UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND TECHNOLOGY (UMaT), TARKWA

FACULTY OF INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (FIMS)

DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

Lecture Notes On
COMMUNICATION SKILLS I
(EC, LT, PE, PG, NG, RP, CH 157)

Course Lecturer:

Elizabeth Konadu Mills Abbey

JANUARY, 2025

1
 UNIT ONE

INTRODUCTION TO COURSE

1.1 Lecture Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The objectives of this lecture are to present:

• The course aim, objectives and expected outcomes.

• The course outline and instructional methodology.
• The assessment procedure.
• The recommended reference material.

At the end of the lecture, the student is expected to:

• Appreciate the nature and scope of the course.

• Understand his or her input for better understanding.
1.2 Course Aim, Objectives and Expected Outcomes

Communication Skills is a course in two parts – Part I, 157 and Part II, 158 – and the
general aim of the whole course which spans only the first year, is:

• To make the student an effective communicator both as an undergraduate and a university

graduate.

Communication Skills I (* 157) is taken in the first semester while Communication Skills II (158)
is taken in the second semester.

The objectives of Communication Skills I (* 157) are to enable the student:

• Understand the theoretical framework of communication;

• Appreciate his or her role as a communicator: listener, speaker, reader and writer;
• Communicate well in English and facilitate his or her undergraduate studies;
• Function effectively in both oral and written English generally.

Expected Course Outcomes:

At the end of the course, the student is expected to:

• Know what Communication is;

• Appreciate the Communication Skills course as a powerful tool for effective studies;
• Develop his or her listening, reading and writing skills;

2
 • Enhance his or her note-taking and note-making skills;
• Understand and write good, grammatically correct and meaningful sentences;
• Be able to bind his or her ideas well by the use of co-ordination and parallel structure.
• Express himself or herself clearly by avoiding ambiguity
• Be able to function effectively in oral and written English both during and after his or her
university studies.
1.3 Course Outline and Instructional Methodology

The course content is as follows:

• Communication: Definitions, Types, Methods, Tools/Media, Purpose of Communication,

Communication as a Process, Basic Components of Communication, Communication in
Organisations, Lines of Authority/Chain of Command; Barriers to Effective
Communication, Principles of Effective Communication.
• Listening Skills;
• Note-taking and Note-making;
• Reading;
• The Sentence: The Sentence as an Ordered String of Words; Sentence Types; Basic
Sentence Patterns.
• Co-ordination and Parallelism;
• Ambiguity;
• Conventions of Usage.

The course is covered through lectures, class discussions and individual as well as group-based
learning tasks and presentations. The tutorials which will be used to reinforce these, will count as
part of each lecture. This is to enable each student to apply and demonstrate the skill(s) he or she
has acquired or developed. The student is expected to read the lecture notes and any supplementary
material(s) before attending lectures so that he or she can learn better by actively participating and
meaningfully contributing to class discussions. As a student, you will benefit immensely from the
course and appreciate it by:

• Attending all lectures and tutorials (both online and in-persorn);

• Avoiding lateness;
• Reading materials (notes, etc.);
• Completing all assignments on time;
• Participating actively in group work;
• Taking part in all quizzes and examinations.

1.4 Assessment

This comprises the student assessment and the course lecturer assessment.

3
1.4.1 Student Assessment:

There are two parts to the student assessment, namely:

• Continuous assessment; and

• Semester examination.

The continuous assessment will carry 40% of the total mark and will involve marks from quizzes,
tests and tutorial work. Assignments will be given at the end of each topic treated so that the student
will be encouraged to test and reinforce his or her understanding of the course. The quizzes and
tests may or may not be announced.
Attendance at lectures and tutorials will be checked regularly and marks awarded as part of the
continuous assessment. The total mark for attendance is ten (10) marks.
The Semester Examination which will carry the remaining 60% is the main examination and will
be taken at the end of the course as indicated on the academic calendar. The mark will be allotted
to a 3-hour paper examination of between three and five sections covering the course as a whole
for the semester. A total of five (5) marks will be reserved and distributed as follows:

• Good handwriting (up to 1.5 marks);

• Good presentation; (up to 1.5 marks);
• Good use of English including correct spelling and punctuation (up to 2 marks).

1.4.2 Course Lecturer Assessment

At the end of the course, every student is expected to anonymously assess the course lecturer’s
performance by answering a questionnaire specially prepared for the purpose. Your sincere views,
opinions etc. on the course lecturer will be needed for improvement. Hence, you are encouraged
to be objective and frank when the time comes for the assessment of the course lecturer.

1.5 Reference Materials

1. Ellis, A. W. and Beattie, G. (2017), The Psychology of Language and Communication,

Routledge
2. Leech, G., and Svartvik, J. (2013), A Communicative Grammar of English.
Routledge.
3. Mahajan, R. (2015). The key role of communication skills in the life of professionals.
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(12), 36-39.
4. Mireku-Gyimah, P. B. (2003), Unit 13: The Environment. In: Gateway to English for
Senior Secondary Schools, Student Bk. 1, (Eds) Grant, N. and Dadzie, A.B.K.,
Pearson Edu. Ltd., Essex, pp. 131 -142.
5. Redman, P. and Maples, W. (2017). Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide,
Sage.

6. NB: Internet Source:

4
http://www.thomsonedu.com/english/anderson click on desired
chapter(s).
http://www.writing-savvy.org/comma-rules.html

5
 UNIT TWO

COMMUNICATION

2.1 Unit Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The objectives of this unit are:

• To present and discuss various definitions of communication;

• To present and explain the types and methods of communication;
• To discuss the tools or media of communication;
• To discuss the purpose of communication;
• To introduce communication as a process;
• To present and discuss the various components of the communication process;
• To discuss communication in organisations;
• To discuss lines of authority or chain of command;
• To discuss some barriers to effective communication;
• To discuss some principles of effective communication.

At the end of the unit, the student is expected to be able to:

• Understand the concept of communication;

• Know how communication works in organisations;
• Discuss the hindrances associated with communication and avoid them;
• Master the effective principles of communication;
• Communicate well, generally.
2.2 Some Definitions

Communication is “the conveying of information, thoughts, feelings or opinions”. It is the looks,

gestures, words, sounds and pictures that people use as basic means of communicating with each
other. Senses that are mainly used are sight, hearing and touch. (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The word “communication” originates from the Latin word “communicare” which means “to make
common, to share, to impart, to transmit”.

Miller et al. (1982) think that, “in its fullest sense, to communicate means to make known, to give
to another, to interchange thoughts, feelings and information, to participate, to share, and to form
a connecting link”. Thus, they note that “Communication creates, maintains, alerts or destroys
human relationships.”

Harding (1985) defines communication as “the conveying of ideas from the mind of one person to
the mind of another.”

6
Wilson (1992) says that, “Communication can be defined simply as a process by which individuals
share information, ideas and attitudes”.

Some interesting words in Wilson’s definition worth considering are share and, process. The word
share means “to give or receive a part of something or to enjoy or assume something in common”.
When defining communication, some people use the word send. However, send implies
transmitting a message with little concern for the receiver whilst share gives one the idea that the
source and the receiver are actively working together for a common understanding.

2.3 Types

There are two main types of communication: Verbal and Non-verbal.

Verbal communication is through words and so can be oral or written. Writing is commonly used to
share information through books, pamphlets, blogs, newsletters, memos and more. The 1992 Constitution
of Ghana serves as a written communication of reference in all law courts of the state. Also, emails and
chats are a common form of written communication in the workplace.

Non-verbal communication, on the other hand, is not through words. It is essentially visual and
includes body language. Visual communication uses graphics, symbols, signs, colour and the like.
By graphics is meant the illustrations to support the use of words. Body language refers to gestures,
facial expressions, eye contact, posture, dress, grooming and deportment. Body language very
often conveys our feelings and emotions even far better than words.

It should be noted, however, that sometimes, body language such as nodding, crying or even
laughing could be difficult to interpret or may be interpreted differently because of different socio-
cultural backgrounds, etc.

ACTIVITIES (During Class Discussions):

• Be ready to give an example or demonstrate a feeling or an emotion with body language.

• Be ready to interpret various gestures and facial expressions among other forms of body
language.

• What about the following emoticons?

2.3.1 Verbal Communication

There are three levels of verbal communication: Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Impersonal.

1. Interpersonal Communication

This is communication between two people or a person and a group. It is direct and has a high
potential for feedback. The medium of interpersonal communication could be written, oral, visual,
non-verbal or any blend of these interpersonal communication and occur through face-to-face

7
interaction, telephone calls, the postal system, notice boards, sign boards and even circulars. (We
may talk about forms of interpersonal communication as monolineal, bilineal and multilineal. The
giving of information, commands or directives by a person as an individual or as a representative
of a group, an organisation etc. is an example of the monolineal form. The directive etc. could also
be from a representative of a group to an individual or from an individual to another individual.
Examples of the bilineal form are dialogues and question(s) and answer(s) while interviews,
meetings and discussions are examples of the multilineal form of interpersonal communication).

2. Intrapersonal Communication

This refers to communication with oneself. Strange? Try to come up with an instance of
intrapersonal communication.

3. Impersonal

This is communication with a large diffuse audience as in mass communication. There is no direct
personal contact between the sender and the receiver. Rather, the sender targets the audience to
be informed etc. Such communication may be carried out through the newspapers, films,
television, radio, posters, billboards, placards etc. It is very difficult to get feedback in this type of
communication. However, strategies that could help solicit feedback include the following:

i. Use of response mechanisms like cut, fill and return coupons, phone-ins, suggestion
boxes, customer query or complaint boxes, hotlines, etc.
ii. Interactive measures like television polls, draws, raffles, promotions, writing
spontaneous feedback by phone, fax, or e-mail or even over the internet.

It can now be appreciated that knowing the level of communication which one is using is very vital
during communication.

2.3.2 Non-Verbal Communication

Anything that transmits a message without using words can be non-verbal communication. As
noted previously, graphics and body language of all sorts convey messages. It can be seen that
there are numerous possibilities of messages that could be conveyed. Some non-verbal
communication may be linked to words to provide “extra” meaning to what the sender wants to
indicate with the words themselves. For example, tone of voice, body movement, eye contact and
touch can be used to say more for emphasis or reinforcement.

Non-verbal communication can also come without any words at all and still speak even louder
than words. Remember that even silence speaks. Since non-verbal cues conveying the message
can be open to different interpretations, non-verbal communication can be confusing and
misinterpreted. If, for example, you shed a tear or two on winning an enviable award, will you be
expressing sadness or happiness? Or if you forgot to send your fiancée a birthday card, would you
agree that you would have effectively told her you no longer care so much about her? Or if you
laugh in reaction to a threat from someone who says he will beat you mercilessly, would you be
expressing happiness or what? By now you might have realised how complex non-verbal

8
communication is. You would now appreciate the need to reduce problems of misinterpretation
associated with non-verbal communication and control it by:

• Producing the desired and appropriate impression all the time with say a smile, a
handshake, decent clothes, an attentive posture, a respectful distance, etc.
• Providing appropriate feedback say a nod, an applause, a thumbs-up, a yawn, etc.

