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ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA UNIVERSITY BAUCHI

DIRECTORATE OF GENERAL STUDIES
FIRST SEMESTER 2022/2023 ACADEMIC SESSION
GNS III: USE OF ENGLISH 1 LECTURE MANUAL

COURSE OBJECTIVES

GNS III: Use of English I, which is a two-credit unit core course for all ATBU
fresh students irrespective of their mode of entry is intended to, inter alia, expose
students to the basic elements of English grammar with a view to addressing both
their deficit and common core needs; as fresh university students, internalize the
techniques of note taking during lectures; and, identify and avoid some of the
major errors associated with punctuation that are common to students’ writing.

COURSE OUTLINE

The Sentence, Subject and Predicate, Sentence Elements, Subject – Verb

Agreement, Sentence Classification, features of a Sentence, Sentence and
Fragments, Active Voice and Passive Voice, Note Taking and Note Making,
Punctuation,

THE SENTENCE

A Sentence is the highest unit of grammar. In its strictest sense, grammar refers to
the rules that govern the use of a particular language as every standard language
has its own grammar.

A sentence usually consists of a group of words with a complete thought and

ending with an external punctuation mark: full stop, question mark or an
exclamation mark depending on the sentence type. However, a one- word sentence
(minor/irregular) is most commonly found in speeches, written notices, adverts or
commands. In any case, a major/regular sentence consists of at least one well-
formed independent (main) clause, comprising a subject and a predicate.
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SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

In order for us to understand general rules regarding sentence construction, it may

suffice to begin with smaller units before actually delving into the largest
grammatical unit. The two basic components of a sentence are the subject and the
predicate.

The Subject

The subject refers to what or who is being discussed in the sentence or the
doer/performer in a sentence that expresses action. Therefore, the subject tells us
what the sentence is talking about (i.e. the theme). The subject can be located in
any position within the sentence largely depending on its syntactic function. Let us
compare these two examples, for instance: 1. He had given the girl an apple
(declarative function). 2. Had he given the girl an apple (interrogative function)? It
can also be either explicitly or implicitly stated. In some imperative (commands)
situations, the subject may be implied as in ‘stop writing’. There are also dummy
subjects, in which case there is no intrinsic meaning attached but to only maintain a
balanced grammatical structure. Examples are: (1). It is raining; (2). There is
nothing else to do. For grammatical appropriateness, the subject is always expected
to agree with the main verb in terms of both number and person.

The Predicate

Any other word(s) apart from the subject in a sentence constitutes what is known
as the predicate. The predicate then, tells us about the subject and it starts from the
finite verb which is always the most important constituent of the predicate or from
any word modifying the finite verb.

For a clearer understanding of the subject and the predicate, here are further
examples:
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1. She /cried
2. My younger brother Ahmad/ once worked as a costume designer

In the first sentence, the word she is the subject hence it is the subject matter of the
sentence. While the first word she is the subject of the sentence, the word cried is
the predicate because it tells us more about the subject.

In the second sentence the first four words of the sentence make up the subject
hence they tell us what the sentence is about (my younger brother Ahmad). If the
first four words of the sentence are the subject, then the rest of the sentence is the
predicate since they describe what the subject did at a given time. Therefore, the
subject and the predicate work together to express a complete thought. Here are
some more examples.

3. The giant tree /bent and swayed in the wind.

4. Fifty-three officers/ received medals at the Police Department awards

ceremony.

5. Bored with the grown-up conversation, /little Fatima/ fell asleep under the
dining table (inverted Sentence)

6. The number of businesses in this county /has increased every year for the
past decade.

7. According to scientists, /birds and dinosaurs/ are biologically related.

8. All day and night unceasingly fell /the rain.

As could be noted, the subject can occupy any position within the sentence.
Occasionally also, this kind of simple sentence structure gets a little bit more
complicated with the addition of a compound subject. A compound subject is two

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or more things that work together as the subject, joined by the word ‘and’ or the
word ‘or’ . for example.

9. Dogs and cats /sometimes enjoy living together.

Both the two words in the subject are important hence the sentence is not only
about dogs, and it is not only about cats either; it is about both (dogs and cats).
Since we have two subjects that are joined by the word ‘and’, we will consider this
as a compound subject.

Sentence Elements

The predicate may be a finite verb alone or accompanied by any other element(s):
object, adverb/adjunct, complement. Therefore, the subject, the verb, the adjunct,
the object and the complement are known as sentence elements. These five units,
which are universally abbreviated as SVCOA, shall be identified in the following
sentence.

