Sample 1: “Not even a personality like MC Oluomo who controls and manages the affairs of the ‘bad boys’ in the Lagos space, a man whose connection has grown beyond the motor parks to the Lagos sit of power and further afield to Bourdillion.” (Return of Funmi Iyanda…Opera News Hub, 21 May,2020)
We note the status of the word sit which occurs in the following structure: “the Lagos sit of power.” The slot in which the word sits obviously belongs to a noun, one that is supposedly the head of the nominal phrase which “the Lagos sit of power” is. What should not be in doubt is that the writer has chosen a wrong form.
The appropriate word for the context is seat. The various forms that should interest us are: sit, sitting, sat, seat, seated, and seating.
Let’s illustrate their usage in turn:
(1) He has been sitting there all day, expecting the news of his parents’ arrival.
(2) If he wasn’t sitting down, he was pacing the room anxiously.
(3) He was sitting in his usual chair, watching the television.
(4) Nobody can sit down until the president has done so.
(5) After pacing for a few minutes, he sat down holding his chin ruefully.
(6) I have not sat down because you have no asked me to sit down.
(7) Janet sat beside her husband.
(8) We all sat down as soon as the Chairman left the hall.
In those eight sentences, please note the forms sit (the basic form); sat (the past simple form); has/have sat (the past participle); and sitting (the continuous form). It is especially important to note that the form seating does not feature at all. Why? Because it cannot be used in its continuous form. There is the form seating, yes; but it does not belong to the context of the eight sentences constructed above.
Now read the following sentences:
(1) You can now be seated.
(2) Seated in one corner of the room was one gentleman who seemed not to be a part of what was going on.
(3) In this congregation, women are seated separately from the men.
(4) Before seating yourself at the desk, you have to tidy up the room.
(5) Husbands and wives are seated close to each other.
(6) All guests should be seated before the governor arrives.
(7) Guests were seated in groups of four.
(8) I don’t like to be seated close to the window.
Next, read the following sentences:
(1) All the seats have been occupied by our visitors.
(2) It is only the person driving that can sit in the driver’s seat.
(3) I usually prefer to sit in the passenger’s seat.
(4) Please take a seat.
(5) What used to be comfortable seats are now in bad shape.
(6) Abuja is the seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
(7) Only five seats remain unoccupied in the plane.
(8) You have up till tomorrow to book your seat.
(9) Are universities still regarded as seats of learning?
(10) Two people can join me in the back seat.
(11) The front seats are reserved for the VIPs.
(12) The brain is the seat of human reasoning just as the heart is the seat of emotion.
(13) The Senator’s seat has been declared vacant by the leadership of the Senate.
(14) The court has instructed the chairman to vacate his seat immediately.
15) He is perhaps the most controversial person to have occupied this sensitive seat.
16) The presidential seat is the most exalted in the land.
Finally, read the following sentences:
(1) The hall can seat one hundred people.
(2) The theatre has a seating capacity of 500.
(3) The protocol officer will take care of the seating arrangement.
(4) The expansion will increase the seating capacity of the building.
(5) Seating plans can be very challenging in situations like this.
(6) The seating plan may change if some other big men decide to come.
Now note the following: You do not say: *”My father was *seating close to my mom”. You should say: “My father was sitting close to my mom. Do not say: *”I was *seating in the driver’s seat”. You should say: “I was sitting in the driver’s seat”. Do not say: *”Be*sitted”. You should say: “Be seated”. Do not say: *”I was *sitted close to my uncle”. You should say: “I was seated close to my uncle”.
Do not say: *”What is the sitting capacity of the hall?” You should say: “What is the seating capacity of the hall?” Do not say: *”The protocol officer is in charge of the *sitting arrangement”. You should say: “The protocol officer is in charge of the seating arrangement”.
Sample 2: “There were reports of a mass defection in the All Progressive Congress camp in Kwara State, as over 10,000 persons said to be formally loyal to the All Progressive Congress (APC) decamped to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the early hours of Thursday, the 4th of June, 2020” (APC Crisis: Mass defection of APC members…Opera News Hub, Friday, 5 June, 2020)
I draw readers’ attention to the adverb formally which occurs in the following context: “over 10,000 persons said to be formally loyal to the All Progressive Congress decamped…” The context does indicate that the word formally is meant to convey the idea of: previously; in previous times; before. If that word is to make any sense, that is the idea it must convey. But that is not the meaning of the adverb formally; that meaning belongs to formerly. The rest of this article is dedicated to illustrating the difference between these two words and their related forms.
There is a difference between formally and formerly, a difference often blurred in the Nigerian perception by poor pronunciation. Now, we illustrate the difference in meaning and usage between former(ly) and formal(ly). Now read the following sentences:
1) It was surprising that a former chairman of our party could be so shameless as to join another party.
2) He earns much more salary here than he did in his former employment.
3) Disciplined and respectable as he seems, he has had two former wives.
4) Former students of the institution are holding meetings on the possibility of giving it a facelift.
5) In former times, Sanitary Inspectors had some of the powers reserved exclusively today for the police.
6) I ran into a former classmate who introduced me to the new business.
7) Two former governors are being prosecuted for embezzlement and related corrupt practices.
8) It is interesting listening to the testimonies of the former armed robber, now an evangelist.
9) One of the guests is a former beauty queen.
10) One of the governors is a former labour leader.
11) The clinic was formerly housed in an old property belonging to the Local Government.
12) The school formerly belonged to a Christian Mission.
13) The young man was formerly working with an expatriate firm.
14) Our rates of pay were formerly higher than those of the civil servants.
15) It was formerly thought that the earth was flat.
16) Mathematics was formerly regarded as an arts subject.
17) The Nigerian economy formerly ranked among the strongest in the third world countries.
18) The English language formerly belonged exclusively to the British Isles.
19) The nursing profession was formerly associated with women only.
20) Twins were formerly believed to be demons or gods unfit to live with humans.
The word formal(ly) has do with official situations or conditions or behaviour.
Now read the following sentences:
1) It is now time to formally welcome our guests.
2) The former leaders have not formally handed over to the new leaders.
3) The President formally announced the dissolution of the council yesterday.
4) The formal inauguration of the 8th Senate was characterized by controversy.
5) The occasion was declared open formally by the Vice Chancellor.
6) Formal education in modern times is synonymous with western education.
7) Before any other thing, we must have formal introduction.
8) Nobody can occupy a position like that without formal training.
9) The case will be presented formally today.
10) To be admitted into the hall, you have to be formally dressed.
11) Jokes of that nature should not be cracked on formal occasions.
12) A formal meeting is being arranged between the new Senate President and the President of the Federal Republic.
13) A letter has been written formally appointing him as MD.
14) Since the meeting has not adjourned formally, nobody should leave.
15) The chairman formally assumed duty last Wednesday.
16) The Matriculation day is the day new students are formally admitted into the university system.
17) The so-called engagement is the occasion the future groom’s parents formally request the future bride’s parents to release their daughter to them.
18) Retirement marks the retiree’s formal disengagement from service.
19) This is not an occasion for formal, boring speeches but for celebration and jollity.
20) The book will be formally presented to the public before the end of the year.
At any rate, the word formerly should replace formally in the context under review.
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