Our ability to control and direct non-verbal communication can also help us a lot when we speak.
We will be enabled to:

• Receive non-verbal messages from our listeners and interpret them accordingly.
• “Read” situations so as to modify our strategies of communication.
• Notice people’s true feelings.
• Detect “hidden” personal problems, worries, etc.

In what instances can the suggestions at minimising misinterpretations of non-verbal

communication apply?

Which parts of the body are mainly used to provide the signals of non-verbal communication? –
Good, you got it right if you said or wrote down the face, eyes, mouth, tongue (lips, tongue, teeth)
head, hands and legs. They help us give and receive messages that constitute body language of
which facial expressions are the commonest sources.
Now, what important caution can you give about body language? Yes, you are right:

Body language can contribute to meaning but can also detract from meaning.

2.4 Methods of Communication

From our discussion of the types of communication it can be seen that the main methods or
processes or means of communication are basically oral, written and visual. Try to list the merits
and demerits of oral and written communication.

2.5 Tools/Media of Communication

The tools or media of communication are many and varied. They include the spoken word,
telephone, writing (letters) talking drums, television, films, slides and video cassettes, electronic
mail (e-mail), facsimile (fax), books, journals, magazines, newspapers, letters, greeting cards,
memoranda, flipcharts, notice boards, organization charts, sign boards, billboards, photographs,
diagrams and illustrations, the internet. Which other(s) can you add? Which of the above-
mentioned tools can be classified as audio-visual, mass (or news) media? What are the advantages
and disadvantages of radio and television?

9
2.6 Purpose of Communication

What do you think is the main purpose or goal of communication? Well, someone has said that
“Communication is mankind’s most important single act”. How do you understand this
observation and how would you explain it? Human beings communicate to initiate some action, to
give and take information etc. and to foster good human relationships. As can be concluded
communication must be used for positive effects. However, this beautiful natural facility could be
used to cause big problems. In what ways can communication be misused? How can we control
misuse or negative use of communication? Consider the view that “… When improperly
performed, it (communication) turns friends into enemies and plunges nations into wars.”

Consider also the observation by Miller et al (1982). that “Communication creates … or destroys
human relationships.”

2.7 Communication as a Process

Communication is a process. This means that:

(1) It is ongoing and dynamic; and (2) It encompasses various components (or elements)
that interact to cause a specific consequence.

2.8 Basic Components of the Communication Process

There are several basic components (or elements) in the communication process. These
components can be represented in a variety of diagrams or models. Let us consider the following
basic model by Wilson. It includes the source, the message, the channel and the receiver (see Fig.
2.1).

Channel
Source Target
(message)
Figure 2.1 Communication Model

2.8.1 The Basic Components of Communication Explained

Source: The source, which is sometimes called the sender, communicator or encoder, is the person
who shares the information, ideas or attitudes with another person.

In mass communication, the source is usually a professional communicator who shapes the
message to be shared. He or she might be a television or radio reporter or an entertainer who must
gather information or ideas and then share them with the audience.

10
Message: The message is whatever the source attempts or tries to share with someone else. It
originates with an idea, which then must be encoded into symbols that are used to express the idea.
Symbols are words and objects that the source uses to elicit meaning in the mind of the receiver
of the message. Words and pictures are the most common symbols used in communication. Words
attempt to describe an idea or concept, whereas pictures actually show a representation of the
object or idea. Supposing you were to give some friends the directions to find your hall of residence
or hostel, you might use words to identify the directions they should follow and the various
landmarks they should look for; or if you preferred, you could draw them a map.

The purpose of selecting symbols for an idea or object is a very important step in communication.
This is because if symbols are poorly selected, they will result in confusing or misunderstood
messages. Therefore, care must be taken to select symbols that will elicit responses in the mind of
the message receiver that are similar to those intended by the source.

In selecting symbols for their messages, communicators must keep in mind that each person has a
different frame of reference and that, owing to this, certain symbols may mean different things to
different people. A frame of reference (sometimes called field of experience) is the set of individual
experiences that each person possesses; hardly would two people have exactly the same
experiences.

Every experience or event in our life leaves some kind of impression on us, and we use the
accumulation of these experiences to give meaning and interpretation to symbols. To illustrate the
point, let us consider the scenario where two people - one rescued by a police officer in some time
past and the other a thief (or criminal) - hear the message. “The police are coming!” The two will
react differently to the message. It is very likely that the criminal will run away as fast as he can
but the other person might meet them (the police) and welcome them. These different reactions
are based on the meanings given to the word police that have been developed as a result of the
individual experiences.

Even though we primarily use words and pictures to send our messages, we also communicate in
other ways. Facial expressions, gestures and body language can effectively send messages. What
examples come into your mind?

Channel: The channel is the way or means in which we send our message. This varies depending
on the communication type under consideration. In interpersonal communication, we use the
senses of sight, sound and touch to communicate messages. These are our channels. In mass
communication, such technological devices as books, newspapers, magazines, movies, radio and
television are the communication channels. To ensure efficiency and effectiveness in
communication, the channel selected must be appropriate for the message. The needs of the
receiver must also be taken into account in choosing a channel. Choice of channel is also
influenced by the relationship between the sender and receiver, the type of message and how fast
one wants the receiver to get the message.

Receiver: The receiver (sometimes called the destination, audience or decoder) in the
communication process is the person with whom the message is intended to be shared. Without a

11
receiver, there is no communication. To properly share your message, you also must be sure that
the receiver is listening and understanding what it is that you have to communicate.

Just because a story is carried in a newspaper or broadcast over radio or television does not mean
that everyone has received the message. If some people do not read the story or pay attention to
the broadcast, it has not been communicated to them. What examples can you cite in the university
study situation?

Feedback: If the receiver or audience in the communication process transmits back to the source
an observable response to the message, we have one more component in the communication
process that is called feedback. Feedback provides the source with an opportunity to determine if
the message was correctly received; and, if it was not, it gives another opportunity to modify the
message.

You would realise that with feedback there is a reversal of roles because the receiver becomes the
(new) source while the source becomes the (new) receiver. As the roles of the source and receiver
reverse, we get a cycle; communication becomes a cycle (See Fig. 2.2).

Channel
Source (Message) Receiver

Feedback

Figure 2.2 Communication Process with Feedback

Feedback can take many forms. It can consist of words, gestures, facial expressions or any other
observable act. A person making a pass at an attractive member of the opposite sex might get a
message to “get lost” without a word being spoken.

12
Feedback can be instant or delayed. In which instances do you think feedback could be instant?
(What about delayed?)

In mass communication for instance, feedback is absent or, at least, very much delayed. Because
of this, mass communication is very much more difficult than face-to-face communication.
Messages in mass communication need to be clearly constructed because there is hardly a chance
to restate their meaning. While a wrongly interpreted newspaper story will cause some people to
write letters to the editor, this feedback comes too late to do much good.

Communication Process Simplified

Figure 2.3 Simplified Communication Process

2.8.2 Communication Noise

The communication process can be complicated by other additional factors called communication
noise. Channel noise, semantic noise and psychological noise are examples of this. Noise in the
communication process is simply any factor that disturbs, confuses or otherwise interferes with
communication. Noise may be internal (for example when a receiver is not paying attention) or
external (as when the message is blurred or distorted by other sounds in the environment). Noise
can occur at any stage of the communication process. While it may occur as the message passes
through the channel most interference show up in the encoding or decoding stage – (during the
selection of a symbol by the source or when the symbol is being given meaning and interpretation
in the mind of the receiver). What do you think would constitute channel noise, semantic noise
and psychological noise?

13
Channel Noise: Channel noise describes external interference in the communication process. The
message does not make it through as sent (e.g. print that is too small). A voice that is too soft or a
picture that is blurred could (all) be examples of channel noise.

Semantic Noise: When semantic noise occurs, the message gets through as sent but the listener
does not understand what it means. Symbols causing semantic noise do not have to be long
technical terms such as hyperbilirubinemia (in a message like “one of your lecturers is suffering
from hyperbilirubinemia”). If a receiver of the message does not have a background in electricity,
for example, he or she may find ohm and watt just as confusing as hyperbilirubinemia.

Even when we are aware that the receiver is familiar with the symbol we have selected, semantic
noise can still occur. How can this be? Any idea(s)?

Semantic noise can also occur when instead of their dictionary meanings, words take on emotional
meaning which are based on experiences. If we consider words like socialist, liberal and
conservative, for instance. These mean different things to different people based on individual
point of view. Thus in mass communication, for example, a great deal of confusion can arise if
these terms are not carefully used but are thrown around too loosely.

Extensive use of jargons can also cause semantic noise. A report which goes like: The mayor of
Accra has intimated that the city has a “long-range strategic plan to interface the environment
negative declaration process with the private sector” may make the reader decide to turn to the
comic pages. Communicators must constantly guard against semantic noise.
Psychological Noise: Psychological noise refers to internal factors that lead to misunderstandings
in the communication process. People try to protect themselves from information that they might
find offensive in three ways:

• Selective Exposure,
• Selective Perception, and
• Selective Retention.

The concept of psychological noise comes from consistency theory research that found that people
usually prefer to seek out information and ideas that are consistent with their belief, attitude and
behaviour, and tend to avoid information that is inconsistent. What do you think selective
exposure, selective perception and selective retention mean?

Selective Exposure: Selective Exposure holds that, as a general rule, we expose ourselves to
information that re-inforces rather than contradicts our beliefs or opinions.

Selective Perception: We tend to see, hear and believe what we want to see, hear and believe. As
the late Canadian Philosopher, Marshall McLuhan pointed out, “everyone has his own set of
goggles” and we think that what we see with our set of goggles is what everyone else sees. The
Swiss biologist and psychologist, Jean Piaget, who has been influential in twentieth century
educational philosophy, called this autistic thinking and defined autism as “thought in which truth
is confused with desire”.

14
Selective Retention: Selective retention means that we tend to remember those things that
reinforce our beliefs better than those that oppose them. For example, try to remember some good
things about someone you dislike. Or try to come up with a list of faults for someone you really
admire or idolise. Chances are that you will remember mostly bad things about your enemies and
good things about your idols.

Considering that the communication process is a rather more complicated subject, Wilson suggests
a more encompassing definition for communication than he first offered. According to him,
“Communication is a process, involving the sorting, selecting and sharing of symbols in such a
way as to help the receiver elicit from his or her own mind a meaning similar to that contained in
the mind of the communicator.”

