DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 12-03-2018
1. The fire incident caused many damages to the laboratory. (No)
The fire incident caused a lot of damage to the laboratory. (Yes)
(When it refers to “injury” or “destruction”, the word “damage” is an uncountable noun. However, only its plural form is allowed in the legal context where “damages” refers to an amount of money paid or claimed in compensation for injury. For example, “the court awarded him N5 million in damages for his wrongful detention.”)
2. Don’t mind him, he is a coward leader. (No)
Don’t mind him, he is a cowardly leader. (Yes)
Don’t mind him, he is a coward. (Yes)
(“Coward” is a noun while “cowardly” is its adjectival form.)
3. If the President fails, his advisers, ministers, supporters or party are to blame. (No)
If the President fails, his advisers, ministers, supporters or party is to blame. (Yes)
(When a list of nouns or pronouns is a subject in a context like the one given, the nearest element to the verb determines its number. Known as the Proximity Principle or Concord, it will be taken that the last noun/pronoun is the subject. For example, “either the teachers, the students, the visitors or I am responsible for the damage.”)
Did You Know?
The most common letter, and vowel, in English is the same letter the language begins with: E. Though the most common consonant is R , more English words begin with S than any other letter.