1. They (S) came (V)

2. John (S) carefully (A) Searched (V) the room (O)
3. John (S) reluctantly (A) sat (V) in the room (A).
4. Without much argument (A), we (S) recently (A) elected (V)him (O) *our
class chairman(C).
5. He (S) became (V) **our class chairman(C).
6. The young girl (S) is (V) now (A) * a fresh university student (C).
7. Mr. Bello (S) has given (V) *** Mary (O) **** a new wrist watch (O)
8. It (S) rained (V) heavily (A) last night (A).
9. Did (V) it (S) rain (V) heavily (A) last night (A)?
10. ***** [She (S) said (V) that] it (S) rained (V) heavily (A) last night(A).

*subject complement
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**object Complement

***direct object

****indirect object

*****two subjects in a multiple/compound sentence

CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES
A sentence is basically classified on the bases of structure and function. According
to structure, sentences can be classified into a simple sentence (only a main
clause), a complex sentence (a main clause + subordinate clause or vice versa), a
compound sentence (where two or more main clauses are conjoined) and a
compound-complex sentence (a combination of compound and complex
sentences). Sentences are also categorized into another four subdivisions based on
function. These are declarative, interrogative (questions), imperative (commands)
and exclamatory (exclamations). It is also pertinent to note that any of the above is
a correct and complete sentence provided it is well formed. Sentences could also
be classified into regular and irregular types. A regular/major sentence contains at
least one well-formed independent/main clause consisting of a subject and a
predicate. An irregular/minor sentence, on the other hand, is commonly found in
mundane speeches, written notices, adverts or commands (imperative sentences).
Irregular sentences are single-word or two-word expressions such as stop, poison,
no entry, silence, well done, highly inflammable, no smoking, delicious, and home-
made ‘come’, ‘run’, ‘fire’. These are all sentences in disguise. However, a
sentence, in the real sense of the word usually consists of sequences of more than
one word. That is a ‘regular’ sentence.
Structural classification of sentences

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It may be pointed out here that sentences can be divided into four classes from
structural point of view. They are:

1. Simple Sentence.
2. Compound Sentence.
3. Complex Sentence.
4. Compound-Complex or Double Sentence.

1. Simple Sentence: A sentence which has only one subject and one predicate is
called a Simple Sentence.

Examples:

- She works fast (positive/declarative).

- She doesn’t work fast (negative/declarative).
- Does she work fast (positive/interrogative)?
- Doesn’t she work fast (negative/interrogative)?
- I saw Al-min at the bus stop.
- The sun rises in the east.
- Man is a social animal.
- Brevity is the soul of wit.
- Revenge is a kind of wild justice.
- Boys and girls shout and play (compound subject).

2. Compound Sentence: A sentence which consists of two or more co-ordinate

clauses is called a Compound sentence. The clauses in a compound sentence are
joined by coordinating conjunctions: and, but, yet, or, then, so, etc.

Examples:

- My sister shouted and everybody waved.

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- We looked everywhere but we couldn’t find him.

- I went to Bauchi and visited the tomb of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
- Benedict told me about his marriage and I was glad about it.
- She tried hard but failed in her attempt.
- The doctor examined the patient and cured him.
- I looked at Brother Gideon and she smiled at me.
- They are coming by car so they should be here soon.

3. Complex Sentence: A sentence which consists of one main clause and one or
more subordinate clauses is called a Complex Sentence. Adverbial clauses usually
come after the main clause.

Examples:

- Her father died when she was very young.

- She had a difficult childhood because her father died when she was very
young.
- When I went there, I found that Amina was cooking
- We will start the journey when the day breaks.
- Some subordinate clauses can come in front of the main clause:
- Although a few snakes are dangerous most of them are quite harmless.
- Although (subordinating conjunction), some snakes are dangerous (adverbial
clause) most of them are harmless (main clause)

4.Compound-Complex Sentence: Also known as a double sentence,

compound-complex contains a combination of two or more types of sentence
structures (a compound and a complex).

Examples:

- Although I like books, I do not like fictions but my friend does/loves them.
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- His sister went to the supermarket and bought him present because it was his
birthday.
- My friend believes that he can do anything if he has money, but I don’t
agree.
- Until he graduates, he will live on campus with him but he wants to stay at
home.
- While the guest speaker went on his speech the audience laughed and threw
stones at him.

Classification of sentences according to function

Sentences are divided into five kinds according to functions, namely:

1. Declarative Sentence.
2. Interrogative Sentence.
3. Imperative Sentence.
4. Exclamatory Sentence.
5. Optative Sentence.
1. Declarative Sentence: A sentence that states or declares something is called an
Assertive or Declarative Sentence.