SUMMARY
▪ As a cyclical exchange of messages, the goal of communication is to ensure
that one has moved an idea the head into someone else’s head so that they
understand your idea as you understood it.
▪ The communication process has five steps: idea formation, encoding,
channel selection, decoding and feedback.
▪ Anything that interferes with clear communication is called noise.
▪ Noise can interfere with each step of the communication process.

2.9 Communication in Organisations

An organisation can be seen as a business or administrative concern united and constructed for a
particular end. (see The Collins English Dictionary, 2nd Ed.). An organisation consists of a group
of people that work together towards a common cause, purpose or goal. It is therefore a structured
whole with division of work and a hierarchy of authority.

Some organisations are structured into departments, sections, etc, which have heads who derive
their authority from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or overall head. This overall head may be
called General Manager, Manager, Director etc. etc. The University is a form of an organisation.
The Chief Executive Officer may be likened to the Vice Chancellor.

The Vice Chancellor delegates power in academic affairs to the Deans of Faculties etc. They, in
turn, delegate it to the Heads of Departments under them who make sure that academic work goes
on well. Such division of work and delegation of power within a firm, business or school leads to
the creation of organisation(al) charts (or organograms) that show the formal lines of authority or
chains of command. It must be noted that the CEO/Vice Chancellor is ultimately responsible for
all that goes on in the organisation or establishment. The subordinate to whom power is delegated
remains accountable to the superior for the performance of his or her duties. Thus he/she will be
reporting to the superior as concerns how he/she executes his/her duties and the results of his/her
work, among other things. So information will flow from bottom to top and vice versa in the
organisation. This information flow gives rise to the formal communication system.

15
2.10 Communication Channels in Organisations

Communication is the lifeblood of every organisation and it can be internal or external and formal
or informal. Lines of communication, forms of communication, chain of communication and
channels of communication are terms that may be used to designate the formal directional flow of
information within an organisation. The direction could be vertical, horizontal or even diagonal.

Vertical communication has two types: Downward and Upward. The downward channel of
communication refers to the movement of information from top (management or superior) to
bottom (lowest grade employee or subordinate) while the upward channel of communication refers
to communication from bottom to top.

The horizontal channel of communication is the type that occurs between people of the same level
or equal status or comparable rank in an organisation; for instance, heads of departments. It is the
lateral flow of information.

The diagonal channel of communication is the one that involves people at different levels who are
not directly in reporting relationship. Usually this communication through the diagonal channel is
not proper as it does not follow the chain of command.

In most organisations, a great deal of information passes through the chain of command on
departmental basis. This way, responsibility and accountability are clearly defined.

In groups, discuss instances of upward communication and downward communication. What also
can you say about the horizontal and diagonal channels?

While formal communication follows established procedures and therefore conforms to customs,
rules, norms and conventions (and must be used always), there exists an informal communication
system called the grapevine which simply means rumour mongering or hear-say. Rumour
mongering has been observed to be worse than bushfire. How do you analyse this observation? In
your own assessment can the grapevine be used positively? How?

The following figure shows the directional flow of communication in a firm (see Fig. 2.4). Study
this figure carefully and discuss it with a friend.

ACTIVITIES (in Class): Be ready to give some explanations about the figure.

Managing Director

Production Marketing Finance Administrative

Manager Manager Manager Manager

Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor

KEY 16
Vertical Channel

Horizontal
Fig 2.4 Directional Flow of Communication

Now, draw the organisational chart of any organisation of your choice, or of UMaT. Some blank
space has been left for you, so go on and do it!

Barriers to Communication

As you should know by now, the communication process is a complex one and can be marred by
distractions and hindrances generally referred to as noise.

At the interpersonal level of communication, particularly in organisations, it is necessary to guard

against barriers that will prevent the message from going through as intended.

The following are some of the factors to consider for successful communication:

1. Avoidance of Language Barriers e.g. Semantic problems

2. Avoidance of Vague Objectives
3. Avoidance of Physical Barriers
4. Avoidance of Human Barriers
5. Status
6. Structure of an organisation
7. Time Factor

Discuss the above factors with a group member as you try to add to them. Some blank space has
been left for you, so go on and do it!

ACTIVITIES (in Class): Be ready to share your ideas during our class discussions.

17
 UNIT THREE

WORD CLASSES

INTRODUCTION

Words can be classified according to their form and function. For instance, a word that names is a
noun, a word that expresses an action or a state of being is called a verb, while a word that describes
an adjective. In this unit, we’ll examine some of the characteristics of these words.

NOUNS
A noun is a name or word that labels a Person, Place, Animal, Thing, Idea, Quality.

Types of Nouns
Nouns can be grouped in different ways:
1. Proper & Common
2. Countable & Non-Count
3. Concrete & Abstract
4. Collective

18
 A. Proper nouns and common nouns

A proper noun is a specific name of a person, place, or thing, and is always capitalised.

Does Mavis have much homework to do this evening?

Mavis is the name of a specific person.

I would like to visit Kakum National Park.

Types of Proper Nouns

1. Names: Proper nouns, or proper names, include people. Pets’ names are also proper nouns
and require capitalization.
2. Titles of people: Proper nouns also include titles of people, like Queen Victoria and
President Abraham Lincoln.
3. Places: Another category of proper noun refers to specific places, including countries,
states, cities, and particular locations. Examples include England, Tarkwa, South Street
UMaT Auditorium, and Kotoka International Airport, .
4. Calendar days: In English grammar, months and days of the week are proper nouns, like
September and Thursday. Although the months of the year are proper nouns, the seasons are
not and are thus not capitalized. For example, “September is my favorite month, because it
marks the beginning of autumn.”
5. Holidays: Holidays, such as Labor Day and Hanukkah, are proper nouns.
6. Brand and company names: Brand names and company names are also proper nouns and
are capitalized.
7. Titles of works: Proper nouns include titles of specific works of art and literature, such
as The Thinker and Romeo and Juliet, and also publications, like The New York Times. In
titles of art or literary works, the important words are capitalized. Conjunctions and articles
less than four words are lowercase, unless they are the first word in the title. For example, The
Merchant of Venice and Pride and Prejudice.
8. Language names: English, French, Twi.

In an English sentence, the singular, first-person pronoun “I” is always capitalised, but it is a
pronoun—not a proper noun.

The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun, sometimes known as a generic noun. A common
noun is the generic name of an item in a class or group and is not capitalized unless appearing at
the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

The girl crossed the river.

Girl is a common noun; we do not learn the identity of the girl by reading this sentence, though
we know the action she takes. River is also a common noun in this sentence.

Common nouns

19
Common or generic nouns can be broken down into three subtypes: concrete nouns, abstract nouns,
and collective nouns. A concrete noun is something that is perceived by the senses; something that
is physical or real. Egs. I heard the doorbell. My keyboard is sticky.

PLURAL FORMATION IN NOUNS

A noun is plural when it represents two or more people, places, things, or ideas. You can identify
most plural nouns because they end in –s or –es, although there are plenty of exceptions. In
particular, irregular plural nouns each have their own special plural forms, such as child and its
plural form, children.

PLURAL FORMATION IN COMPOUND NOUNS

Before we look at how to form the plural of compound nouns let’s take a quick glance at the types
of compound nouns:

noun + noun basketball, bookstore

noun + verb snowfall, haircut

noun + adjective lime green, town square

noun + prepositional phrase son-in-law, lady-in-waiting

verb + noun surfboard, swimsuit

preposition + noun onlooker, underworld

verb + preposition lookout, go-between

adjective + noun black box, hot dog

Generally, you pluralise a compound noun by pluralising the semantic head, the part of the word
that conveys its primary meaning. Because a mother-in-law is primarily a mother, this word is
pluralised as mothers-in-law. Similarly, box office becomes box offices, passerby
becomes passersby, and doctor of philosophy becomes doctors of philosophy.

However, there are compound nouns that aren’t pluralized this way—at least not usually. Certain
compound nouns, namely ones that refer to units of measurement like cupful and teaspoonful,
traditionally pluralised their semantic heads. But in some modern dictionaries, these words are
made plural by simply adding an “s” to the end, i.e., Merriam-Webster prefers cupfuls instead
of cupsful and teaspoonfuls instead of teaspoonsful.

Compound nouns normally form the plural by adding -s to the last word of the compound.
a games console three games consoles

a bookcase two bookcases

20
 an Indian take-away two Indian take-aways
There are a few exceptions: A compound noun formed from a noun and an adverb makes the first
word plural.
a passer-by several passers-by
Compound nouns with woman as the first word make both words plural.
a woman doctor several women doctors

a woman driver most women drivers

A compound word which ends in -ful normally adds -s after -ful, but there is an alternative form
with the -s following the base noun.
a cupful three cupfuls/cupsful

a spoonful two spoonfuls/spoonsful

Some nouns referring to clothes and tools where two equal parts are joined together, e.g. trousers,
binoculars, and tongs, are treated as being plural and are followed by a verb in the plural.
My shorts are dirty. The scissors are on the table.
To talk about one of these items we can use the expression a pair of…
John bought a pair of jeans.
To talk about more than one we talk about however many pairs of…
Martina bought five pairs of tights.
When they are used as ordinary numbers, words such as dozen and million have no plural form.
nine million stars two dozen glasses
When they are used to mean a large number, they do have a plural form, which can be used as a
partitive.
There are millions of pebbles on the beach. I saw dozens of children in the playground.
Forming the Plural of Compound Nouns:
A compound noun is made up of more than one word. Before understanding how to form the
plural, it is important to first see the variety of ways that compound nouns can be created in the
English language.
Structure Example
noun + noun bus stop
noun + adjective mouthful
adjective + noun blueberry
verb (ing) + noun swimming pool
noun + verb (ing) haircut
verb + preposition check-out
noun + preposition passer-by
preposition + noun underwater
noun + preposition + noun mother-in-law

21
 Here are some examples of how plural compound nouns can be created once you identify the
head:
Compound noun head plural
sister-in-law sister sisters-in-law
blackberry berry blackberries
bus driver driver bus drivers
haircut cut haircuts
swimming pool pool swimming pools

Functions of Nouns
i. Subject
ii. Object
iii. Complement
iv. Appositive

PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun which is mentioned earlier in a statement or
conversation. Eg. Bello ate the food because he was hungry.
Types of Pronouns
i. Personal
ii. Demonstrative
iii. Reciprocal
iv. Interrogative
v. Reflexive
vi. Intensive
vii. Indefinite
viii. Relative

THE ADJECTIVE
An adjective is a word used to describe a noun or pronoun, or to give noun or pronoun a more
specific meaning.
A. Types of Adjectives
i. Quality
ii. Colour
iii. Size
iv. Age
v. Smell
vi. Taste
vii. Angle
viii. Material
ix. Adjective of Degree (regular and irregular forms)
x. Proper Adjectives
B. Arrangement of Adjectives

PROPER ADJECTIVES

22
A proper adjective is an adjective that was derived from a proper noun and is therefore
capitalized. In general, we use proper adjectives to say that something originates from a specific
place or is related to a specific person. For example, something that originates from Japan is said
to be Japanese and the Victorian era was the period of history during which Queen Victoria of
England reigned.

