agege, Lagos. He obtained advanced training in Education, Political Science, Communication and Media, Research and Peace Studies at the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Institute for Higher Education Pedagogy (VIHEP); the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF); Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA. Apart from serving as a cultural ambassador to the US under the auspices of the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York, Prof. Adedimeji had won or co-won the research and conference awards/grants of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of the National Research Council, Nigeria, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He has written extensively for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals including “Unilorin Bulletin”, “Unilorin Watch”, “DeLight”, “National Pilot”, “Daily Independent”, “Daily Newswatch”, “New York Parrot” and “New Telegraph”, among others. A versatile academic and award-winning scholar, Prof. Adedimeji has attended academic conferences and undertaken research in several universities across Nigeria as well as in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Australia, France and United States of America, among others. His hundreds of academic, Islamic and general/opinion articles have been published across outlets in Nigeria and beyond. He has also facilitated and participated in seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. A former Head of the Directorate of Corporate Affairs of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Adedimeji was the Director of the Centre for Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, between 2013 and 2017. Apart from serving as Rapporteur-General to the Presidential Committee that organised the 2017 Federal Executive Council’s Retreat on Education in Nigeria, he has consulted for the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and Corps (NSCDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For years, he was a Coordinator and Facilitator of the Executive Management Course of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) and Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Peace, Security and Development”, University of Ilorin. He has also served as a resource person to agencies like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Institute for Security Studies as well as a number of Civil Society Organisations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including those of the International Chartered World Learned Society, American Biographical Institute, National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS), Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ilorin, the Nigerian Army Education Corps, Postgraduate Students Association, UNILORIN, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN, Students’ Union, UNILORIN, and National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), just to mention a few. A Fellow of bodies like the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (FIARSA), Institute of Corporate Administration, Nigeria, (FICAN), Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fspsp) and World Institute for Peace (FWIP) , Prof. Adedimeji is a former Member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and until recently a Member of the Executive Council of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Research in Pragmatics, journal of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN) and ANUJAT, an international multidisciplinary journal of the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana. He has about 15 books to his credit as author, co-author, editor and co-editor.