Examples:

- The earth moves round the sun.

- Abuja is the capital of Nigeria.
- Hausa is spoken in the Northern Nigeria
- The museum is built by Bauchi State Government.
- Zainab Alkali is a Nigerian writer.

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2. Interrogative Sentence: A sentence that asks question is called an

Interrogative Sentence.

Examples:

- What do you want?

- Do you understand English?
- Have you ever been to Great Britain?
- Did you post the letter?
- Where did you go yesterday?
3. Imperative Sentence: A sentence that expresses a command, a request, an
entreaty or suggestion is a called an Imperative Sentence.

EXAMPLES:

(a) Request:
- Please post the letter.
- What about having a cup of tea?
- What about going the Stadium this evening?
- Would you mind going out for dinner with me tonight?
- Can you lend me fifty Naira?
- May I use your phone?
- Could you wait for me?
(b) Command:
- Don’t smoke in the lecture hall.
- Stop there!
- Come here!
- Bring the book tomorrow.
- Be regular to your classes.

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- Close the door!

(c) Suggestion:

- I would rather you keep quiet and listen to me.

- You had better speak more softly (strong, positive).
- You had better not shout (strong, negative).
- You could/might speak more softly (gentle, positive).
- We are to always help the poor.
- You should apply for the job.
- You had better consult a physician.
- What about a cup of tea?
- How about starting a small scale business?
4. Exclamatory Sentence: A sentence that expresses some strong or sudden
feeling is called an exclamatory sentence.

Examples:

- What a shame!
- What a beauty!
- What a great success!
- How brilliant Fatimah is!
- How difficult the question paper is!

5. Optative Sentence: A sentence that expresses a wish, probability, or

supposition (imaginary) is called an Optative Sentence.

Examples:

- May God help us.

- I wish you were my husband.

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- May God help you in your attempt.

- If had wings, I would fly.
- If I had passed the test, I would have been much happier.
- She ought to have been married by now.
- We wish they would be with us.

Features of a Sentence

The sentence is the chief unit of speech. It is a minimum complete utterance and
therefore conveys a complete thought (not introduced by a subordinator except
when it is a complex sentence in which case a main clause follows in order to
maintain/ retain the complete thought so required). This quality makes every good
sentence to be well-formed and complete.

In addition, a sentence conveys a sense as it is both grammatically correct and

socially acceptable. An expression that is incomplete enough to make a sentence is
known as a fragment.

Fragments

A fragment resembles a sentence in two ways. Both groups of words begin with a
capital letter and conclude with an end mark (internal punctuation mark): a
period[.], a question mark [?] or an exclamation mark [!]. The one important
difference is that a fragment does not contain a main clause. Like an engine, the
main clause powers a complete sentence, propelling the reader through the
development of an idea. A fragment is missing this essential component. In other
words, any expression that is not complete enough to make a sentence is a
fragment.

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When you analyze a group of words looking for the main clause, you have to find
three things: a subject, a verb, and a complete thought. If any one of these three
items is missing, a fragment results. Example.
And yawned loudly enough to make everyone in class turn around.
Subject=0; Verb= yawned; complete thought=0.

ACTIVITY

I. MENTION WHETHER EACH OF THE FOLLOWING EXPRESSIONS IS A

SENTENCE OR A FRAGMENT.
1. Khadija’s sumptuous meal at night.
2. Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah.
3. Even if Abubakar decides to change the flat tyre.
4. William Shakespeare wrote the play.
5. The invention of the telephone by Allexander Graham Bell.
II. COPY AND UNDERLINE THE PREDICATE IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING
SENTENCES.
1. Soon after the storm, a lion roared.
2. Please bring my umbrella.
3. Manilla still remains the capital of Philippines.
4. The girl in the dark blue dress always comes late.
5. At the gate lies the body of the slain poor watchman.

III. IN THE BRACKETS PROVIDED, WRITE ALL THE SENTENCE ELEMENTS

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:

1 This flower seems dead. ( )

2 Their dead bodies were cremated. ( )

3 The tallest black African lady jumped high. ( )

4 He and his nephew drive expensive vehicles. ( )

5 The new students told his friends an incredible story. ( )

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IV. IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES

ACCORDING TO ITS STRUCTURE.
1. The slim, young, smart, little girl called her mother.
2. Although Nike went to the market early, she didn’t buy anything.
3. Because she wanted to see Umar, Binta was at the bus station early.
4. Bello knows the route very well so they asked him to lead.
5. Since they usually sleep early, they also wake up early but always
come late to the meeting.

