I really enjoy and learn a lot from your articles. I always look forward reading and learning something every week. Keep up the good work.
I really enjoy and learn a lot from your articles. I always look forward reading and learning something every week. Keep up the good work.
Faruk 8 years ago
pls educate me on the difference btween(if I were and if I was) is a problem to me
pls educate me on the difference btween(if I were and if I was) is a problem to me
Abubakar M. M. Azindoo 8 years ago
In traditional grammar "if I were" belongs to Subjunctive Mood, which is used to express whishes, conditionalities, etc. "If I was" is a normal construction of grammatical normalcy in terms of concord and word order. But it i ... read full comment
In traditional grammar "if I were" belongs to Subjunctive Mood, which is used to express whishes, conditionalities, etc. "If I was" is a normal construction of grammatical normalcy in terms of concord and word order. But it is wrong in usage if the intended expression is meant for a wish, a condition, a desirability, etc. In such contexts, "if I were" is the best.
Blorfonyo 8 years ago
Azindoo, you are wrong!
If I "were" is sued to indicate something that is IMPOSSIBE; for instance "If were you; if I were a cow...."
If I "was" is just an indication of something that might have happened of something ... read full comment
Azindoo, you are wrong!
If I "were" is sued to indicate something that is IMPOSSIBE; for instance "If were you; if I were a cow...."
If I "was" is just an indication of something that might have happened of something else had happened:
"I swear, if I was drunk, he would have got the better of me." (Being drunk is a possibility, you see.)
Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo 8 years ago
Thanks for your comment, Blorfonyo. But you and I are saying the same thing from different angles in respect of "if I were." Logically, expressing an impossibility is a wish (one cannot achieve). So, your choice of impossibil ... read full comment
Thanks for your comment, Blorfonyo. But you and I are saying the same thing from different angles in respect of "if I were." Logically, expressing an impossibility is a wish (one cannot achieve). So, your choice of impossibility and my choice of wish are just a matter of semantics. Your view is welcome, but it does not make mine wrong. Perhaps you want to challenge my right of diction different from yours. That would amount to "Linguistic Imperialism." Hahahahhaa!
With all due respect, even "if I
was" is accepted depending on a context, it cannot logically go with "I would have..."
Justification
The construction under review is a clear case of error of mixing types of conditional sentences. The basic ones are present conditional [If I am drunk, he will get...]. Past conditional [if I was drunk, he would get...], and Participial Conditional [If I had been drunk, he would have got/gotten...].
In the light of the above explanation, your example showcases a mixture of Past Conditional and Participial Conditional, a construction which is undesirable.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 8 years ago
There is no authoritative source anywhere that will conclude that "impossible wish" is any prerequisite for the use of the subjunctive "If I were...." Inherent in every wish is the probability of impossibility and implausibil ... read full comment
There is no authoritative source anywhere that will conclude that "impossible wish" is any prerequisite for the use of the subjunctive "If I were...." Inherent in every wish is the probability of impossibility and implausibility. A person might never turn into a cow in the real and natural world, but also never become a millionaire in the real and natural world no matter his opportunities. "Impossible" is thus a relative semantic item, and not necessarily absolute as such. A human being can turn into a cow in his dream or in a cartoon movie or (in an agnostic and superstitious culture like ours) by some witchcraft or a spell! In that phantasmagoric milieu, how true is it to argue that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a human being to turn into a cow? And what about the ancestors who thought it was impossible for the world to be spherical, or for human beings to fly? And how can you tell whether in the future, human beings cannot turn into cows, or even some of us are not already cows in the metaphorical sense? Are you not already a cow by your bloated size or shallow reasoning?
And that is why it is not logical for any grammatical construction to be based on the distinction you argue here, because speech depends on realities and fantasies and personifications and allegories and anthropomorphic imagery......
Thus I would write off your proposition here as a figment of your own imagination if only for lack of authoritative sources, or from the standpoint of simple commonsense, or superstition, or mythology.
