This document provides a summary of a training delivered on correct English language use to staff of Atlantic Fluids and Integrated Services Limited. The training covered grammar, semantics/word implication, and syntax. For grammar, common grammatical errors were addressed such as the incorrect use of tenses, words like "equals" and "contented", and the meanings of words like "presently". Semantics referred to the study of meaning in language and how word choice and implications are important. Syntax was defined as the arrangement of words in sentences. The document emphasized the importance of understanding meaning and implications in accurate English language use.

1. A TRAINING ON CORRECT ENGLISH LANGUAGE USE DELIVERED TO STAFF OF ATLANTIC FLUIDS AND
INTEGRATED SERVICES LIMITED, #19 JESSY AND JENNY STREET, OFF PETER ODILI ROAD TRANS-
AMADI INDUSTRIAL LAYOUT PORT-HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE ON MARCH, 2016.
COURSE CONTENT
 GRAMMAR
 SEMANTICS/WORDIMPLICATON
 SYNTAX
GRAMMAR:
The qualityof any Englishgrammaristotallydependentonthe factthat it correctlyadherestoall
rulesguidingthe EnglishLanguage notwithstandingthe flexibilityof the GrammarRules.
It isimportantto note that there are no strictrulesperse as regardsa StandardEnglishGrammar,
but the source of authority,especiallydependentonourcolonial historyisbasedonthe British
Standardof EnglishLanguage.Grammar can be saidto be the whole system andstructure of a
language orof languages,usuallytakenasconsistingof syntax andmorphology(including
inflections) andsometimesalsophonologyandsemantics.
It isa true fact that we Nigeriansare secondlanguage users,i.e.the EnglishLanguage isn’tour
mothertongue,buta commonNational andprofessionallanguage of communication.ThusEnglish
isour second language (ESL),assuch we may not be expectedtospeaknatively,since itis a language
of adoptionasa result of Post-Colonialism.We mustdothe bestwithinourpowertosee that we
meetthe feasiblestandardrequirementof the use of the Englishlanguage.
Also,if we mustattainthe veteranheights,there isaneedtoimprove onour communicationquality
and skill since the EnglishLanguage isone of the International languagesof communication.
It ison thisnote that certaincommongrammatical errorswill be addressed.Some of these are
expressionslike:
1. ‘She wenttogo and buy food’:thissentence mayseemnotwrongbutthere isa use of same
tense at same time whichis inboththe presentandpasttense.It’swrongto use ‘went’and
‘go’at same time.
2. ‘The sum of the foodstuff isequalsto #1,000’: thisalsois wrongbecause,whenyoutalk
aboutthe ‘equals’itsimplymeansthe answerorresultof a sumdone,now saying‘equals
to’ islike tautology (usingtwoormore same words thatmean same thingat same time) i.e.
the ‘to’ referstothe result,soit’slike saying‘The sumof the foodstuff isequalsresult
#1,000’. Therefore,the rightexpressionis‘The sumof the foodstuff equals#1,000’.
3. ‘We are contentedwithwhatwe have’:the verb‘contented’whichisassumedtobe inits
past tense because of the presence of the tense inflection‘…ed’isnow archaic.It’snow
‘content’andnot ‘contented’.Alsonote thatthe Englishlanguage hasnostrictrulesneither
isit rigid,if there are rulesinplace,theyare highlyflexible andsubjecttochange courtesyof
newfindingsmade forupgrade of grammarand itscontent.
4. The use of ‘presently’:There’sadifferenceinmeaningbetweenthe Englishman’s presently
and the Scotsman’s.InEngland,itmeans“soon,ina little while”.InScotlanditmeans“at
present,now,atthisverymoment”.
Yet,strangely,the legal language of bothcountriesstill gives presentlyitsScottishmeaning,
and youcan findit usedinthiswayin numerouslegal documents.
5. Misuse of “England”and “Great Britain”:Englandisonlya part of Britain and notvice versa.