V. DENTIFY AND UNDERLINE THE PREDICATE IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING

SENTENCES:
1. The girl in blue dress appeared worried.
2. His ambiguous smile made all the children stand still.
3. Stop pretending and do the needful.
4. Hiking in the evening is all she loves.
5. That is quite okay.

VI. IN THE GAPS PROVIDED, WRITE THE TYPE OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING
SENTENCES ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE:
1. Although it rained dogs and cats, the new moon was sighted
________________
2. The bride was singing beautiful song for her bridegroom at the
wedding___________
3. He contracted the virus in the US but got cured in
Nigeria____________________
4. This is the house where I was born__________________
5. Here is the woman whose new car was stolen______________________

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ANSWERS FOR TASKS I TO VI

I. 1. Fragment
2. sentence
3. fragment
4. sentence
5. fragment
II.
1. Soon after the storm, a lion roared.
2. Please bring my umbrella.
3. Manilla still remains the capital of Philippines.
4. The girl in the dark blue dress always comes late.
5. At the gate lies the body of the slain poor watchman.
III. 1 SVC
2 SV
3 SVA
4 SVO
5 SVOO

IV. 1. Simple sentence

2. complex sentence
3. complex sentence
4. compound sentence
5. Compound-complex sentence

V. 1. The girl in blue dress (subject) appeared worried (predicate)

2. His ambiguous smile (subject) made all the children stand still (predicate)

3. Stop pretending and do the needful (predicate)

4. Hiking in the evening (subject) is all she loves (predicate)

5.That (subject) is quite okay (predicate)

VI. 11 Complex sentence

12 Simple sentence

13 Compound sentence

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14 Complex sentence

15 Complex sentence

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (GRAMMATICAL CONCORD)

This is the grammatical relationship between a subject and a verb, a pronoun and
its verb, or a demonstrative adjective and the word it modifies.

If the subject and verb of a sentence do not agree that sentence is ungrammatical.
We, therefore, speak of errors in agreement or faulty agreement. To avoid this, we
must adhere to the rules of concord. Although the rules are by no means
exhaustive, some of them are stated below.

1. A verb must agree with its subject in number/person that is, a singular verb
should follow a singular subject; and plural verb should follow a plural
subject.
Examples:
- The students attend the language class.
- This course has taught me a lot.
- He is interested in wrestling.
- The book is on the table.
- The books are on the table.
- The books are outdated.
2. Singular subject followed by “with”, as well as, together with, accompanied
by, take singular verb.
Examples:
- The Vice Chancellor, as well as his staff, is hard working.
- Amina, together with her friends, is here.
- The teacher, accompanied by the students, as arrived.
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- Adams with his wife is here.

3. Indefinite pronouns such as everyone, everybody, nobody, somebody, no
one, take singular verb.
Examples:
- Everyone is to blame.
- Somebody has taken it.
- Someone has done the assignment.
- Everybody dislike a cheat.

There are other subjects which appear deceptively plural (they are plural in
form) but function as singular.

- Each of the students owns a car.

- One of the teachers appears lazy.
- Of all the students, one has complained about her laziness.
4. When two or more subjects are joined by “and” and refer to the same person
or thing, the verb is in the singular. However, compound subject referring to
two different people or things take plural verb.
Examples:
- His brother and sponsor was there to help him.
- His brother and friend attends the wedding ceremony.
- The president and Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces has arrived.
- A dog and a cat are seldom friends.
- The man and his wife have arrived.
- The Minister of Petroleum and NNPC boss reads riot acts to filling
stations
5. When two subject refer to the same thing or thought of as a single idea or
unit, a singular verb is used.

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Examples:
- Macaroni and Cheese is her favourite dish
- Rice and beans is my favorite
- Rice and stew sounds delicious
- Tea and bread is my best delicacy
- Bread and butter is a snack that is easy to prepare.

But when the word means different thing or thought, a plural verb is used
instead. For example:

- Boiled rice and fried cassava are common dishes in Africa.

6. Some nouns are plural in form but are singular in means and therefore take
singular verb.
The words include: Information, advice, evidence, aid, research, phonetics,
semantics, physics, furniture, luggage, equipment, knowledge, mathematics,
economics news, sports, economics etc.

Examples:
- Physics is an interesting subject
- Mathematics is difficult to some students
- The sports news was aired an hour ago
- Students dislike phonetics subject

Note: Organizations, clubs, associations and country take singular verb.

