OUR KIND OF ENGLISH: 'A’ core focus will be on progress? Nope; we should say ‘the’ core focus will be on…
This signboard, sighted at Sinza Palestina in Dar es Salaam, is to all intents and purposes okay. However, the bottom two items on the list of services offered — ACCESORIES and DIGNOSIS — are dubious. Those words don’t exist in the English lexicon! Our avid reader and contributor who sent us this picture told us he avers the artist who handled the work was assigned to write ACCESSORIES and DIAGNOSIS. Trust signwriters! PHOTO | BILL MWASIJO
We consider the indefinite article “a” incorrect here, because when something is “core,” that thing is categorical and basically the “only” one, so the article should be THE (not “a”). It means, the sentence should read as follows: “He explained that THE core focus will be in the…”