But supposing by some stretch of the imagination that you were right, there is no material difference between what you say and what the good prof. says to constitute a grammatical distinction of any relevance.
In this sense, you are merely splitting hairs. Like a typical Ghanaian, you are busy looking for a fault in what Prof. Azindoo teaches here without adding anything to the "industry of knowledge".
Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo 8 years ago
Dr. SAS, thanks for the elaboration and defense of the culture of intellectualism. You have always been a source of inspiration and guidance to many of us in the "industry of knowledge."
Dr. SAS, thanks for the elaboration and defense of the culture of intellectualism. You have always been a source of inspiration and guidance to many of us in the "industry of knowledge."
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 8 years ago
Long before you appeared on these pages, many others appeared parading themselves as champions of grammar when they did not know what they were talking about.
But you are different: knowledgeable, competent, honest, intell ... read full comment
Long before you appeared on these pages, many others appeared parading themselves as champions of grammar when they did not know what they were talking about.
But you are different: knowledgeable, competent, honest, intelligent yet humble. So we fiercely defend you because you have earned your status and place in our hearts and minds, and we want to encourage you to give us the best you have without being distracted by the folly of those who know next to nothing. And in this, we are the ones that must thank you for choosing to educate us.
LEZO. EU. 8 years ago
Keep them coming. A good medium of revision. With regards to the French and the Arabic language, the Spanish also have the same thing which is normally identified by the last letter of the verb- either with "a" or "o". For ... read full comment
Keep them coming. A good medium of revision. With regards to the French and the Arabic language, the Spanish also have the same thing which is normally identified by the last letter of the verb- either with "a" or "o". For example-. Chico-boy, chica-girl. Una Chica, A girl. Un chico A boy. Ministra-female. Ministro- male. Hermano-brother. Hermana-sister, and it goes on making it easily to understand the context. Keep them coming. Buenos dias.
Kwame 8 years ago
Good work, Boss.
Good work, Boss.
Abubakar M. M. Azindoo 8 years ago
I am thankful to all commentators and humbled by all compliments.
I am thankful to all commentators and humbled by all compliments.
JKK 8 years ago
You mean genders in English are comparatively simpler than (they are) in other languages(?). Can you use the comparative without really comparing it to something else? What you are comparing them with in your paragraph comes ... read full comment
You mean genders in English are comparatively simpler than (they are) in other languages(?). Can you use the comparative without really comparing it to something else? What you are comparing them with in your paragraph comes in a different sentence...
Can you, pls, explain?
We are lucky that we use English as on official language since it has such easy to use gender categories. But that's one of the reasons some people argue that English is too "simple" a language that is made "difficult" by lack of adequate and proper (strict) rules of grammar to guide you. No doubt the language was for the common uneducated people in the past...
I think the new format for the Opinions page is great and I wish to congratulate the webmasters for it. Opinions and Say It Loud occupy their own front page. There is enough space on the left for ALL opinion pieces for the day to get a place, not just the limit of ten as was the previous practice.
But there is no need for the webmaster to post EXACTLY ten opinion piece each day. Whatever new pieces he gets each day can be placed there. It can be 8, 10, 12 or whatever. Old articles should be pushed to the Archives each new day. No need for any article to stay up on the front page for more than 24 hours.
MARCUS AMPADU 8 years ago
Thank you Mr. Azindoo for this much needed literary discourse. Far better than the political cacophonous shrill that serves no one.
Yes some of us did learn that masculine gender includes man, landlord, god, lion, horse, h ... read full comment
Thank you Mr. Azindoo for this much needed literary discourse. Far better than the political cacophonous shrill that serves no one.
Yes some of us did learn that masculine gender includes man, landlord, god, lion, horse, he, stag, rooster, etc.
And the feminine category includes woman, landlady, goddess, lioness, mare, she, doe, hen, etc.
When I was in school, years ago, I did learn that, much to my surprise, the masculine for
peacock was peahen.
Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo 8 years ago
You are most welcome Mr. Marcus Ampadu. I am humbled by your compliments.
