Property, comatose

SAMPLE 1: “Residents of Biagbini community in Ese Odo council area of Ondo State yesterday cried uncontrollably as a 70-yr-old woman, Moyo Jide, and four of her grandchildren were roasted in a mysterious fire outbreak. Sunday Vanguard gathered that the mysterious fire which started at about 12 am came from the kitchen of the deceased woman. The deceased persons were in deep sleep when the fire engulfed the house and they were roasted alive…Properties according to sources were equally consumed by the inferno…”(Woman, 70, four grandchildren roasted in Ondo fire, Sunday Vanguard, 7 July, 2019)

We note the noun properties which occurs in the following context:”Properties according to sources were equally consumed by the inferno.” Please note that the word (properties) is in its plural form. Note, furthermore, that the properties in question were destroyedby the inferno that engulfed the house where the old woman, her children and grandchildren were sleeping. The things destroyed by the fire were obviously household items contained in the building in which the people were sleeping.

The reporter seems confused as to the grammatical characteristics of the noun property. There are two basic ways of regarding the word.

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Whenever we use the word property to refer personal effects or movable items such as shoes, clothes, furniture, television sets, fridges, generators, and even motor cars, we should use it in its singular form. No matter the volume or quantity of such items, the word property should remain in its singular form and the choice of verb should be singular. Please read the following sentences: 1) The landlord has seized the tenant’s property kept in two rooms, saying he won’t release it until and unless he pays all his debt. 2) No matter how long you stay in the UK, your property will remain in this room and it will be intact.  3) Before I woke up, he had gathered all his property and travelled back to our home town. 4) Since he owns little property, he doesn’t need more than one room. 5) Fire destroyed the entire house including his sister’s property kept in one of the rooms. 6) His property consists of a few items all of which are kept in one huge bag. 7) After working for two years, his property is so much that he needs to rent a second room. 8) Thieves broke into the room and made away with almost all his property. 9) He has found a new house and his children are helping to carry her property to the new place. 10) Two trucks carried his property to his newly built house. 11) In those days, slaves were considered part of the personal property of rich men. 12) Shoes and shirts are the most prominent elements of my property.

The word property has been used in its singular form in each of those sentences because it is about personal effects, household items, movable belongings. However, when the word is employed in reference to land and houses, it can be used in the singular sense if the reference is to a singular item or in the plural if the reference is to two or more items. Indeed, whenever the word property is used in the plural by knowledgeable people, the assumption is that the reference is to land/houses. It should not be used in the plural sense if the reference is to personal effects as discussed and illustrated earlier.

Now read the following sentences: 1) The government has decided to sell all its properties in the choicest parts of the country. 2) Properties are more expensive in Lagos than in any other part of Nigeria. 3) I have three uncles who are into the business of buying and selling of properties. 4) There is an uncompleted property which the owner wants to sell at a moderate price. 5) I have refused to buy that property because it is too close to a stream. 6) The prosecution has alleged that the politically exposed persons have acquired the said properties with the proceeds of corruption. 7) Only teachers are allowed to buy and own properties in the estate. 8) I want to acquire a property in an exclusive area. 9) He rejected the property because it was too close to the police barracks. 10) Being in a marshy and undeveloped area, the property should not be expensive.

From the discussion and analysis so far, it should be obvious that the word property should be in its singular form in the context under reference.

Sample 2: “We are in comatose and if the government should do this, we would be able to recover.”(Gas: manufacturers bemoan distributors’ rip-off, The Nation, 17 February, 2019)

Our interest is in the expression in comatose which occurs in the following context: “We are in comatose… ” The context of its use, particularly the preposition, gives a wrong impression that it is a noun. It seems it is used on the analogy of the word coma: people may be in a coma, yes. But people cannot be in or into comatose because, unlike coma, which is a noun, the word comatose is an adjective.

A person can be in a coma or be comatose: (1) The man has been comatose for two days now. (2) Lying in a comatose state, the patient has been moved to the intensive care unit. (3) Once the brain is comatose,the person is as good as dead. (4) The Doctor has insisted that the man is not dead but comatose. (5) The business has become comatose for lack of funds (6) The association is comatose, needing urgent revival. Whether it is used in its literal or figurative sense, the word comatose is used always as an adjective. As such we cannot say that a person or business or institution is in/into comatose.

Nigerian Tribune