- The United Nations has its headquarters in news ark

- Bauchi State Government is working out modalities to ensure prompt
payment of salaries to its workforce.

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7. Singular subjects that are joined by “not only…but (also)”, “neither…nor”,

“either…or” take singular verb.
Examples:
- Not only the Vice Chancellor but also his wife was present at the senate
meeting.
- Neither the boy nor his father has eaten
- Either the teacher or the students is in the class.

Note: If the subjects differ in number/person (i.e. one subject is in the

singular and other is in the plural); the verb agrees with the subject (noun)
nearer to it. This type of concord is called concord of proximity.

- Either the students or the teacher is to be present

- Neither the teacher nor the students seem lazy
- Not only the man but also his wives were involved in an accident.
8. A collective noun takes a singular verb when the group is regarded as one
unit. However, a collective noun takes a plural verb when emphasis is placed
on the individual members of the group; that is, the individual members of
the group are acting separately.

Examples:

- The audience was clapping (together)

- The audience were arriving (Separately)
- The committee are unable to agree on a date for the convocation
(separately)
- The committee is meeting today (together)

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Other collective nouns include – an army of soldiers, a gang of criminals,

Club, a herd of cattle, a flock of goats, a class of students, hive of bees,
bench of bishops, a bunch and a bundle.

9. A demonstrative adjective (such as this, that, these, those) must agree in

number with the noun it modifies.
That – singular Those – Plural
This – Singular These – plural
Examples:
- That kind of music is outdated
- Those kinds of cars are in high demand
- These types of errors occur often
- This wrist watch is expensive.
10. Nouns (subjects) that are always regarded as plural take plural verbs.
Examples:
- The cattle look healthy
- The police are hardworking
11. Numbers, amount of money and years takes singular verb.
Examples:
- Ten Million is huge amount of money
- Three trillion naira was budgeted for this fiscal year
- Five years is the minimum in sentence for that offence
12. Name of books, films and newspaper take singular verb.

ACTIVITY

I. To complete each of the following sentences, underline the Verb in

brackets that is more appropriate.
- The earth … (move/moves) round the sun.
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- There … (is/are) a lot of books in university library.

- He and his daughter … (was/were) here yesterday.
- The author and editor …(was/were) arrested.
- My friend and well-wisher … (have/has) adviser me to read harder to
pass my examinations.
- Neither the students nor the teacher (were/was) at the scene of the
accident
- Bribery and corruption (go/goes) together
- Bread and butter (taste/tastes) good
- My father, together with my mother, (have/has) gone to the scene of the
accident.
- Each of the mangoes (is/are) bad.
- Mrs. Anazi, the teacher and trader (look/looks) charming this evening
- My mother together with my sisters (have/has) gone to the scene of the
accident
- A case of instruments (are/is) lying outside
- Neither the children nor their mother (like/likes) the food
- Bread and butter …(are/is) good for teenagers.

- Neither Musa nor Janet (has/ have)…competed the programme.

- Either the cildren or their mother (was/ is )… free to make the trip.
- One of the girls injured (their/her) …. knee.
- The man, together with his children, (is/are ) … in the farm.
- Not only Munir but also his sister (was/ were) … involved in the
accident.
- Each of the chairs (was/were)… broken.
- Rice and beans (tastes/ taste) delicious.

- A team of experts (have/has) … arrived to perform the operation.

- My uncle and sponsor (was/were) … extremely happy with my
performance.
- None of the students (seems/seem) … ready for the quiz.
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ACTIVE VOICE AND PASSIVE VOICE

In grammar,’ voice’ refers to the relationship between a verb and its subject. If the
subject performs the action expressed by the verb, the verb is said to be in the
active voice. For example:

The girl threw the ball.

The Chairman read the summary.

The winner received the cheque.

Here the verbs indicate the action of throwing, reading, and receiving. In each
sentence the subject ( girl, chairman, winner) is performing the indicated action.

If the subject ‘received’ the action expressed by the verb, the verb is said to be in
the passive voice. In other words, if the subject is acted upon rather than acting, the
voice of verb is passive.

Here are examples:

The ball was thrown by the girl.

The summary was read by the chairman.

The cheque was received by the winner.

Here the subjects (ball, summary, and cheque) are being acted upon; they are
receiving the actions of throwing, reading, receiving. The persons performing
these actions are indicated by the prepositional phrases ‘by the chairman’, “by the
chairman”, ‘by the winner”. If these prepositional phrases are omitted, the
performer of the action remains unmentioned.