For the most part, proper nouns are capitalized regardless of where they appear in a sentence.
Because proper adjectives come from proper nouns, they follow this same grammatical rule. For
example, the proper adjective Mexican comes from the proper noun Mexico and would be used in
a sentence like The new professor specializes in Mexican literature. As you can see, the proper
adjective is capitalized even though it appears in the middle of the sentence.
List of proper adjectives
In general, most proper adjectives come from the names of people or places:

• People: Elizabethan, Victorian, Napoleonic, Christian, Buddhist, Shakespearean,

Edwardian, Maoist, Jacksonian, Kafkaesque, Confucian
• Places: Spanish, American, Japanese, Chinese, Australian, Chilean, Norwegian,
Jamaican, Bulgarian, Iraqi, Afghan, Haitian, African, European
There are some adjectives that are based on people and places that may not be capitalized if they
are used as more general words. These include adjectives such as herculean, spartan, draconian,
and titanic.
If you use a prefix with a proper noun, the prefix itself isn’t capitalized, but the proper adjective
still is:

ARRANGEMENT OF ADJECTIVES

In English, the proper order for adjectives is known as the Royal Order of Adjectives. The Royal
Order of Adjectives is as follows:

• Determiner (This isn’t a type of adjective, however, determiners—including articles,

possessives, and demonstratives—are considered in the Royal Order of Adjectives. They
must always come before adjectives and the nouns they modify.)

o The, your, our, these

• Quantity: One, seven, many, few.

• Opinion: Delicious, heroic, misunderstood, valuable.

▪ Sometimes, this category is divided into two categories: general and

specific opinion, with general opinion coming before specific opinion. For
example, you might describe a specific tablet as a popular, perfect choice
for digital illustrators. The general opinion here is that it’s popular, an
opinion held by many (and easily verified). The more specific opinion is

23
 that it’s perfect for digital illustrators—it’s your personal opinion, but it
might not be as widely held as the opinion that it’s popular.

• Size: Huge, tiny, medium-sized, small.

• Age: New, old, decades-old, second-newest

• Shape: Square, round, triangular, geometric

• Colour: Blue, gray, yellow, red

• Origin/material: American, wooden, velvet, African

• Qualifier: Hound dog, denim skirt, pickup truck, vampire bat

Although you might not have ever seen the proper adjective order listed like this, you may have
picked up on it and used it without even realizing what you’re doing. You could naturally follow
this order any time you use more than one adjective to describe a noun, no matter where those
adjectives fall within the Royal Order.

Take a look at this chart to see how different noun phrases illustrate the Royal Order:

Quantity Opinion Size Age Shape Color Origin/Material Qualifier Noun

one beautiful old brick house

small black dog

new wool button-down sweater

THE VERB

A verb is a word or a group of words that expresses action, condition, state of being or existence.

Types of verbs

i. Main (Regular/Irregular)

ii. Auxiliary (Be, have, do, modals)

TENSES OF VERBS

Verb tenses show when an action took place, as well as how long it occurred. The main verb
tenses are the past, present, and future.

24
There are also additional aspects that give extra details, such as the length of time the action
occurred, which actions happened first, or whether a past action has an impact on the present.
These grammatical aspects are the simple tense, perfect tense, continuous tense, and perfect
continuous tense.

Verb tenses list: How many tenses are there in English?

The standard tense in English is the present tense, which is usually just the root form of the verb.
The past and future tenses often require changes or additions to the root form, such as the suffix –
ed for the past tense and the modal verb will for the future.

However, for each of the past, present, and future tenses, there are four different aspects that add
additional details. For example, the continuous tense shows that an action is ongoing. It can be
used in the present (she is sleeping), past (she was sleeping), or future (she will be sleeping).

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE TENSES

The past, present, and future are the central divisions of time in English. The present represents
actions happening now, while the past represents actions that happened earlier, and the future
describes actions that will happen later.

Simple tense

The simple tense is a grammatical aspect that refers to the normal forms of the past, present, and
future tenses—nothing fancy! Unlike the other aspects, it doesn’t add any new information. True
to its name, simple tenses are the easiest to form and have the fewest rules.

Perfect tense

The definition of the perfect tense is a little more complicated. It’s used for actions that relate to
other points in time, either completed or ongoing.

For example, in the sentence I have played soccer since I was a child, the perfect tense indicates
that the action occurred continuously in the past and still happens in the present. By contrast, in
the sentence I played soccer when I was a child, the simple past tense indicates that the action
occurred only in the past, and has no relation to the present.

The perfect tenses use a conjugation of the auxiliary verb have with the past participle of the main
verb.

Continuous tense

25
We use the continuous tenses (also known as the progressive tenses) for ongoing actions or actions
that happen a while before completion. For example, They are studying all night means the
studying lasts many hours before it’s finished.

Please note that you usually do not use the continuous tense with stative
verbs like want, love, have, and need.

The continuous tenses use a conjugation of the auxiliary verb be along with the main verb’s present
participle, or –ing form.

Perfect continuous tense

When you combine the perfect and continuous tenses, you get the perfect continuous tense. It’s
typically used just like the perfect tense, except it describes ongoing actions that happen over a
period of time.

The construction of the perfect continuous tense uses a conjugation of the auxiliary verb have, the
auxiliary verb been (the past participle of be), and the present participle of the main verb.

English tenses examples: verb tenses chart

Past Present Future

I helped my neighbour I help my neighbour every I will help my neighbour
Simple
yesterday. day. tomorrow.
I have helped my I will have helped my neighbour
I had helped my neighbour clean
Perfect neighbor too much this a hundred times by the end of the
his attic before I fixed his car.
week. month.
I am helping my
I was helping my neighbour I will be helping my neighbour
Continuous neighbour while he fixes
when he brought me iced tea. next month when he moves.
up his house.
I had been helping my I have been helping my I will have been helping my
Perfect
neighbour for a year before he neighbour since I moved neighbour for a year next
continuous
finally thanked me. in. month.

Past tenses

Simple past

We use the simple past to show actions completed in the past, with no extra emphasis.

26
For regular verbs, you form the simple past tense by adding the suffix –ed to the end of the verb
(or just –d if the past tense verb already ends in an e).

Be careful of irregular past tense verbs, however. These don’t follow the normal rules and use their
own unique forms for the past tense. For example, the past tense of the irregular verb go is went.

Regular verbs: I picked up the glass, but it dropped from my hand.

Irregular verbs: This morning I went to the store, but I forgot the milk.

Past perfect

[had] + [past participle]

What if you’re talking about two different actions in the past and want to show that one happened
before the other? The past perfect, also known as the pluperfect, shows that one past action
happened earlier than another one.

She had arrived at the office before she realized it was Sunday.

I ran to my car when I noticed my wife had left already.

Past continuous

[was/were] + [present participle]

Use the past continuous to show an ongoing action in the past, especially if the action was
interrupted by another action. It’s also used for habitual actions that occurred in the past but not in
the present. It’s usually used with adverbs like always or adverb phrases like all the time.

My dog was whimpering in his sleep when the TV woke him up.

As kids, my friends and I were always getting into trouble.

Past perfect continuous

[had] + [been] + [present participle]

The past perfect continuous tense is used just like the past perfect tense, except it describes
ongoing actions that happened in the past instead of a one-time occurance. It’s often used with the
words when, until, and before to connect it to another past action.

27
Before he got his first job as a writer, he had been working as a proofreader.

I had been living on my friend’s couch for a year until they kicked me out.

Present tenses

Simple present

The simple present is the most basic of the English tenses. It’s used for individual actions or
habitual actions in the present.

Often the simple present is just the root verb with no changes or additions. The main exception to
this is when the subject is third person and singular. In this case you add the suffix –s. If the verb
ends in o, ch, sh, th, ss, gh, or z, you add –es. If the verb ends in a consonant and y (and the subject
is third-person singular), drop the y and add –ies.

Today I feel like working all day

My sister does the cooking while my brother washes the dishes.

Present perfect

[have/has] + [past participle]

Although it’s quite common, the present perfect is one of the most difficult English verb tenses. It
is used to describe a few different types of actions, including:

• an ongoing action started in the past that is not yet completed

• the same action completed multiple times in the past and likely to be completed again

• an action completed very recently (usually with just or now)

• an uncompleted action that is expected to be finished (in the negative)

Additionally, the present perfect can be used to emphasize the significance of a completed action,
especially one that happened over time.

We have tricked him every April Fool’s Day since we were kids.

My niece has grown so much this year!

Present continuous

28
[am/is/are] + [present participle]

Use the present continuous to show an action happening right now or in the near future.

I am reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for the fifth time!

We are eating pizza tonight.

Present perfect continuous

[have/has] + [been] + [present participle]

The present perfect continuous shows an ongoing action in the present that was started in the past.
It is often used to emphasize the length of time.

We have been waiting for over an hour!

The team has been practicing nonstop for the tournament.

Future tenses

Simple future

Use the simple future for actions that have not happened yet but will later. To form the simple
future, just place the modal verb will before the root form of the main verb. (Note that if the action
will happen in the near future, you can use the present continuous instead.)

She will be president one day.

I will not go to the wedding without a date!

Future perfect

[will] + [have] + [past participle]

The future perfect shows an action that will be completed in the future by a specified time. Because
it depends on another time, the future perfect is often used with words like by, before, at, or when.

By the time you read this, I will have already left.

She will have eaten lunch before her sister even wakes up.

Future continuous

29
[will] + [be] + [present participle]

Use the future continuous tense for future actions happening over a period of time, especially when
a specific time is mentioned. The future continuous tense also shows more certainty and likelihood
than the simple future.

By this time tomorrow, I will be drinking margaritas on the beach.

We will be attending a meeting from noon until 3 p.m.

Future perfect continuous

[will] + [have] + [been] + [present participle]

The future perfect continuous depicts future ongoing actions that continue up until a certain point.
Like the future perfect and future continuous, it’s used with a specified time.

In ten minutes, my parents will have been waiting in traffic for four hours.

I will have been eating healthy for a whole year by September.

