Prepositions and time periods:
Prepositions and their correct usage in the English language are a serious matter, as writers commonly run into difficulties about what preposition to use here or there. This problem will concentrate our attention later in the life of this column. For now, our focus is misusages of preposition in relation to certain times, for instance, day, month, year and the like. The reason we are this concerned is at sometimes you encounter oddities of misusage, as in the following sentence:
He has advised opposition parties to perish the thought of ruling the state, saying the LP would defeat them on October.
Until you encounter funny applications of prepositions like this in relation to certain time periods – morning, afternoon, evening, day or month – you cannot believe how tricky it can get for some writers trying to pick the correct preposition to put before these periods.
On October is incorrect usage in the sentence we are considering; in October is the proper usage. Almost invariably, it is always the preposition in used in relation to years, as in 1960, in 2007, in 2011, in 2015, in 2019 and so on. Let us also “note the following correct expressions: on Thursday; on Thursday morning/afternoon/evening; on Monday night; see you in the morning/afternoon/evening/night. The euphony or otherwise of these expressions is a good guide to getting it right. Remember, euphony is how pleasantly an expression sounds in the ears. For example, imagine how awful an expression like “in Tuesday” will sound in the ears.
As and when: Somehow, many have twisted this expression out of joint, such that what you get often is “as at when,” instead of “as and when,” as in:
The corps members’ allowances are hardly paid as at when due.
As at when due is alien to the English language; so, it cannot be correct usage. As and when due is the correct usage. The standard English phrase as and when due means “at the time when,” and it is “used to refer to an uncertain future event” (Oxford Dictionary of English/AmazonKindle). It is certainly ‘awkward to combine “at” and “when,” bearing in mind that “at” is a preposition “expressing the time an event takes place’” (ibid).
Aside/Aside from/Beside/Besides: These two terms are also common misused; they are mostly either confused with each other or inappropriately used. Many a time, one is mistaken for the other or used to mean what it does not mean and therefore a message it cannot convey. We will see these play out in our examination of the three related examples of misusage below;
(a)…Aside the fact that the loans were huge, most were granted in grave violation of relevant credit guidelines.
(b)…The picture of President Goodluck Jonathan sitting aside Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff . . . rankled most Nigerians.
(c)…Asides, we have no merit in criminalizing the debtors, so long as they are willing to engage.
In (a) and (b) above, the adverb aside has been misused. Considering that the adverb means “to one side; out of the way” (ibid.), it is certainly an inappropriate usage in (a). The correct usage in that position is aside from, which “apart from,” which is the intended message of the writer. Here, we assume the writer’s message is that in addition to something, something else is the matter.
In (b), if he writer’s meaning is that Jonathan is sitting by “by the side of” Modu-Sheriff, then the adverb beside is the appropriate word to convey that message, not aside. Remember, as highlighted above, the adverb aside means “to one side; out of the way,” whereas the preposition beside, which is the correct word in that position, means “at the side of” or “next to.” Substitute aside with either of these and see what a perfect fit it will be. Though beside can also mean “in addition to” or “apart from,” neither of these meanings is the usage intended in the statement.
The word asides in (c) above is alien to English. Obviously, the wrong use of asides is in confusion with besides, which is the appropriate adverb required. ‘As an adverb, besides can be used to mean “in addition”, “as well’, “moreover”, or “anyway” (ibid.). Substitute “asides” with any of these meanings and see that the word besides is the writer’s intention. And we would do well to note that there is no word like “asides.” It is a strange and funny neologism.’ (“Pop” Errors in English: Writers Beware)
Banter: This is a much-abused word, and the abuse is always a morphological type; misusers always add the letter s at the end (as in the sentence below), thereby inventing a word that does not exist in the language.
There is a club patronized by such elderly live-alones in the city where they try to make the best of the situation with their lively banters.
As a mass noun, banter is never pluralized. So, the word banters has no place in the construction, even though you encounter the wrong usage commonly, particularly in journalists’ reports. Banter, the correct usage, describes “the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks.” Friends can throw banter, not banters, at themselves. We should also note that there is a verb form of banter, which is how friends can banter with one another.
Leave a Reply