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The ball was thrown.

The summary was read.

The cheque was received.
These impersonal constructions occasionally have advantages. Such an advantage
is obvious if the writer wishes to omit reference to the performer of the action.
Except in special situations of this kind, active construction is preferable. They are
more direct and more forceful. Usually too they are more effective.

Rules for changing active voice into passive voice

1. Identify the subject, the verb and the object (SVO).
2. Change the object into subject.
3. Put the suitable helping verb or auxiliary.

4. Change the verb into past participle of the verb.

5. Add the preposition ‘by’.

6. Change the subject into object.

ACTIVITY

I. Change the following from active to passive voice.

1. He ate an apple yesterday.
2. The gardener spoke the truth.
3. She is preparing food.
4. We were digging ditches.
5. He has paid the bills.

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NOTE TAKING AND NOTE MAKING

Note taking refers to notes taken from talks and lectures as well as notes from
reading materials such as books. Some people have made a distinction between
note taking and note- making. Such people would have likened the skills, anyway.
The term ‘note taking’ is better used to refer to only notes taken from lectures or
talks, while ‘note making’ refers to notes from student’s personal reading of books
as well as other relevant sources. While the former requires effective listening
skills to excel, the latter rests solely on the learner’s ability to paraphrase,
summarize and sieve relevant details from irrelevant ones. However, the duo can
be merged into one. During a lecture, a good student must learn to recognize the
main ideas from supporting details. Note taking and note making are vital tools
from academic works and everyone who studies needs them.

Purposes for taking and making notes

a. To help a student’s memory when reading and/or revising e.g for tests and
examination. Note taking and note making help student develop retentive
memory.
b. To obtain a record of the speaker’s or writer’s main ideas.
c. To increase knowledge of the particular subject.
d. To help student concentrate on what the speaker or writer is saying.
Sources of notes are:
1. From written texts such as text books, Journals, manuals, reports, etc. the
student reads and makes note on the important print (ii) From oral discourse
for example talks, lecture, seminars. Etc. Here, students take note on
important points. (iii) Personal reflections mainly for the purpose and
writing essays, examinations, etc.

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Types of Notes
Notes can be classified according to methods employed.
Summary method: This type of note is written in a compressed form of the
original source. Although it contains the important parts only, it could be said it
be an outline. This method is not recommended because it could represent
summary writing instead of what note taking or note making requires in stew of
Note taking a note making requires.
Outline method: Here the important points are systematically tabulated in note
form using spacing, numbering, phrases, abbreviations and symbol. This is the
most acceptable way of taking notes.
Graphic method: This involves the representation of information as from oral
or written discourse in graphic form. Here, the important points are presented in
tables, schematic diagrams, pie charts, graphs, flow charts, spider diagram,
histogram, bar chart, graphs, among others. This note taking and note-making
method in used with care because some topics cannot have most important
points adequately represented in this method. Scientific topic that involves
classifications are some of the topics that fit into this method of note taking and
note making.
Importance of note taking and note making

1. Personal notes are more readily acceptable and easier to remember than the
original text.
2. Note taking compels the learners to listen.
3. Note-taking also enhances comprehension.
4. Effective notes highlight what is important in a lecture and help students
remember them.
5. Writing down important points aids the memory and facilitates study and
review.
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6. Notes are critical for preparing students for examination.

7. A good note serves as a micro-library where the information can be stored
and be retrieved to meet the present need of the learners.

Note taking hints

a. Write legibly.
b. Be as brief as possible
c. Focus on the main ideas, concepts and facts.
d. Be consistent in the use of symbols and abbreviations
e. Apart from formulas, specific facts, definitions and terms, always original in
use of words.
f. Indent to differentiate major points from minor ones.
g. Always date your notes.
h. Don’t waste time in taking notes.
i. Make your own notes during lectures.
j. Don’t try to write out everything.
k. Be attentive and think before taking the notes.
l. Condense your material.
m. Don’t over border yourself if a point is missed.
n. Rework your notes shortly after.
o. Write them and fill in all omitted gaps.
p. Review your notes regularly to aid your memory.
q. Be interested for what you are being taught.
r. Eliminate every distraction and unrelated association.
s. Participate in meaningful and fruitful group discussions that can sharpen
your critical and analytical acumen.