ADVERB
An adverb is a word that modifies (i.e. tell us more about) an action of a verb or verb phrase.
Types of adverbs
i. Place
ii. Manner
iii. Time
iv. Degree
v. Frequency
vi. Comment

PREPOSITION
Prepositions are words or groups of words that relate one thing, person or place to another.
Types of prepositions
i. Simple
ii. complex

CONJUNCTION
A conjunction is a linking word – that is, a word that joins or connects two parts of a sentence.
Types of conjunctions
i. Coordination
ii. subordination

DETERMINERS
A determiner is used together with a noun to make that noun more definite or specific as well as
the number or quantity being talked about.
Types of determiners

30
 i. Article (a, an, the)
ii. demonstratives
iii. possessives
iv. interrogatives, etc.

INTERJECTION
An interjection is a word that expresses feeling or emotion independently

UNIT FOUR

SENTENCE
The Sentence

A sentence is a combination of words to form a complete thought. It should make sense. It is

therefore an ordered chain of words with complete meaning. A sentence contains a finite verb.

5.3 Types of Sentences

A sentence may be simple or multiple; a multiple sentence can be compound, complex or

compound-complex.

A simple sentence has only one finite verb; it is an independent clause. For example: Kofi goes.

A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses containing closely related ideas. The
following are examples:
1. I am here to study, and you are there to guide me.
2. Many are called, but few are chosen.
3. They were late, so the meeting was rescheduled.
4. He is the choice, for they voted for him.
5. He came here, yet he could not stay.
6. Mansa leaves or I do.
7. The girls were neither hardworking nor serious.
8. The election went on successfully; there were no unfortunate incidents.

5.4 Complex Sentences

A complex sentence expresses more than one thought. It contains at least one independent clause
and one dependent clause. A complex sentence is formed by means of subordination. The
following are examples:
1. If it rains, we shall not meet.
2. He felt lonely because he had recently been divorced.
3. When I meet my students, I become happy.

31
The same ideas in 1, 2 and 3 may be expressed in a different order as:
1. We shall not meet if it rains.
2. Because he had recently been divorced, he felt lonely.
3. I become happy when I meet my students.
5.5 Compound-Complex

A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and one or more
dependent clauses. The compound-complex sentence is a combination of a compound sentence
and a complex sentence. The following are examples:

1. Some researchers are working on plastic coatings, and others are working on a
vaccine against decay-causing germs, although neither technique is ready for
widespread use yet.
2. When the students arrived on campus, they greeted the officers and politely asked
for their accommodation.
5.6 Other Forms of the Sentence

A sentence may be:

A Statement
A Question
A Command or Desire/Wish/Request
An Exclamation
Can you come up with examples of each? Compare your examples with the following:
1. Dad leaves for London this evening (Statement)
1. Where is he travelling to? (Question)
2. May he have a safe journey. (Desire/wish)
3. I wish him very well. (Desire)
4. Go and see him off at the airport. (Command)
5. May I come along. (Request)
6. How thoughtful Dad is! (Exclamation)

5.7 Basic Sentence Patterns

A sentence can be short or long but must make complete sense always. Every sentence must have
at least two parts, which are the subject and the verb. A sentence, thus, has two main parts just like
a clause. They are the Subject and Predicate.
Sentence = Subject + Predicate
The subject refers to the object, idea, thing or person that is of basic concern in the sentence while
the verb (predicate) refers to what the subject does. So, we can have a complete grammatically
correct sentence with only two words which are subject and verb. For instance:
• Christians pray.
• Man proposes.
• Over speeding kills.

32
On your own, give four different two-word sentences following the subject-verb pattern
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Good. Now let us get on to some other sentences which demand an extra word called OBJECT
before they can make their sense complete. In this pattern, the verb needs something in addition to
it to make the sense complete. Examples of such sentences are the following:
1. Judas betrayed Jesus.
2. Merchants buy wares.
3. The doctors saved lives.
4. The groom kissed the bride.

An object will be required with the use of verbs such as: kiss, beat, buy and catch.
Try to follow the pattern and add five more examples.
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
5. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Another sentence pattern is subject + verb + complement (SVC). The complement adds more
information to explain the nature of the subject as indicated in the following examples:
1. Gold is precious.
2. She became a lecturer.
3. The Principal has been hardworking.
4. The boy looks worried.
5. Management grew mad.
Discuss with a friend and add three more examples
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Subject – Verb – Object + Complement (SVOC) is another pattern.
Here, the complement adds more information about the object as in the following examples:
1. The doctors proved the spiritualist wrong.
2. They elected him president.
3. Mansa called her doll “Esther.”
Few verbs are used in this pattern and they include: make, prove, elect, appoint, choose, justice,
call, nominate, proclaim, christen, name etc.
Now give five examples of your own.
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
5. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Another sentence type is Subject – Verb – Object – Adverb (SVOA) In this sentence type, the
new addition is an adverb which is a word that sheds more light on the state of the verb. Examples
of this pattern are:

33
 1. He resembled the father terribly.
2. The woman prepared the room hurriedly.
3. Electricity helps human beings immensely.
4. He consulted the master at dawn.
5. We write the paper next week.
Give two examples now.
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
In the next sentence pattern, Subject + Verb + Object + Object (SVOO), another object is
needed to make the sense complete. For example:
1. Mike bought me a new cell phone.
2. The lecturer offered help to the students.
3. Parents pay school fees for their children.
4. She has sent a Valentine Card to him.
5. The Planning Committee is suggesting awards for the winners.
Try to provide three examples of your own.
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
We have noted that a sentence must make sense. Therefore, you should guard against thoughtless
or meaningless string of words which may, however, be grammatically correct and which you may
wrongly call sentences. Such wrong constructions may be short or long. For example, notice that
the following are meaningless:
1. Mountains climb men.
2. When we were going to the market.
3. Since he came.
4. Although he offered help to all the other heads of institutions and also set a good example
for them to follow.
Briefly comment on these four examples.
Beware of Sentence Problems
Because of sentence problems, writing often fails to communicate what the writer means.
Sentence problems are usually common problems that keep sentences from communicating
meanings clearly. Please read on and also try your hands at the various exercises at each point
to test your understanding.

(see also Stanford, 1997)

THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCE

What Are the Different Types of Conditional Sentences?

There are four different types of conditional sentences in English. Each expresses a different
degree of probability that a situation will occur or would have occurred under certain
circumstances.
• Zero Conditional Sentences

• First Conditional Sentences or the open Condition

34
 • Second Conditional Sentences or unfulfilled Condition

• Third Conditional Sentences or the hypothetical Condition

Let’s look at each of these different types of conditional sentences in more detail.

How to Use Zero Conditional Sentences

Zero conditional sentences express general truths—situations in which one thing always causes
another. When you use a zero conditional, you’re talking about a general truth rather than a specific
instance of something. Consider the following examples:
If you don’t brush your teeth, you get cavities.
When people smoke cigarettes, their health suffers.
There are a couple of things to take note of in the above sentences in which the zero conditional is
used. First, when using the zero conditional, the correct tense to use in both clauses is the simple
present tense. A common mistake is to use the simple future tense.
When people smoke cigarettes, their health will suffer.
Secondly, notice that the words if and when can be used interchangeably in these zero conditional
sentences. This is because the outcome will always be the same, so it doesn’t matter “if” or “when”
it happens.

How to Use First or Open Conditional Sentences

First conditional sentences are used to express situations in which the outcome is likely (but not
guaranteed) to happen in the future. Look at the examples below:
If you rest, you will feel better.
If you set your mind to a goal, you’ll eventually achieve it.
Note that we use the simple present tense in the if-clause and simple future tense in the main
clause—that is, the clause that expresses the likely outcome. This is how we indicate that under a
certain condition (as expressed in the if-clause), a specific result will likely happen in the future.
Let’s examine the examples below:
If you eat well, you will feel better.
If you come early, you’ll get the buys.
If the students study well, they can pass the examination.
If the boys listen to advise, they will go far.
If I listen to her advise, I won’t talk to you again.

How to Use Second or Hypothetical Conditional Sentences

Second conditional sentences are useful for expressing outcomes that are completely unrealistic or
will not likely happen in the future. Consider the examples below:
If I inherited a billion dollars, I would travel to the moon.
If I owned a zoo, I might let people interact with the animals more.
If I were a monkey, I would greet human beings.
If I were you, I would learn hard to make my parents proud.
If my father were rich, he would buy an aircraft.
Notice the correct way to structure second conditional sentences is to use the simple past tense in
the if-clause and an auxiliary modal verb (e.g., could, should, would, might) in the main clause
(the one that expresses the unrealistic or unlikely outcome). The following sentences illustrate a
couple of the common mistakes people make when using the second conditional:

35
How to Use Third Conditional Sentences
Third conditional sentences are used to explain that present circumstances would be different if
something different had happened in the past. Look at the following examples:
If you had told me you needed a ride, I would have left earlier.
If I had cleaned the house, I could have gone to the movies.
If you had eaten well, you would have felt better.
If you had come early, you would have gotten the buys.
If the students had studied well, they could have passed the examination.
If the boys had listened to advice, they would have gone far.

These sentences express a condition that was likely enough, but did not actually happen in the past.
The speaker in the first sentence was capable of leaving early, but did not. Along these same lines,
the speaker in the second sentence was capable of cleaning the house, but did not. These are all
conditions that were likely, but regrettably did not happen.
Note that when using the third conditional, we use the past perfect (i.e., had + past participle) in
the if-clause. The modal auxiliary (would, could, should, etc.) + have + past participle in the main
clause expresses the theoretical situation that could have happened.

Exceptions and Special Cases When Using Conditional Sentences

As with most topics in the English language, conditional sentences often present special cases in
which unique rules must be applied.

Use of the Simple Future in the If-Clause

Generally speaking, the simple future should be used only in the main clause. One exception is
when the action in the if-clause will take place after the action in the main clause. For example,
consider the following sentence:
If aspirin will ease my headache, I will take a couple tonight.
The action in the if-clause is the aspirin easing the headache, which will take place only after the
speaker takes them later that night.

“Were to” in the If-Clause

The verb phrase were to is sometimes used in conditional sentences when the likely or unlikely
result is particularly awful or unthinkable. In this case, were to is used to place emphasis on this
potential outcome. Consider these sentences:
If I were to be sick, I would miss another day of work.
If she were to be late again, she would have to have a conference with the manager.
If the rent were to have been a cedi more, they would not have been able to pay it.
Note that the emphatic “were to” can be used to describe hypothetical scenarios in the present,
future, and past.

Punctuating Conditional Sentences

Despite the complex nature of conditional sentences, punctuating them properly is really simple!
Here’s the skinny:
Use a comma after the if-clause when the if-clause precedes the main clause.
If I’d had time, I would have cleaned the house.
If the main clause precedes the if-clause, no punctuation is necessary.

