It’s high time we END the practice? Nope; say: it’s high time we ENDED the practice

The inscriptions with smaller fonts, as it’s the case with those above them, are stating what the business facility located in Dar City can provide. We wonder why the artist chose to paint the products in the singular—business card (instead of CARDS) ID card (instead of cards). Then there’s passport SIZE. Passport size of what? Photos? That should be said—Passport Size Photos. How about STIKER? The word is non-existent in our dictionaries. We aver the artist was paid to paint STICKERS. Trust signwriters! PHOTO | AMS

What you need to know:

  • We might be pardoned, somewhat, when we show some weakness in the area of vocabulary competence, but how about grammar? We all need to pull up our socks.

Goofs that violate basic grammar are sure to disturb those who consider us—the practitioners of the profession that entails seeking truth and publishing it—masterly handlers of language. We might be pardoned, somewhat, when we show some weakness in the area of vocabulary competence, but how about grammar? We all need to pull up our socks.

Let us take a look at how a colleague in the tabloid associated with this columnist (Friday, June 17 edition) mishandled grammar in his article on this year’s Zanzibar International Film Festival, entitled, ‘ZIFF set to quench thirst of revellers’. He writes: “Every year, ZIFF screens approximately 70 local and foreign productions and hosts a dozen complementary ACTIVITIES which INCLUDES workshops…”

The scribbler messes up grammar when he associates “activities” (plural noun) with “includes” (a singular verb). He needed to say is: “activities that INCLUDE…”

In the next paragraph, he writes: “As a TRADITIONAL, this YEAR programme will include a number of workshops and master classes.”

Our colleague must have meant to write “As a TRADITION, this YEAR’S (not year) programme will include…”

We move on to Saturday, June 18 on which day Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet has a story on Page 3 headlined, ‘Sh66.86 collected FOR vehicles along Nyerere Bridge, Govt says’.

Collected “for” vehicles? The preposition “for” implies that money earned by charging users of the Nyerere Bridge is meant to benefit vehicles! That doesn’t make sense. It’s clear, therefore, that the headline writer meant to say, ‘Sh66.86 collected FROM vehicles…’

On Page 7 of the broadsheet, there this story, ‘Refrain from using sulphate bags in cotton packaging, TCB tells farmers’.

In the last-but-one paragraph, our Singida-based colleague writes: “Acting Iramba District Executive Director MK said it was HIGH TIME that farmers ENGAGE in commercial farming…”

The expression “high time” means it is time to do something that should have been done a long time ago. That is why it should be complimented with the past tense. You need to say, for instance: “It is high time we ENDED (not to we END) this practice. So, here is a rewrite of our colleague’s quote: “Acting Iramba District Executive Director MK said it was high time that farmers ENGAGED in commercial farming…”

We move on to Page 5 of the same edition. Here, there is a story entitled, ‘Amend marriage law to protect rights of girls—call’.

Therein, the scribbler says the following in Para 2:

“Due to the government’s EDUCATION sponsorship, there is no excuse for parents to bar their children from attending school because EDUCATION is offered free of charge from primary school to Form Four. As IF that IS not enough, the government has just proposed…”

The word “education” is used twice in the first sentence, something that could have been avoided so as not to bore the reader. Then, the conjunction “if” here should go with “were”. Let me offer a rewrite:

“Due to the government’s EDUCATION sponsorship, there is no excuse for parents to bar their children from attending school because LEARNING is offered free of charge from primary… As IF that WERE not enough, the government has just proposed…”

Further on, the scribbler reports on the plight of girls whose future prospects are ruined through childhood marriage. He writes:

“…Euphonia says in most cases…the person who proposes the girl is much ORDER than her and she has no say.”

Dear Lord! It looks like the R/L mix-up curse will never spare us. Our colleague, obviously set out to write OLDER, but see what he ended up with—ORDER.

The scribbler writes further on the hapless young female. “…if she FELLS pregnant, she risks losing her life and that of her baby during childbirth.”

If she “fells” pregnant? Nope! We say: “If she FALLS pregnant.” However, a person who doesn’t care about forest conservation FELLS trees indiscriminately.

Ah, this treacherous language called English!