From concord to resorting…

SAMPLE 1: “From now on we want to insist that the same quality of materials we use on our roads are the same NDDC contractors who operate in the state must use.”(Reports Indicts NDD on Edo Road Projects, The Nation, Sunday, March 5, 2017)

I draw readers’ attention to the plural verb-form (are) following the nounroads directly in the following context: “the same quality of materials we use on our roads are the same.” (We may ignore the redundant second appearance of the word the same so that we can concentrate our analytic energy on the error of concord.) As we have noted, the verb-form (are) is plural and we owe it a duty to identify the relevant noun/noun phrase that inspired the speaker’s choice of that form. (The sentence is part of the quoted speech of the reporter’s source. Our concern is not whether the reporter is vicariously liable. Rather, our interest is in affording the reader the opportunity to have the appropriate form in the context.)

The speaker’s choice of the plural form has almost certainly been influenced by the contiguous noun, roads, or the more distant one, materials. Whatever the case could have been, the choice of the plural form of the verb is a wrong one. A less hasty reading of the structure should reveal that the relevant noun is quality, a noun at some distance, though, from the verb-slot. No one with a fair level of literacy should have any problem recognizing that noun (quality) as being in its singular form. The relevant noun being singular, the logical thing to do is to convert the verb to its singular form: is.

Sample 2: “But if government promises of social welfare is anything to go by, Chinonso should have little problem getting back in school and pursuing his dreams.”(I Dropped out of School to Save my Family from Starvation, The Nation, September 10, 2017)

We are interested in the singular verb-form (is) sandwiched between the words welfare and anything. Here is the context in question: “if government promises of social welfare is anything to go by.”For that verb-form to be acceptable in the context there has to be a preceding singular noun that is logically and grammatically related to the verb-slot. The only noun that fulfills that requirement is promises, obviously a plural noun, what with its final s. It should be pretty obvious in the light of this grammatical fact that the verb should be changed to its plural form (are): “if government promises of social welfare are anything to go by.” Could it have been the case that the reporter’s choice of the singular form of the verb was influenced by the presence of the singular noun, welfare? When grammar and logic are allowed to interact and prevail, this kind of error would have no chance of occurring.

Sample 3: “He recalled how efforts of King James of the United Kingdom resulted to the publication of the King James Version.” (Spreading the Gospel of Pilgrimage, The Nation, Sunday, September 10, 2018)

The expression that interests us is resulted to. The expression occurs in the following context: “efforts of King James…resulted to the publication…” This is an expression that has engaged our attention repeatedly in this place. But as long as the error is being committed, we would never be tired of addressing it. Let’s note the particle to which collocates with the verb result in this context. It is not the appropriate particle; not only that, that particle is symptomatic of the perennial confusion witnessed in the Nigerian usage scene between the expressions result in/from and resort to.

Now what is the nature of the error? We are looking at the difference between result and resort, which many Nigerians, including the reporter whose work is under review, would be unable to note at the level of pronunciation. There is a major phonetic difference between these words, and the first step towards overcoming the tendency to confuse them is to learn to pronounce them accurately.

How do we use the verb result? Please read the following sentences: 1) The near total failure of the project resulted from poor planning. 2) The violence resulted from the government’s refusal to listen to members of the public. 3) The governor’s loss of the election resulted from his political insensitivity. 4) The outbreak of cholera resulted from the people’s unhygienic living habit. 5) The war obviously resultedfrom lack of political, religious and racial tolerance. 6) Lack of adequate preparation resulted in mass failure. 7) Distorted understanding of the situation resulted in a wrong assessment of the people. 8) It is doubtful if this rather prolonged drought would not result in famine. 9) Careless driving often results in avoidable accidents. 10) Years of oppression and suppression of the masses can result in a violent revolution.

I advise readers to please note the particles that go with the verb result: in and from. An event or action may result in or from another event or action. Some Nigerian users would replace either of these particles with the particle to or into. They would say, for example, “The violent clash resulted to the death of the union leader” or “The heavy rain resulted into massive flooding.” The appropriate particle in each of those sentences is in.

And resort? When people resort to something, they use it or apply it or turn to it because they understand that that is the only thing that will work in their situation. Please read the following sentences: 1) Under no circumstances should you resort to borrowing. 2) Students have often resorted to violence whenever there is a misunderstanding between them and the authorities. 3) Frustrated, and alienated from his wife, the man has resorted to heavy drinking. 4) Constantly under attacks by armed robbers, residents have resorted to self-policing. 5) Many years ago, some banks resorted to chasing their debtors all over the place. 6) Is it right for jobless and hungry young men to resort to stealing? 7) He resorted to marrying another wife because his first wife allegedly gave him no peace. 8) When all else failed, he resorted to drug trafficking. 9) Having become grossly unpopular and incompetent, the government resorted to gagging the press. 10) In the face of pain, poverty, and frustration, the lady resorted to prostitution.

It should be clear that the appropriate expression is: result in.