Before Breakfast Lessons
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_*The Honourable class would have to bear with me for this week for the broadcast of older lessons. Newer lessons would be served spicy and hot, God
Lesson 02
โ Confusing words๐ค๐ฌ๐ญ
๐ Ascending and Descending
If you had ever faced the problem with arrange the figures in an ascending or descending order of magnitude in primary school mathematics, you would appreciate our confusing words today. ๐
To ascend means to go up; to rise; to climb up. The adjective form is ascending which means increasing in size, importance or value. So, arranging numbers in the ascending order of magnitude means arranging them from the lowest number to the highest number. For example, arranging 30, 5, 12, 15 in the ascending order will be 5, 12, 15, 30.
Descending means decreasing in size or value; moving downwards; from the highest to the lowest, etc. Descending can be used as a verb and as an adjective. The descending order of magnitude for 23, 11, 26, 40 will be 40, 26, 23, 11.
Example
- I would like to list my needs in the ascending order of importance. โ
- The standard of professionalism is descending rapidly. โ
โ Misused words/expressionsโ
๐ More than one (pens)
It is tempting to use the plural form of a noun when it is part of the phrase more than one. For example: *more than one books, *more than one options, etc. It is tempting but resist the temptation! In such phrases, the focus is on one which is a singular determiner or number. The noun that follows it is required to be singular as well. So you would say, more than one book, more than one option, etc. If the determiner or number is two (2) or more, then we can use a plural noun. For example: more than two books, etc.
Example
- It is possible to have more than one adjective in a noun phrase. โ
โ Grammar๐
๐ Order of adverbs
We have said sometime ago that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Adverbs do not modify nouns. Adverbs come in the following types/kinds: time, place, manner, reason, frequency, degree, etc. When we use a cluster of adverbs in one sentence, it is required of us to arrange them in the appropriate order just as we learned to do in the case of adjectives.
Basically, adverbs follow this "royal order" -- manner, place, time. It is only basic because it is likely to change when more complex structures are used.
Example
*The teacher punished the boy this morning severely in the classroom.
The teacher is the subject of the verb punished. This morning is the adverb of time (indicating when the action happened). Severely is the adverb of manner (indicating how the boy was punished) and in the classroom is the adverb of place/location (indicating where the action happened).
In the light of the basic rule given, would we say that the adverbs in the sentence have been arranged in the acceptable order? No! The order should be manner, place, time, etc. So the sentence should read:
The teacher punished the boy severely in the classroom this morning.
More on adverbs to continue
โ Pronunciationโ๐ ฟโถ
๐ Misery
A person who loves money and hates spending it is a miser. The word miser is a noun; the adjective form is miserly. They are pronounced as /maizษ(r)/ and /maizษli/, respectively. In terms of meaning and pronunciation, these two words have nothing to do with our word for the day misery.
Misery is a noun. It refers to great suffering of the mind or body; distress; poverty; very poor living conditions, etc. Misery is not pronounced as /maizษri/; it is pronounced as /mizษri/. It rhymes with "mystery".
Example
- Many people live in utter misery today. โ
โ Spell Checkโ
๐ Repetition
The noun form of the verb repeat is repetition, but not repeatition or repitition. Do not be deceived.
A repetition is the fact of doing or saying the same thing many times.
Example
- What you said is a repetition of your previous answer. โ
โ Ghanaianism/Ghanaian English๐๐๐
๐ Change vs Balance
If a book costs Ghยข8, and you give the seller Ghยข10, you have a change of Ghยข2 to take because you paid in excess. However, if the book costs Ghยข5, but you could only pay Ghยข4, you have a balance of Ghยข1 to give the seller.
In monetary terms, a change is the amount you receive for paying in excess (more than required), but a balance is the amount you pay in addition to what has already been paid in order to clear one's debt.
You receive a change but you pay a balance. Let's put this to use when we board commercial transports and when we transact business.
Example
- The bus attendant is supposed to give me a change of Ghยข3. โ
- After the first payment I made, I still had a balance of 3,000 dollars to add up. โ
โ Idiom of the day๐
๐ Cut to the chase
This idiom means to talk about or deal with the important parts of a subject and not waste time with things that are not important; to go straight to the point.
Example
- We don't have much time to talk, so let's cut to the chase; are you still married? โ
โ Word of the day๐๐ฝ๐
๐ Immolate
Immolate is a verb. It means to kill somebody by burning him/her; to kill yourself or someone else, or to destroy something, usually by burning, in a formal ceremony. The other verb forms are immolated and immolating.
Example
- The rebels were immolated at the peak of the war. โ
โ Conversation Tipโ
๐ Using "how do you do?"
"This greeting was once commonplace, especially amongst the English upper classes, but is now heard less often and is largely restricted to quite formal occasions. It was used specifically for asking after someone's health". It is a formal greeting used normally only on the first occasion of meeting someone. The usual reply is likewise, "How do you do?".
How do you do? is not always a substitute for how are you?. "How are you?" is more casual and is used as a daily greeting by acquaintances, and close friends. The usual responses to how are you are "I am well", "Fine, thank you", etc.
Today, many people respond to how do you? with "I am fine", etc. either because they do not know the right response, or they don't think it's a big deal. Whichever of the cases it may be, we are being informed about the appropriate response today.
โ Countries and their people๐ฌ๐ญ๐บ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฟ
Name of Country: Madagascar
National Flag: ๐ง๐พ๐ง๐พ๐ง๐พ
Nationality: Malagasy
Capital City: Antananarivo
Continent: Africa
Currency: Malagasy ariary (MGA)
Official language: Malagasy/French
.................End....................
Your language is your bargaining power, so make it skilled.
ยฎ WeRise
โปwe rise by lifting others