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The Basic Rules for Note making and Note- taking

a. The clear: show how the speaker’s or writer’s ideas are related to each other.
The use and linking words (connectives) is very important here.
b. The brief: Generally, notes do not require writing in full sentences; phrase
are more appropriate, Abbreviations and symbols are often used for brevity.
c. Be selective: Write only the main important points, leaving out supporting
details, jokes, digressions and too many illustrations.
In essence, good notes, require speed, accuracy and clarity.
Techniques for Effective Note-taking and Note makings.
To take good and quick notes, the student should
a. Completely omit those sentences that merely support major sentences.
Examples should be restricted or omitted.
b. Focus on the main ideas, that is, those words and sentences that provide the
main information, notes should consist of short phrase rather than complete
sentences. Common and conventional abbreviations and symbol should be
used. Examples are:
b/coz ---- because ≠ ---- note equal to eg ---- examples
& ---- and < ------ less than ie ----- that is
= ------ equal to > ----- greater than viz ---- namely
 ----- therefore ?------- Questions etc ---- etcetera
b/4 ------ before

PUNCTUATION
Punctuation marks are graphic markers or points which are used in writing for the
following purposes:

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1. To indicate a pause as in speech: the following are the marks that often
coincide with points in speech in which there is a pause:

a. the full stop (.)

b. the comma (,)
c. the semi-colon (;)
d. the colon (:)

2. to indicate a change or rise in the voice: Examples are:

a. the question mark (?)
b. the exclamation (!)
3. to introduce, link, or enclose words and expressions: Examples are:
a. the colon (:)
b. the dash ( __ )
c. the hyphen (-)
d. the parenthesis ( ) or brackets [ ]
e. the quotation ( " " )

4. To indicate omission in a sentence or the use of the possessive

They include the following:
a. The ellipsis (…)
b. The caret ( ̂ )
c. The apostrophe (')

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We shall now discuss punctuation marks under two broad divisions:

a. Terminal punctuation marks

b. Medial punctuation marks

Terminal Punctuation

There are three terminal punctuation marks. They are called terminal because they
usually occur at the end of sentences. Thy are the full stop, the question mark, and
the exclamation mark. Note that no two of the three terminal punctuation marks
can occur together; they are mutually exclusive of one another. In other words,
only one of them can occur at the end of a sentence depending on the syntactic
function of the sentence.

1. The full Stop

The full stop has three distinct functions. Read the following five sentences. They
are declarative sentences: all ending with full stop.

1. Books are very expensive nowadays.

2. Ngozi's second wedding anniversary comes up next Saturday.
3. Social injustice fosters crime in society.
4. Nobody has succeeded in explaining to me why military
seized power in Nigeria in 1983.
5. It rains for only three months in the northern parts of Nigeria.

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Spelling and punctuation

Word or word group Standard Abbreviation

Professor Prof.
Compare cf,
Example eg.
Post Office Box P.O. Box
Private Mail Box P.M. B.
Illustration Illus.
Editor/edition ed.

Most English abbreviations end with the full stop. But there are occasions in which
the full stop is optional. Examine the following words. They can be abbreviated
with or without the full stop. Look very closely at each of the words and the
equivalent abbreviation. Can you see they can be abbreviated without the full stop?

Word Abbreviation

Mister Mr. or Mr

Doctor Dr. or Dr

Year Yr. or Yr

Missus Mrs. Or Mrs

There are also special types of abbreviations known as acronyms. Find out the
meaning of acronym from your dictionary. Acronyms do not conventionally need
the full sop. Below are some examples. Can you think of others?

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Abbreviation Full meaning of the Acronym

JAMB Joint Admission and Matriculation Board
NEPA National Electric Power Authority
USAID United State Agency for International
Development
NECON National Electoral Commission of Nigeria
PRODA Project Development Institute (Agency)
WAEC West African Examination Council
OPEC Organization of petroleum Exporting
Countries.

2. THE QUESTION MARK

Read the following sentences. They are questions.

1. Are books not very expensive nowadays?

2. When is Ngozi's second wedding anniversary coming up?
3. What does social injustice foster in society?
4. Has anybody succeeded in explaining to me why the military
seized power in 1983?
5. For how long does it rain in the northern part of Nigeria?

The declarative sentences used earlier could provide adequate answers to the above
questions as interrogative sentences often anticipate declarative responses or
statements.

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The italicized expressions in the following sentences are a special form of question
– sentences known as question tags. Read them and suggest appropriate responses
for the questions.

6. It trained heavily yesterday, didn't it?

7. You haven't completed your examinations, have you?
8. You will attend my birthday party, won't you?
9. People shouldn't smoke in public places, should they?

Sometimes the answer to a question is so obvious that no response is expected.