2. 6. Use of –ISE or –IZE: The word originexpertsi.e.the Etymologistsassertthatsince most
traditional Englishwordsare ultimatelyof Greekcomposition,inwhichthe rootcontainsthe
equivalentof izo,the ize spellingshouldbe usedformostverbs, ise beingadoptedforthose
verbswhichare not of Greekorigin. Notwithstanding,if youuse ise innearlyall casesyou
will be safe.
7. Use of “Disinterestedand“Uninterested”:“Disinterested”meansimpartial,not
uninterested.“Uninterested”meansbored.
8. Use of “Centred”:Ascentre meansthe middle pointof acircle or sphere,youcannotcentre
aroundsomething,onlyonit.Therefore,itiscorrectto say “His concentration wascentred
on the ball”.
9. MisusedAdverbs:“Hopefully”doesnotmean“Ihope that”. It isan adverbmeaningfull of
hope and onlymakessense asa complementtoa verb. “The hungrydog lookedathis
masterhopefully”. Hence,it’smeaninglesstosay‘Hopefully,youwill readthisbook’.
10. “Usedto”:Thisexpressionisusuallyusedtoreferto the presenttense of asituationwhen
it’smeantto be in the past.For an instance,“Iusedto eat it”,whenactuallythe speaker
means“I oftenor usuallyeatit".
11. Use of “All the whole”:thisismore like repetitionof same wordsmeaningsame thingin
same sentence.“All”meansthe wholeof something,the totalityof it.“Whole”referstoall
of a thingand itstotality.
12. Use of “Little”and “A Little”:“He had little difficultyfindingthe address”and“He had a little
difficultyfindingthe address”.The firstmeans he foundthe addresseasilywhilethe latter
meanshe didnot finditeasily.
SEMANTICS/WORD IMPLICAION:
Semanticsingrammarrefersto the studyof science of meaningin language.Italsodealswith
the competence of a speakerwithregardtothe interpretationof the meaningof linguistic
structures.Itis a branch of Linguisticsandlogicconcernedwithmeaning. The twomainareas
are Logical Semantics concernedwithmatterssuchassense andreference andpresupposition
and implication,and LexicalSemantics,concernedwiththe analysisof wordmeaningsand
relationsbetweenthem.Ithascoversmeaningsof words,textsandphrases.
Until the meaningof a word,phrase or textusediswell knownorunderstood,there maybe
wrongperceptionsandwronguseswhichmayleadtoimplication.Sometimes,inabidtosound
impressive,we tendtouse expressionswhichcouldbe intentional exaggerationsorignorant
sincere expressionsincommunicationbothorallyandverbally.
It couldbe saidthat it’son thisnote the force andLegal systemhave theirstandon statingthat
‘Whateveryoudoor say will be usedagainstyouinthe court of law’alsoon same note an
informedaccusedwill neverwriteanystatementasregardsa legal matteroroffence until he
has the guidance of a/hislawyer.Thisgoesalongway inbuttressingthe essenceof semantics in

3. Englishlanguage andcommunication.Bothaspectsof semanticsi.e.the logical semanticsand
the lexical semanticsare a compulsorysynergyforarelevantunderstandingandrightexpression
use.
Lexical Semanticssimplyput,dealswiththe literal meaningof words,phrases,sentences,texts,
expressions,whichhelpsauserchoose rightwordsforrightsituationstoconveyhismessage
and intentions.Foraninstance;
‘We have come home’simplyandliterallyreferstoanarrival of a setof people totheir
residence.
‘I have goingcome to the house she school’,everyindividualwordormorpheme inthe sentence
isrelevant,butwhatmeaningorunderstandingcanbe made of the sentence?
Therefore,inconsideringsemantics,everysinglewordorphrase usedcountsinthe meaningor
usefulnessof communication.
Logical Semanticsdealswithmeaningbuttakesitfroma psychological perspective that
considersthe implicationsof everysingleword,itsliteralmeaning,impliedmeaning,whether
the expressionisbestsuitableforthe occasion,the mannerswithwhichthe expressionismade
etc.It goesaheadto judge the intentionof the speakerviaall itsassessmentcriteria.It’salegal
basisguide toany exhibitsorevidencesasthe case may be.
For an instance:
Chike isdeeplyhurtbya cruel act done to himby Uche,and he out of painful emotionssays‘I
will kill thisboyo!,he doesn’tknowwhoIam’,yesthe personinquestionishurt,he has made a
statementwhichthe hearersorreadersdon’tknow the depthsof itsintent.Peradventure,
coincidentallyUche dies,youwouldseethatthere wouldbe remembrance of thiscomment
made sometime andtraces,investigationswill be made tothateffect.AtthispointChike’sfate
isa stake because the implicationsof the word‘kill’willbe analysedinline withitsmeaningand
effect,whilemaybe Chikeneverreallymeanttakinghislife awaybutmaybe asentence of wrath
or exaggeratedability.
It istherefore importanttonote the intricaciesof suchstatements.Though,psychologically
there maybe a defence forthe reasonforsuch an implicative statement asbeingeitherthe
pressure of the emotional traumaora slipof the tongue.Asthe founderof psychoanalysis,
SigmundFreudsays‘thatthere isnothing like aslipof the tongue,thateverystatementhasa
consciousintentionbehindit.He alsopositsthatwhenwordsare released,theycannotbe
withdrawnoramended,notevenunderthe guise of ‘aslipof the tongue’.
Also,the wronguse of the tense inflectionscanalsobe implicative,forinstance:
If one goesto an office andsays‘SirI wantedtoask you a favour…’the man maysay to him, ‘you
wantedtobut you nolongerwantto’ thisimplicative response is onthe basisof the ‘wanted’
used.
SYNTAX:
Syntax isthe studyof the rulesforthe formationof grammatical sentencesinalanguage,i.e.it is
the arrangementof wordsand phrasestocreate well-formedsentencesinalanguage.Ithas to
do withthe structure grammaticallyof anygivensentence.Itusuallyfollowsasequence of

4. subject,verbobject where subjectisthe doerof the action,verb is the actiontakenand object
the receiverof the actionor that whichgetsthe impactof the action taken.
For instance:it’ssensible tosayor write ‘She isthe Queenof Nigeria’,butacase where the
sentence isratherputthisway ‘Queenthe isNigeriashe’,itsoundsweirdandmeaningless.So,
we understandthatthe way wordsare structured,arrangedandput together give rise tothe
meaningandinterpretationgottenfromit.