DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 08-09-2018

1a. Everyone is expected to mind everyone’s business in the city. (No)

Everyone is expected to mind his business in the city. (Yes but deemed sexist)

Everyone is expected to mind her business in the city. (Yes but deemed sexist)

Everyone is expected to mind his or her business in the city. (Yes but deemed awkward)

Everyone is expected to mind their business in the city. (Yes)

1b. Everybody knows the rule but everybody still violates it. (No)

Everybody knows the rule but they still violate it. (Yes)

1c. One should do his best and leave the rest in all situations. (No)

One should do her best and leave the rest in all situations. (No)

One should do their best in all situations and leave the rest. (No)

One should do one’s best in all situations and leave the rest. (Yes)

(Both “everyone” and “everybody” do not always attract singular pronouns. The appropriate number depends on the meaning of the sentence. Modern English accepts these compound indefinites as having plural significance and they are therefore used with plural pronouns. The indefinite pronoun “one” agrees with “one” in a sentence.)

2a. Everyone in that political party now wants to be president. (No)

Every one in that political party now wants to be president. (Yes)

2b. Anyone of you can do the work meant for everybody. (No)

Any one of you can do the work meant for everybody. (Yes)

(Compound indefinites are formed by adding “body” or “thing” to indefinite pronouns; they are written solid, e.g., “everybody,” “anybody,” “something,” “anything,” “everything,” etc. When the compounds are formed by adding “one”, they are also written solid unless reference is made to each of many persons. Such compounds with “one” are written as two words if they are followed by a prepositional phrase.)

3a. Someone’s else opinion may not count if you are sure of your position. (No)

Someone else’s opinion may not count if you are sure of your position. (Yes)

3b. Nobody else’s analysis is more convincing than Tunde. (No)

Nobody else’s analysis is more convincing than Tunde’s. (Yes)

3c. None is ever succeeded in their efforts to incriminate the top politician. (No)

None have ever succeeded in their efforts to incriminate that top politician. (Yes)

3d. You have to explain why none of you have done the assignment. (No)

You have to explain why none of you has done the assignment. (Yes)

You have to explain why not one of you has finished the assignment. (Yes)

(When “else” follows a compound indefinite, the possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe and “s” to “else.” In comparative structures, the possessive form is indicated accordingly. “None” is usually considered plural in modern English except when it is equivalent to “no one” or “not one.” If the meaning is unambiguously singular, using “no one” or “not one” is preferred.)

Did You Know?

In 2018, approximately 1.53 billion people speak English as a primary, auxiliary or business language (with China alone having 250 million speakers). This is about 1 in 7 people on Earth.

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.

Ibadat says:

September 8, 2018 at 8:43 pm

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