36
I would have cleaned the house if I’d had time.

COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS

A. CO-ORDINATION AND PARALLELISM

Lecture Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The objectives of this lecture are:

• To discuss co-ordination;
• To discuss parallelism or parallel structure.

At the end of the lecture, the student is expected to:

• Understand co-ordination and parallelism;

• Be able to effectively combine ideas using co-ordination and parallelism.

6.2 Introduction

We have noted that a good, correct sentence must not only be grammatically correct; it must also
make sense or complete thought.
Study the following strings of words. Which of them are sentences and which are not? What are
your reasons?
1. Mr Kofi Amankwah works hard.
2. He is very successful.
3. He failed all his courses.
4. Because Sly relaxed too much.
5. Although he tried so hard.
“Numbers 1, 2 and 3” are grammatically correct and they also make sense.
1. Mr Kofi Amankwah works hard.
2. He is very successful.
3. He failed all his courses.

“Numbers 4 and 5” are grammatically correct, but they do not make complete thought on their
own as they stand. (As such, it is very wrong to bring a full stop after them).

4. Because Sly relaxed too much

5. Although he tried so hard
It can be seen that these two – “4” and “5” – seriously need extra information to add themselves
to (or to add to themselves) before they can make complete sense. They are dependent (or
subordinate) clauses. We should note that the extra information needed must make complete sense
on its own.
In other words, it must be an independent, or principal or main clause like “1, 2 and 3”.
Considering the total meaning that we can get, we can effectively connect “3” and “4” as well as
“3” and “5”. Combining “3” and “4”, we get the following:

37
He failed all his courses because Sly relaxed too much.
OR
Because Sly relaxed too much, he failed all his courses.
Combining “3” and “5” also, we arrive at the following:
He failed all his courses although he tried so hard.
OR
Although he tried so hard, he failed all his courses.
It is clear that the combination of the independent and dependent clauses has provided a clearer
meaning than did the dependent clauses on their own. The independent clauses have also been
enriched. However, the independent clauses did not need the dependent clauses to make sense.
Punctuation Tips
When the complete sense is made, a full stop is required. You must always use the correct
punctuation mark at the end of your sentences; a full stop (.) for a statement, a question mark (?)
for a question and an exclamation mark (!) for an exclamation or interjection. (Mild interjections
are followed by a comma e.g. Oh yes, that would be lovely.) Note that the comma (,) is introduced
before the main clause starts, that is, when the dependent clause begins the new sentence.
There is, however, no comma when the independent clause starts the new sentence. In combining
the dependent and independent clauses, we used a method called subordination. We subordinated
the dependent clauses to the independent or main clauses. Remember that the new sentences we
formed are examples of complex sentences.
We may subordinate ideas, facts etc. by expressing them in clauses that start with subordinating
conjunctions such as after, although, because, as if, as, when, where, while, though, even
though, unless, since; or by relative pronouns such as who, which, that.
Other longer subordinating conjunctions include: as a result, for that matter, etc.
Now construct five sentences to demonstrate your understanding of subordination.
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
5. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

6.3 Co-ordination

Like subordination, co-ordination is a method of combining ideas. It is important to know how to

write effectively by co-ordinating ideas correctly and meaningfully.
We have noticed that words, phrases and sentences may be joined together meaningfully by using
the co-ordinating conjunctions – and, but, for, or, nor, so – and the correlative conjunctions –
either …or, neither …nor, not only … but also; both … and. Correlative conjunctions are
always used in pairs. Other words that could be used as co-ordinating conjunctions include yet,
only.

38
Words such as so, however, consequently, hence, moreover, furthermore, also, accordingly,
thus, meanwhile, namely, and then are conjunctive adverbs. When linking independent clauses,
these words behave like co-ordinating conjunctions, but they also have an adverbial role as their
name implies.
We relate equal ideas through co-ordination by addition, contrast, choice and result.
Addition
E.g.
1. We adore them, and they adore us.
2. Children are a heritage, and parents are a delight.
Contrast
E.g.
1. We pray for them, but they undermine us.
2. The boys tried hard, (still, but, yet) they failed.
Choice
E.g.
1. The teachers praised him or the students did.
2. (Either) the headmaster conducted himself well or his assistants did
Result

1. Girls work hard, so they succeed.

2. The government has performed creditably; consequently, we will return it to power.
Faulty co-ordination can occur with thoughtlessness about sense. It is therefore important to guard
against faulty co-ordination. Look at the following examples:
Example 1:
Faulty: We have prepared very well and we shall not write the examination.
Correct: We have prepared very well, but (however, yet, still, nevertheless) we shall not write
the examination.
Example 2:
Faulty: I am extremely happy, so my son has gained admission into the university.
Correct: I am extremely happy, for (because, since) my son has gained admission into the
university.

39
In Example 2, we see clearly that although “so” suggests result, its use is wrong. My son gaining
admission into the university is not because I am extremely happy (not the result of my being
happy).
Why I am extremely happy is the fact that my son has got that chance. This is what has been
expressed in the correct form with “for” etc. (Try to enrich your English with this use of “for”.
The other alternatives have become too common). We can however re-order the ideas in Example
2 to make the use of “so” correct as a result:
Correct: My son has gained admission into the University, so I am extremely happy.
You will notice that in co-ordination (or subordination) it is very important to be careful so as to
follow common sense.
Punctuation Tips
• A comma precedes the co-ordinating conjunction but when the sentences to combine are
too short, the comma may be omitted. For example:
1. Man proposes but God disposes.
2. We adore them and they adore us.
• We may use the semi-colon in place of the comma and co-ordinating conjunction. For
example:
1. Children are a heritage; parents are a delight.
2. You like Mathematics; I prefer Literature.
• Where there are commas already in the clauses being combined, the semi-colon may be
used. For example:
Some ten years ago, in the year 2001, KNUST School of Mines (now University of Mines
and Technology) celebrated its silver jubilee; as a result, most alumni successful in various
spheres of life, came down in style to visit their alma mater.
• When using other connectives such as the conjunctive adverbs, the semicolon is preferred
but there is a comma immediately after them. For example:
1. Senior Mireku received almost all the book prizes at stake that year; moreover, he won
the Professor Bamfo Kwakye cash award for the best all-round Sixth Form Science
Student.
2. He bought a car; also, he learnt to drive.

40
Now study the following sentences carefully. Be ready to offer explanations in class for the
corrections you do.
1. Prince was hospitalized for a long time, but he is very well now and discharged.
2. Mark is lazy and Martha is hardworking.
3. Mary went to the market, so Abi slept.
4. She made a first class in Mathematics, and she could not teach Mathematics well.
5. Neither the choristers or the choir master were present.

6.4 Parallelism

Also called parallel structure, parallelism refers to the use of similar grammatical forms to express
similar ideas. It helps smoothen writing and prevents confusion.
We have learned that a sentence can contain more than one idea. When combining ideas of equal
importance to the meaning of a sentence, it is important that their grammatical forms are the same.
This means that their structures in the sentence should be parallel. You should avoid nonparallel
structure when writing similar ideas.
Let us consider the following examples:
1. The dean invited his friends, provided food and drinks and entertains them all night.
This sentence is faulty because it does not use parallel structure. The three things the dean did are
listed in a series. Two of the verbs are in the simple past tense and one of them is not.
The corrected version should go like this: The dean invited his friends, provided food and drinks
and entertained them all night. (The dean’s parallel activities are now expressed in parallel
structures).
2. Going back to school, getting a better job and to find a good wife were my brother’s concerns.
This sentence is also faulty because it does not follow parallel structure. The three concerns of the
brother – going back to school, getting a better job and finding a good wife-are equally important
to him. Yet, we see in this example that the third concern is expressed in a nonparallel structure.
The first two structures are gerund phrases while the third is an infinitive phrase.
Try to follow parallel structure to correct Example 2.
Corrected version:
……………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………….

41
Now, study the following faulty sentences. Spot and correct the error while preparing to lead the
discussion in class:
1. Professor Mireku-Gyimah’s lectures are simply interesting, thought-provoking and a
challenge.
2. My sister longed to live her own life and until she would be independent.
3. The lawyers met at the centre, discussed issues, entertained themselves and will leave for
their various homes.
4. The young man was interested in her so he asked her where she would be living after
school, what she would be doing, and to visit her.
5. If she was ever going to move and becoming independent, now was the time.

Compared and Contrasted Ideas

It is necessary that we make compared and contrasted ideas grammatically equal and complete so
that we do not confuse our readers. We let our readers know that we are comparing and contrasting
the two ideas by expressing them in equal grammatical structures. When we present parallel ideas
in non parallel forms, our readers are confused.
Examples:
1. Confusing: Computer education has made not only giant strides over the years, but also
computer scientists (and engineers) are better trained.
The writer’s intention was to compare the progress of computer education with the better
training of computer scientists (and engineers); however, the two ideas compared are giant
strides and computer scientists (and engineers).
Corrected: Not only has computer education made giant strides over the years, but also
computer scientists (and engineers) are better trained.
Now the not only is in the right place to show two ideas grammatically equal).
2. Confusing: Learning about the nervous system and brain is the basis to cure nervous
diseases.
Learning and to cure are similar ideas. They should be in similar grammatical form; one should
not be a gerund while the other is infinitive.
Follow parallel structure to correct this now. Compare your correction with the following:
Corrected: Learning about the nervous system and brain is the basis for curing nervous
diseases.

42
 (Both sides are grammatically equal now).
Now, study the following sentences. They are confusing because the ideas in them are combined
incorrectly. They lack parallel structure. Discuss in pairs and rewrite each sentence correctly.
1. Doctors put tiny wires into a monkey’s brain and controlling its behaviour.
2. Doctors have cut off not only the top of a person’s head but probed inside his or her brain.
3. The doctors are finding out more about the brain and to heal brain disease.
4. To attend lectures regularly and doing all assignments promptly are essential for success
in university studies.
5. The singing groups sang, made merry and then depart after the festival of carols.

UNIT FOUR

AMBIGUITY

43
MISRELATED CONSTRUCTION, DANGLING MODIFIERS OR MISPLACED
MODIFIERS

Ambiguity defined

A word, phrase, or sentence is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning. The word ‘light’, for
example, can mean not very heavy or not very dark. Words like ‘light’, ‘note’, ‘bear’ and ‘over’
are lexically ambiguous. Ambiguity means that what a thing is, is not clear. Literally, the word
refers to a choice between two different things. In the proper sense it should mean “two different
meanings” because “ambi” comes from the Greek word for “two”. A vivid example is what
occurred two weeks ago in a coffee room exchange between two English professors. Professor A
entered the room and said to B:

1. I hear you had a good time with my wife.

The preposition “with” can mean ‘in company with’ and at the same time ‘by means of’. This
ambiguity was solved because Professor A said this with a smile.

