Opinion
Dear Students of English, We Are Not Without Formulas, Too
There has been a debate on which of the courses –Arts [English language] or Sciences, is more technical or rigid, but it is in my desire to say on this day that we, students of English, also have formulas (not: formulae, be in the know that ‘formula’ is a term used in mathematics and science, while the term ‘formulae’ is used in the arts, humanities, and social sciences) that we can boast of the same way mathematicians and physicists boast of their formulae.
Ours is a mélange of letters and numbers, so if you wish to confuse them, here are some that you could use to counter the boasts of other students:
FORMULA 1: S.N(P) + S.V
This formula states that a singular noun (S.N) or singular pronoun (S.P) should be followed by a singular verb (S.V), while a plural noun (P.N) or plural pronoun (P.P) should follow a plural verb(P.V):
Examples:
- I. Tunde (S.N) walks(S.V) to school daily.
- ii. She (S.P) sings (S.V) beautifully.
- iii. They(P.P) walk (P.V) to school daily.
Be in the know that this formula focuses on the agreement between the subject of a sentence and the verb.
FORMULA 2: MPT.
This formula focuses on the standard arrangement of adverbs when they appear in a cluster. Adverbs are many, but three of them make a meaningful combination, and these are adverb of manner, adverb of place and adverbs of time. This is where this formula, MPT, comes in.
Example:
- I ran angrily(manner) to the principal’s office(place) at 12 O’clock.
Be in the know, although not all sentences will have these three adverbs as their grammatical ‘condiments’. When adverbs of place and manner is missing the formula changes from MPT to smaller adverbs of time before bigger adverbs of time.
Example:
I will go to school at 7 O’clock(smallest) on Monday(smaller) next week(small).
FORMULA 3: P + N + P and N + P + N.
These formulas emphasise the need for the standard arrangement of question tag in this manner:
P(Positive statement) + N(Negative question) + P (Positive response).
Example:
- She slapped him(positive statement), didn’t she (negative question tag)? Yes, she did (positive response).
N(Negative statement) + P(Positive question) + N (Negative response).
Example:
She didn’t slap him(Negative statement), did she(Positive question tag)? No, she didn’t (Negative response).
FORMULA 4: PWDSR².
These letters represent:
- P –prayer
- W – wish
- D – demand
- S– suggestion
- R– resolution
- R –recommendation
This formula states that when prayer, wish, demand, suggestion, recommendation, and resolution appears in a sentence or the idea of any of this is a note of any of these words in a sentence, it is mandatory according to standard use of this language called English for the verb to be in plural form.
Example:
- I. I demand that she pay( not: pays) the money.
- ii. I pray that God help( not:helps) me achieve my dreams.
- iii. The management suggest(not: suggests) that she defer her admission, etc.
FORMULA 5: N/P + M.A(V) + S.P.T.
N/P stands for Noun/Pronoun.
M.A(V) stands for Modal Auxiliary Verb.
S.P.T. stands for Simple Present Tense.
This formula states that any verb that follows any modal auxiliary verb(whether the modal is present or past) should be simple present tense, without ‘s’.
Example:
- I. She (Pronoun) + will(Modal auxiliary) + go(simple present tense. (standard).
- ii.They will speak (not: speaks) to the teacher.
- iii. Tunde, the five-year-old child, can write( not: writes) well.
FORMULA 6: MG S–SAC VNH.
When adjectives are found in a cluster in a sentence, this formula should be taking into consideration when arranging them:
MG S–SAC VNH stands for:
- M– modifier (words showing the quantity or number of people of things)
- G– general (adjectives that shows qualities aside from size, shape, age and colour)
- S– size
- S– shape
- A– age
- C– colour
- V– verb
- N– noun
- H– head (what is being qualified)
Example:
- I bought a ‘big blue silver-edged’ rubber tyre.
- These, among others, are formulas we –students of English– have in our course.
In summary, every course is unique in its own way, and no course should be belittled.
Oyem, Israel Ekene (p.k.a. SYNTAX), writes from the Department of Arts Education, University of Lagos, English Education cohort.
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