You are most welcome Mr. Marcus Ampadu. I am humbled by your compliments.
Blorfonyo 8 years ago
The most glaring mistake Ghanaians and other non-native users of English make is how not to confuse him and her her. Yet this discussion of gender does not devote any time to it.
"Mr Amoah -- look at her daughter! I feel l ... read full comment
The most glaring mistake Ghanaians and other non-native users of English make is how not to confuse him and her her. Yet this discussion of gender does not devote any time to it.
"Mr Amoah -- look at her daughter! I feel like kicking him about!" version of this statement was used as a joke in a certain school and was used to point out the importance of realising the difference between a male and female pronoun, and maintaining unity in the use of pronouns. Mr Grammarian, please try and be relevant to your audience and forget about copying and pasting lessons for them.
Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo 8 years ago
Thanks so much for arrogating to yourself the role of a judge on this site. By the way, grammatical gender is more than your narrow view of "the use of pronouns." Readers expected you to add something relevant to this discuss ... read full comment
Thanks so much for arrogating to yourself the role of a judge on this site. By the way, grammatical gender is more than your narrow view of "the use of pronouns." Readers expected you to add something relevant to this discussion. But you have rather misused the opportunity by making unfounded allegations and looking for cheap recognition. You mentioned copy and past! You could sound more intellectual if you told readers the following: 1-the material copied and pasted. 2- the source of the material. 3- the irrelevance of the material.
Your failure to do so is an indication of your desperate wish to be heard without any substance. But that is a threat to the knowledge industry.
Please, be serious!
I really enjoy and learn a lot from your articles. I always look forward reading and learning something every week. Keep up the good work.
pls educate me on the difference btween(if I were and if I was) is a problem to me
In traditional grammar "if I were" belongs to Subjunctive Mood, which is used to express whishes, conditionalities, etc. "If I was" is a normal construction of grammatical normalcy in terms of concord and word order. But it i ...
read full comment
Azindoo, you are wrong!
If I "were" is sued to indicate something that is IMPOSSIBE; for instance "If were you; if I were a cow...."
If I "was" is just an indication of something that might have happened of something ...
read full comment
Thanks for your comment, Blorfonyo. But you and I are saying the same thing from different angles in respect of "if I were." Logically, expressing an impossibility is a wish (one cannot achieve). So, your choice of impossibil ...
read full comment
There is no authoritative source anywhere that will conclude that "impossible wish" is any prerequisite for the use of the subjunctive "If I were...." Inherent in every wish is the probability of impossibility and implausibil ...
read full comment
Dr. SAS, thanks for the elaboration and defense of the culture of intellectualism. You have always been a source of inspiration and guidance to many of us in the "industry of knowledge."
Long before you appeared on these pages, many others appeared parading themselves as champions of grammar when they did not know what they were talking about.
But you are different: knowledgeable, competent, honest, intell ...
read full comment
Keep them coming. A good medium of revision. With regards to the French and the Arabic language, the Spanish also have the same thing which is normally identified by the last letter of the verb- either with "a" or "o". For ...
read full comment
Good work, Boss.
I am thankful to all commentators and humbled by all compliments.
You mean genders in English are comparatively simpler than (they are) in other languages(?). Can you use the comparative without really comparing it to something else? What you are comparing them with in your paragraph comes ...
read full comment
Thank you Mr. Azindoo for this much needed literary discourse. Far better than the political cacophonous shrill that serves no one.
Yes some of us did learn that masculine gender includes man, landlord, god, lion, horse, h ...
read full comment
You are most welcome Mr. Marcus Ampadu. I am humbled by your compliments.
The most glaring mistake Ghanaians and other non-native users of English make is how not to confuse him and her her. Yet this discussion of gender does not devote any time to it.
"Mr Amoah -- look at her daughter! I feel l ...
read full comment
Thanks so much for arrogating to yourself the role of a judge on this site. By the way, grammatical gender is more than your narrow view of "the use of pronouns." Readers expected you to add something relevant to this discuss ...
read full comment