Types of Ambiguity

There are two types of ambiguity, lexical and structural. Semantic or Lexical ambiguity
comes about as a result of the word that is chosen. Some words have more than one meaning.
Everyday examples include nouns like ‘chip’, ‘pen’, ‘bank’, ‘duck’, ‘bat’ and ‘suit’ etc. examples:
(a) I saw a bat (bat can mean ‘a flying mammal’ or ‘a wooden club’)

(a) We saw her duck (this implies: 1. We saw the duck belonging to her and 2. We saw
her lower her head/dodge)
(b) I saw the table (1. I see a table and 2. I cut the table with a saw). Examples of some
verbs which are ambiguous include ‘call’, ‘draw’ and ‘run’ and adjectives like ‘deep’,
‘dry’ and ‘hard’.

Correcting Errors of Lexical Ambiguity

To solve the problem of lexical ambiguity, context is sometimes helpful. Let us consider an excerpt

44
from a newspaper article:

(c) The Oxford United coach was held up in a traffic jam and arrived with only three
minutes to spare—“The Times”.

It became clear later in the article that the “coach” referred not to the man in charge of training a
team, but to the bus carrying the team to its match.

(d) The bat (source of ambiguity) lay on the ground = Correction: The (sick/wooden) bat
lay on the ground.

Structural Ambiguity

Structural ambiguity occurs when a phrase or sentence has more than one underlying structure,
such as the phrases:

(i) New houses and shops = meaning: both houses and shops are new or only houses are new
(ii) The chicken is ready to eat (which could be used to describe either 1. A hungry chicken
or 2. Boiled chicken)
(iii) ‘Visiting relatives can be boring’ and ‘The girl hit the boy with a book’. These
ambiguities are said to be structural because such phrase cab be represented in two
structurally different ways, e.g., (“The girl hit the boy with a book” or “The boy with a
book was hit by the girl”.). Visiting relatives … could mean “It is boring to visit relatives”
or “Relatives who visit are boring”.

Correcting Structural Ambiguity

Let us consider some instances:

1. It may result from an adjacent preposition phrase that is followed by a relative clause. For
example, (iv) Mary wants to work in a hospital in a company with modern equipment.

It is not clear how much of the sentence is contained in the domain of the prepositional phrases;
in hospital, and in a company. Thus the post modifier and its antecedents have created the
ambiguity since it is not clear whether it is the hospital or the company that has “a lot of

45
 equipment”. Hence: Mary wants to work in a company’s hospital with modern
equipment.

2. Another cause of structural ambiguity is careless word order. It is important to structure

sentences in such a way that the intended relationship between words and phrases is clear.
That is, it is necessary to place related words as near to each other as possible. For example,
(v) A piano is being sold by a lady with carved legs; becomes “A piano with carved legs is
being sold by a lady”.

What is misrelated construction, Dangling or Misplaced Modifier?

Modifiers are words or a series of words that describe other words: something, someone, or an
action. Modifiers should be placed close to what they describe or modify to avoid confusing
readers about what is being modified.

• Simple Modifier + Noun = A large truck

• Complex Modifier: Careening down the hill, the driver tried to stop the large truck.

A Dangling or Misplaced Modifier Error occurs when a modifier or a series of modifiers are:

1. Placed too far away from the noun being described, which causes confusion about
who or what is being modified, or
2. There is nothing in the sentence that can actually be modified.

Example of a Dangling Modifier Error: Walking to school today, a house burst into flames.
{This sentence suggests that the house was walking to school today, but was it possible for the
house to be walking to school today? Clearly not! Someone who was walking to school saw the
house burst into flames, but no person is mentioned in the sentence. Therefore, this modifier is
called dangling because there is actually nothing in this sentence that it can modify}.

Correction: Walking to school today, I saw a house burst into flames. {We made the subject of
the sentence the doer of the action in the modifier. Who was walking? I was walking, so adding
the subject I and the verb saw corrects this sentence}.

46
There is something unacceptable about the sentences below:

1. On opening the door, Ama's gaze fell on the broken vase.

2. Like all adolescents, my grandfather finds Kofi a curious person.
3. I saw a monkey driving to Accra.
4. As a student of UMaT, the Vice-Chancellor would like you to tell him about your study
plans.
5. Broken down in the middle of the road, I had to call on a passerby to help push my car to
safety.
6. With a lot of money in his pocket, a disco was Kojo's target.

What do you find unacceptable with each sentence above? I admit you have found some of the
sentences either ambiguous or outright absurd in meaning.

English grammatical rules require that opening prepositional phrases or nonfinite participial
clauses as found in the sentences above, should generally relate to the first noun, pronoun or noun
equivalent that follows. Each of these constructions above has contravened this rule and this has
brought about a conflict between this grammatical requirement and the meaning intended. Each
opening construction, except (3) is known as a "misrelated modifier" (or a "misrelated adjective /
participle or phrase")

Common Causes of Misrelated Construction

Let look at three common causes of misrelated constructions.

2. Wrong word order: When elements of a sentence are wrongly ordered, the result can be a
misrelated construction. We have already stated the basic English grammatical rule that
"opening prepositional phrases or non-finite participial clauses should generally relate to
the first noun, pronoun or noun equivalent that follows". In (3) above, the mis-relation is
caused by wrong word order. The non-finite participial clause "driving to Accra" is placed
near to the noun, "monkey". This makes monkey the doer of the action, "driving to Accra".
But the actual doer of the action is '1', not 'monkey'. By re-ordering the words of the
sentence, we now get the acceptable sentences.
3. Separating the modifier from its antecedent: In the sentences above, the modifiers were
47
 separated from their antecedents. The antecedent of 'Like all adolescent' is Kofi (2), and that
of 'as a student of UMaT' is 'you' (4). When modifiers are placed as close as possible to their
antecedents, we avoid misrelated constructions and eliminate ambiguity.
4. Careless Choice of Subject: In examples (1), (5) and (6), we have instances of careless choice
of a subject - 'gaze' in (1), '1' in (5), and 'a disco' in (6). If the writer is a little more careful, or
has taken time to edit his work, these errors could be avoided.

Exceptions

Certain grammatical constructions that qualify as misrelated constructions have been accepted as
notable exceptions. They include:

a. Absolute constructions, which have subjects of their own:

• "That said we can examine the next issue

• That being the case, you can go home.
• All things considered, Kojo has done very well.

b. Construction that function as "sentence adverbials" - that offer

comment on the main clause, or link it with other sentences.

• To be frank, Kofi is brilliant.

• Speaking frankly, Kofi is brilliant.
• Frankly speaking, Kofi is brilliant.
• Simply stated, Kofi is brilliant.
• To sum up, Kofi is brilliant.

c. Construction with participial clauses that function as prepositions or conjunctions.

• Considering his age, my grand father is strong.

• According to my father, the earth-quake struck in 1939.
• There is always something to say regarding health.
• The police question the man concerning his sudden wealth.

48
• He missed his flight owing to a traffic hold-up.

d. Other acceptable forms include: broadly speaking, strictly speaking, putting it simply, taking
everything into account, coming down to details, assuming, depending on, granting, granted
etc.

UNIT FIVE
SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT (CONCORD)

The term 'concord' or 'agreement' in grammar is used to describe the relationship between the
inflectional forms of different elements within a sentence. For example, pronouns agree with their
head nouns or antecedents in terms of number, gender and person:

49
1.The man came He came
2.The woman came She came
3.The man and the woman came They came

Verbs Agree with Their Subjects

Generally, verbs agree with their subjects in number and person. The grammatical rule about
subject and verb concord can be stated simply as: "A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a
plural subject takes a plural verb". Put another way, we can say "a singular verb agrees with a
singular subject and a plural verb agrees with a plural subject e.g.

4.The man dances

5.The men dance

Simple and clear as these rules are, there are areas of sentences construction in which we encounter
a lot of trouble with agreement. We will use the rest of the unit to examine such trouble areas.

Singular subjects joined by the coordinator 'And'

When two or more singular subjects are joined together by "and", the plural form of the verb is
used.

6. She and her mother are away on holidays.

7. "A fool and his money are soon parted."

8, He and I are old school mates.

9, Both the farmer and the fisherman are poor.

You may note three modifications of this general rule:

a. When each of the singular subjects is considered individually, the singular form of the verb
is required. This is normally the case if the singular subject is modified by the determiners 'each'
and 'every'.

50
10.Every junior worker and senior officer contributes to the growth of the company. Each man and
woman submits a good report.

b.When the two singular subjects refer to one and the same person or thing, the singular
verb is chosen.

1.Kofi and staff secretary (ie. Kofi, who is the staff secretary,) is leading the delegation
2.Red and red is a good meal (i.e. fried plantain and bean stew is considered as one)

c. Mathematical computations admit both singular and plural verbs.

1.One and one is two

2.one and one are two
3.Four times five is twenty
4.four times five are twenty
5.four squared is sixteen
6.four squared are sixteen

Singular Subjects Connected By 'Or', 'Nor', 'But'.

When two or more singular subjects are joined together by 'but', 'or', 'nor', a singular verb is
selected.

a.Fati or Evelyn is likely to go.

b.Not only the husband but also the wife needs advice.
c.Neither the student nor the teacher is blameless.
d.Not my uncle but my father has won a prize.
e.Neither Hearts nor Kotoko is likely to lose.
f.Either the pastor or the Catechist is invited.

The Rule of Proximity

When one of two subjects joined together by 'or', 'but', 'nor' is singular but the other, plural, the
verb agrees in number and person with the nearer one. This is what is referred to as proximity

51
rule:

g.Either the girl or her parents are to blame.

h. Either the girl or the parent is to blame.
i. Kojo or I am to go.

J. You but not Kate is likely to be appointed

If in applying this rule, you find your construction awkward, recast your idea in form that is correct,
clear and natural. For instance ,instead of

k. Neither Allotey nor you are to pay for the lost book.

l. She or I am the more popular candidate.

m. You or Ama is the leading candidate.

You may recast the idea thus:

n. Allottey is not to pay the lost book nor are you.

o. Either she is or I am the more popular candidate.
p. You are or Ama is the leading candidate.

Singular Subjects Followed by Pseudo-Conjunctions

Expressions such as: as well as, in addition to, including, no less than, with, together with etc.
are not true conjunctions; they, therefore cannot connect two singular subjects to make them plural.
Let us then state our fifth subject and verb concord rule as:

A singular verb that is followed immediately by such expressions as: as well as, in addition to,
including, no less than, with, together with, along with, or a similar construction requires a singular
verb:

q. The teacher as well as the head teacher requires patience.

r. The minister together with his secretaries is expected back today.

52
s. The bricklayer no less than the plumber is to blame for the shoddy work.
t. The house in addition to the furniture was destroyed by fire.
u. The chairman along with the secretary has been arrested.

