A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a finite verb and which forms part of a sentence e.g. The referee blew his whistle and the match stopped. Clauses are of two types: Independent and Dependent Independent/Insubordinate Clauses: This is a clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand on … Read more
This refers to the addition of prefixes, suffixes and infixes to words leading to new words, meaning and word classes. Examples (verbs) verbs+ –ment e.g. Enslavement, achievement Management, movement Development verbs + –ion e.g. Action Conclusion Decision verbs+ –ation organise = organisation document = documentation mobilize = mobilization verb+–age marry = marriage drain = … Read more
An idiom is a phrase or group of words whose meaning cannot be deduced from the individual meanings of the words in the phrase. The following are few examples of idiomatic expressions. To play the ostrich – avoiding reality or danger To play God – to act like you all-powerful To leave no stone unturned … Read more
Room service – this is a service that lets guests order food or drinks and have it delivered to their rooms. Bars – where you go to have a drink in hotels Brochure – a small piece of paper containing advent of local attractions. Continental breakfast – a light breakfast served in a common area … Read more
The /I:/vowel sound is long while the /I/ is short. They are contrasted using the following words. /I:/ /I/ eat it beat bit seat sit heel hill feel fill seen sin leave live wean win meal mill least list EVALUATION Write out five more examples to contrast these two sounds. Essay Writing: Expository: Raising a … Read more
Slanting the news – expressing the news in a biased or prejudiced way so as to mislead the public censor – to approve whatever is published or broadcast before it is made public. Curtail – restrict Director – A person who directs the performance of a movie Producer – a person who has general control … Read more
An adjectival clause performs the functions of an adjective i.e. it qualifies a noun or its equivalents. An adjectival clause begins with a relative pronoun such as who, which, that, whose, where, whom etc. hence it is called a (defining) relative clause as well. This clause is not separated by a comma from the noun … Read more
A story is a description of events and people that a writer or speaker has invented in order to advocate or entertain. Examples include love story, detective story, adventure, science fiction story e.t.c. There are two types of story writing that are tested by WAEC and NECO: A story that is meant to illustrate … Read more
In this lesson, we will explain the morphophonemic approach at identifying a stressed syllable. In this approach, stress placement is determined as a result of the occurrence and arrangement of vowels (short, long, diphthongs) and consonants in syllables. Guidelines A (i) For two syllable words, Simple Adjectives, Adverbs and Prepositions, Stress the first syllable … Read more
Concord is the agreement of the subject with the verb in a sentence Rules When the subject is in the third person and singular, the verb in the present takes ‘s’ or ‘-es’ e.g. Monica listens attentively. When the subject is in the first person, second person and third person plural number, the base … Read more
A dictionary is a book that gives a list of the words of a language in alphabetical order and explains what they mean or gives a word for them in a foreign language:e.g a French- English dictionary. A common dictionary typically has following structure. Word entry i.e the word to be explained is written … Read more
A prepositional phrase is a group of words, which begins with a preposition and ends with a noun pronoun or noun phrase called its complement. Examples Preposition + Noun He is in trouble. Trust in me. Preposition + Pronoun Please, bear with me. Go after them. Preposition + Noun Phrase She is always yelling … Read more
Definition, Features, Sample Question,Outline An article is a type of writing that is meant to be published in a school magazines, a newspaper or a journal. Basic Features It must have a heading It must have an introductory paragraph Its body should contain at least three well development paragraphs which should serve as the … Read more
A prefix is a group of letters or syllable which is attached to the front of a root word to form another word which usually changes its meaning. The following are examples with their meaning. Prefix Meaning New Words/Derivative un- not unhappy, untrue dis- not discomfort, dislike non- not nonsense, non-smoker mis- wrong mismanage, … Read more
Voice is a term that is used to explain whether the performer of an action comes before the action (verb) or whether it comes after the verb in a sentence. When the performer comes before the verb (action) we say the verb is in the active form e.g. Dairokilled a snake. (Active voice) S … Read more
Identification and examples. In this lesson, we will explain the morphophonemic approach at identifying a stressed syllable. In this approach, stress placement is determined as a result of the occurrence and arrangement of vowels (short, long, diphthongs) and consonants in syllables. Guidelines A (i) For two syllable vowels, simple adjectives, adverbs and prepositions, Stress … Read more
This is a written composition that is expected to be delivered to a live audience. It is therefore necessary to consider the languagevis-à-vis the interest of the audience. Primarily, speeches should be very informative, educative and entertaining. The basic types of speeches are: Address of welcome Farewell Address/Speech A Talk on any Topic … Read more
Publishing: The profession or business of preparing and printing books, magazines, CD-ROMS etc and selling or making them available to the public e.g. Evans Brothers is a reputable publishing company.
Manuscript: Copy of a book, piece of music etc before it has been printed or a very old book or document that was written by hand before printinge.g. The author has sold his manuscript to a publishing outfit.
Content: Definition,Types and Examples A conditional sentence has at least two clauses, one beginning with if (or ‘unless’ which means ‘if …. Not’) Examples: If inflation is high, the value of life insurance policies goes down. Explanation: The ‘if clause’ is the subordinate clause while the result clause is the main clause. The arrangement of … Read more
The focus here is to see how uncountable nouns can be made countable. Countable nouns are those we can count, they usually have singular and plural forms Example: girl – girls box – boxes man – men ox – oxen Uncountable nouns are those that cannot be counted, and they therefore have only the singular … Read more