SAMPLE 1: “The pains and frustrations Mr Iwuagwu Remigus has had to go through in his bid to get justice for his teenage daughter who was allegedly abducted, raped and forced to procure unlawful abortion which resulted to complications, including excessive bleeding which nearly took her [life], are heart-rendering.”(Abduction, Rape, Murder, Land-Grabbing…Sunday Vanguard, 14 April, 2019)
First, we note the curious hyphenated compound word, heart-rendering which occurs finally in the excerpt. Of course the two words making up the compound word are: heart and rendering. From these two words, we may interpret the compound words as: the heart was/is rendered. The problem with the compounding is the verb render. It should be obvious to enlightened readers that the reporter has selected a wrong word. He has mistaken render for rend.
However, there can be no mistake about the fact that the writer’s head is racked by confusion regarding the forms rend, rent, rented, render, rendered, and rendering. There is the verb rent, meaning to take and use for some time, say an apartment, a facility, a vehicle, etc, for a fee. The forms of that verb are: rent, rents, renting and rented. Usage examples: 1) She rents a car every week for that purpose. 2) He has been renting out his father’s houses for the past five years. 3) The facility was rented for five hundred thousand naira. 4) I have not rented any house since I secured this job; the company has been providing accommodation. 5) The university has been renting facilities from the company.
The noun form of that verb remains rent: 1) She always takes a loan to pay her rent. 2) When is your rent due? 3) Rents have gone up astronomically since the increase in the prices of petroleum products. 4) Is the house for rent? 5) We pay an annual rent of one million naira.
We need, however, to distinguish the various forms of the verb rent from the various forms of the verb rend. The verb rend has the following forms: rend, rends, rent, rending. This verb means to tear violently apart, break into pieces with violence, to utter loud, deafening noise. Usage examples: 1) Every night, the noise of carousing men rends the air. 2) When the president arrived, shouts of ‘APC’ rent the air. 3) A hefty branch of the huge tree was rent by the storm. 4) Heart-rending stories of death and destruction were told by the hapless returnees. 5) Her loving and innocent heart was rent by a bitter disappointment. 6) It was the tradition of the ancient Hebrews to rend their clothes as a sign of penitence. 7) The rocky hill was rent by an earthquake. 8) It was a terrible crash in which the vehicle was rent into two.
It is important to note that the past tense of rend is not rented but rent; the past participle is not rented but rent.
It is also important to note the difference between rend and render. The following sentences are defective: 1) We are *rending an account before the end of the financial year. 2) She narrated a soul-*rendering story of how her husband and children were brutally murdered. 3) He collapsed while he was *rending a song. 4) That sad development *rendered her heart. 5) Increased technology seems to be *rending many workers redundant.
Those sentences are re-presented as follows with the appropriate word replacing the wrong one in each case: 1a) We are rendering an account before the end of the year. 2a) She narrated a soul-rending story of how her husband and children were brutally murdered. 3a) He collapsed while he was rendering a song. 4a) That sad development rent her heart. 5a) Increased technology seems to be rendering many workers redundant.
The compound word (heart-rendering) offered by the reporter should be changed to: heart-rending.
Next, we note the expression result to which occurs in the clause: “unlawful abortion which resulted to complications.” In addition, 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 resulted from 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.