Do you find these constructions illogical because more than one person or thing is included in the
subject noun phrase? Some people do, so they try to avoid the construction altogether and write:

v. Both the teacher and the head teacher require patience.

w. The minister and his secretaries are expected hack today.

x. Both the brick-layer and the plumber are to blame for the shoddy work.
y. The house and the furniture are destroyed by fire.

z. The chairman and the secretary have been arrested.

Plural Modification of Singular Subjects

Examine the following sentences carefully and draw a general rule of usage for them.

1. The behaviour of these students is unfriendly.

2. The leader of the students is expected to address the staff.
3. One of the schools in the district is to be made a model institution.

You observe that the underlined part is a modifier of the noun which is the true subject of the
sentence. All the three heads "behaviour", "leader" and "one" are all singular followed by plural
modifiers. Can you now state the concord rule of usage here? "A singular subject followed by a
plural modifier takes a singular verb". Note, however, that "a number of' and "the number of'
behave differently. “A number of' takes a plural verb as in:

4. A number of students have been promoted. (proximity rule)

5. A number of books are missing from the library.

But "the number of' takes a singular verb as in:

53
6. The number of stolen mobile phones is seventy-two.
7. The number of new students admitted has risen considerably.

Now state the reverse of this rule and compare your statement with this "A plural subject followed
by a singular modifier requires a plural verb"

8. Four panes in the window have been broken.

9. The twin daughters of my mother are identical. Write down one more examples.

Indefinite Pronouns

Write down as many indefinite pronouns as you can recall. They include:

Anybody is allowed to apply. Either of the answers is acceptable. Each of the books costs a fortune.

Nobody is permitted to skip classes these days.

Write down sample sentences with the rest of the indefinite pronouns. Note that the indefinite
pronouns "any" and "none" take plural verbs in casual usage.

a.Are any of the teachers present?

b.None of the candidates are allowed to enter the exam hall.

In the formal style, however, the singular verb is required:

c. Is any of the teachers present?

d. None of the candidates is allowed to enter the exam hall.

Concord in Relative Clauses

Can you give an example of a relative clause? Here are some examples underlined.

The man who is standing behind is Janet's father. The pupil that has been caned is still crying.

The books which are on the table are new.

54
The relative pronouns in the sentences are who, that and which. Can you state the rule regarding
relative pronouns? The verb in the relative clause agrees with the antecedent. If the antecedent is
singular, the verb is singular, if the verb is plural, the verb is plural.

In the sentences above, the antecedents are:

The man singular

The pupil singular

The books plural

Collective Nouns

Can you give examples of collective nouns? They include: army, flock, crowd, staff, audience,
team, family, committee, clergy, jury, government, etc.

The general rule is that a collective noun takes a singular verb when the class is considered as a
unit, and a plural verb when the members are considered as individuals.

(a) The class as a single unit:

The jury is expected to come out with its verdict soon. Our family is united on the issue.

The clergy is nowadays well paid.

(b) The class as individuals - plural. (This is called Notional Concord) The jury were unable to
agree on a verdict.

Our family have been arguing among themselves. The clergy are divided on the issue of the trinity.

To make the (b) part more acceptable to some writers, we may introduce the term "members" and
make the collective nouns modifiers.

The members of the jury were unable to agree on a verdict.

55
The members of our family have been arguing among themselves.

The members of the clergy are divided on the issue of the trinity.

Note that (a) and (b) sentences are acceptable alternatives. You may choose to adopt one.

Now choose any two other collective nouns to use to convey both singular and plural meanings.

Plural Numbers Perceived as a Unit

Generally, plural numbers are followed by a singular verb when they are used to convey the idea
of a unit or sum:

Two thousand dollars is a lot of money.

Is five years too long to wait?

Forty hours is the regular work week.

One hundred yards is less than one hundred metres.

Three million cedis is what she has invested.

Ten tons of cocoa has been brought into the port.

Singular Nouns in Plural Form

Let us begin with some examples:

a. News

No news is good news.

b. Names of some diseases: measles, mumps, rickets, etc.

Measles is quite infectious.

56
c. Subject names in - ics: classics, dynamics, ethics, economics, linguistics, mathematics, physics,
etc.

John is reading Economic, which is a social science subject in the university

Note that "Statistics" may take a singular or plural verb depending upon the meaning. For example:

Statistics (as subject) is an interesting subject.

Statistics (meaning figures) on accidents are frightening

d. Games: billiards, darts, dominoes, ninepins, etc.

Dominoes is Mary’s favourite game.

e. Proper nouns: Algiers, Athens, Flanders, Netherlands, Wales, etc.

Netherlands is in Europe

Nouns in the plural only

Nouns that occur in plural only include:

1. Cattle, people (plural of persons), police, etc. The Police are on the road to check vehicle papers.
2. Tools, instruments and articles of dress in two equal parts joined together; e.g. jeans, pants,
shorts, trousers, tights. Jeans are fashionable among ladies these days.
3. Binoculars, glasses, spectacles, pliers, scales, tongs, etc. These spectacles are expensive.
4. Archives, arms, means, oaths, funds, outskirts, premises, stairs, thanks. Many thanks are given
for the drink. Arms are stolen into the prison.

57
 UNIT FIVE
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
When we want to describe what someone said, one option is to use direct or indirect speech.

Direct Speech

We use direct speech when we simply repeat what someone says, putting the phrase between
speech marks:

• Paul came in and said, “I’m really hungry.”

It is very common to see direct speech used in books or in a newspaper article. For example:

• The local MP said, “We plan to make this city a safer place for everyone.”
As you can see, with direct speech it is common to use the verb ‘to say’ (‘said’ in the past).
But you can also find other verbs used to indicate direct speech such as ‘ask’, ‘reply’, and
‘shout’. For example:

• When Mrs Diaz opened the door, I asked, “Have you seen Lee?”
• She replied, “No, I haven’t seen him since lunchtime.”
58
 • The boss was angry and shouted, “Why isn’t he here? He hasn’t finished that
report yet!”
Indirect Speech
When we want to report what someone said without speech marks and without necessarily
using exactly the same words, we can use indirect speech (also called reported speech). For
example:

• Direct speech: “We’re quite cold in here.”

• Indirect speech: They say (that) they’re cold.
When we report what someone says in the present simple, as in the above sentence, we
normally don’t change the tense, we simply change the subject. However, when we report
things in the past, we usually change the tense by moving it one step back. For example, in
the following sentence the present simple becomes the past simple in indirect speech:

• Direct speech: “I have a new car.”

• Indirect speech: He said he had a new car.
All the other tenses follow a similar change in indirect speech. Here is an example for all the
main tenses:

59
The same rule of moving the tenses one step back also applies to modal verbs. For example:

Using ‘say’ or ‘tell’

As an alternative to using ‘say’ we can also use ‘tell’ (‘told’ in the past) in reported speech,
but in this case you need to add the object pronoun. For example:

• He told me he was going to call Alan.

• They told her they would arrive a little late.
• You told us you’d already finished the order.
Changing Time Expressions
Sometimes it’s necessary to change the time expressions when you report speech, especially
when you are speaking about the past and the time reference no longer applies. For example:

• Direct speech: “I’m seeing my brother tomorrow.”

• Indirect speech: She said she was seeing her brother the following day.
Here are some other examples:

• Direct speech: “I had a headache yesterday.”

• Indirect speech: You said you’d had a headache the day before yesterday.
• Direct speech: “It’s been raining since this afternoon.”
• Indirect speech: He said it’d been raining since that afternoon.
• Direct speech: “I haven’t seen them since last week.”
• Indirect speech: She said she hadn’t seen them since the previous week.
Reporting Questions

60
When you report a question you need to change the interrogative form into an affirmative
sentence, putting the verb tense one step back, as with normal reported speech.

There are two types of questions that we can report – questions that have a yes/no response,
and questions that begin with a question word like ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who’ etc. When we report
a yes/no question, we use ‘if’. For example:

• Direct speech: “Do they live here?”

• Indirect speech: You asked me if they lived here.
As you can see, in the reported version of the question, ‘do’ is eliminated because it is no
longer a question, and the verb ‘live’ becomes ‘lived’.

For questions starting with question words like ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘who’, etc., we report
the question using the question word but change the interrogative form to the affirmative
form. For example:

• Direct speech: “Where do they live?”

• Indirect speech: You asked me where they lived.
• Direct speech: “When are you leaving?”
• Indirect speech: He asked us when we were leaving.
• Direct speech: “How will they get here?”
• Indirect speech: She asked me how they would get here.
When we report a question we normally use the verb ‘ask’. As with the verb ‘to tell’, the verb
‘to ask’ is normally followed by an object pronoun, though it is possible to omit it.

Reporting Orders and Requests

When you give someone an order, you use the imperative form, which means using just the
verb without a subject. For example:

• “Call me back later.”

• “Have a seat.”
• “Don’t do that!”
To report an order we use ‘tell’ and the infinitive of the verb. For example:

• You told me to call you back later.

• He told me to have a seat.
• She told us not to do that.
When you make a request, you normally use words like ‘can’, ‘could’, or ‘will’. For example:

• “Could you call me back later?”

• “Will you have a seat?”
• “Can you not do that please?”
To report a request, we use the verb ‘to ask’ and the infinitive form of the verb. For example:

61
 • You asked me to call you back later.
• He asked me to have a seat.
• She asked us not to do that.

Now you’ve seen how we use direct and indirect speech, practice using them yourself. An
excellent and easy way to see how they are used is by reading a short story in English or a
news article online, because stories and articles contain many examples of reported speech.

UNIT SIX

THE PASSIVE VOICE

The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather
than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or
person becomes the subject of the sentence.

What is involved in Passivisation?

1. The object in the active becomes subject in the passive.
2. The subject in the active becomes part of the ‘by’ phrase in the passive.
3. The verb in the active changes to the participial form in the passive
4. Some form of ‘to be’ verb is added to the verb phrase.

Examples:
Simple present: Active: I polish the shoe
Passive: The shoe is polished by me.
Present continuous: Active: I am polishing the shoe.
Passive: The shoe is being polished by me.
Present perfect: Active: I have polished the shoe
Passive: The shoe has been polished by me.
Present perfect continuous: Active: I have been polishing the shoe
Passive: The shoe has been being polished by me.
Simple past: Active: I polished the shoe.
Passive: The shoe was polished by me.
Past continuous: Active: I was polishing the shoe.
Passive: The shoe was being polished by me.
Past Perfect: Active: I had polished the shoe.
Passive: The shoe had been polished by me.
Past perfect continuous: Active: I had been polishing the shoe.

62
 Passive: The shoe had been being polished by me.
Future simple: Active: I will polish the shoe.
Passive: The shoe will be polished by me.

63