They responses unnecessary. Question of this type are known as rhetorical
questions. Consider the following questions. Do they really have to be answered?

10. As a man you should not panic at sign of danger, or aren't you a man?

11. I am aware that you love your mother very dearly or am I wrong?

12. Is there anyone in this congregation who would not like to go to

heaven?

13. Woh! Isn't she beautiful?

14. Son, why are you always doing things that tarnish the good name of
this family?

3. The exclamation mark

The exclamation has only one function in the sentence: It expresses strong emotion
as indicated in speech by a rise in the pitch of the voice. When a person is excited,
surprised, digested, horrified, angry, or very happy, his emotion is evident in his
tone which in writing is expressed by means of the exclamation mark.
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The following are some examples:

1. Oh, what a mess!

2. What a horrible sight!
3. Aha, there she comes!
4. Shut that door, will you!
5. That was a wonderful show!

Medial punctuation marks

These are punctuation marks that often occur in the middle of the sentence. They
are:

1 The caret 6 the hyphen

2 The ellipsis 7 The colon
3 the dash 8 The semi-colon
4 The parentheses 9 the comma
5 The apostrophe 10 the quotation marks

We shall not discuss all the ten punctuation marks; only the following will be dealt
with: the comma, the colon, the semi-colon the hyphen, the apostrophe, the
quotation, and the parentheses. We have selected them because they are usually the
ones that present students with the greatest problems.

1. The comma: the comma is used in a variety of ways in the sentence but
its function is essentially to show where a speaker would naturally pause
so as to allow his message to be absorbed. Study the following sentences,
for example:

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(i) They sell cosmetics, toilet soap, dresses, shoes, and several other items in
that supermarket.
(ii) The maid complained, “I am tired of being treated like a slave”.
(iii) John, how far have you gone with your project?
(iv) Some women, even when they look old and worn out, never want to accept
that they are old.
(v) Whenever people pay her some attention, she gets shy.

The above five sentences represent some of the common uses of the comma in the
sentence. Sentence (i) illustrates the use of the comma to give an enumeration or a
list; sentence (ii) shows how to introduce a direct speech or quotation; sentence
(iii) to mark off a direct address (or vocative) from the rest of the sentence;
sentence (iv) indicates how to enclose or mark off non – restrictive expressions (or
parenthetical elements) from the rest of the sentence; and sentence (v) separates a
subordinate clause from the main clause in complex sentence.

Check out the meaning of the following terms which have just been used to explain
the functions of the comma: vocative, non-restrictive, parenthetical (expressions.).
find out also when an expression is said to be restrictive. Note that, sometimes, the
comma is used not necessarily for any of the above five reasons but to ensure that
there is no ambiguity in the sentence.

1. The colon: This is a punctuation mark that alerts the reader that something is
to follow. For example:

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(i) I kept the following items in that box: my certificates, my letter

appointment, some cash, some drugs, and my dresses
(ii) Only one thing in this life is permanent or certain: death.
(iii) These are the people who resent for the rally: Nike's sister, Ada's
cousin, some disabled children, and the social welfare officer for the zone.
(iv) Only one thing worried me about that business deal: the fact the agent
could be phoney.
(v) I have only two friends: Mike and Mary:

3. The semi-colon: This is a punctuation mark that represents a pause that is

midway between the pause of the full stop and that of the comma. Below are some
of the uses of the semi-colon:

(i) To link elements of a compound sentence when there is no

conjunction:

Example:

a. The Nigerian civil war was a very expensive war; it cost the country
thousands of lives and millions of Naira.
b. The dog is one of man's best friends; it can be relied on at all times.

(ii) To separate the main elements of a compound complex sentence

especially if the main elements have been internally punctuated with
commas; e.g

a. If he comes, keep him engage; don't let him go until I come back.

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b. Most men, when they become wealthy, get arrogant cruel and inconsiderate;
they also become mean when it comes to helping the needy.
(iii) To draw attention to the contrast between ideas expressed in a
sentence or separate sentence that are in themselves internally punctuated
by commas:

Example:

a. That function attracted several important personalities such as chief

Echeribe, the regent of Abame; Professor Chibike, the Dean of Agriculture;
Nze Cornelius Ozoani, the supervisory council lor for works; and Brigadier,
Aja, the chairman of the Ports Authority.
b. I pardon you for your serious act of discretion; but next time you won't be
that lucky.

4. The hyphen: The hyphen has essentially two distinct functions:

(i) To form compound words: Compound words can be compound noun or

compound adjectives: eg

Vice-Chancellor
Father-in-law
Step-daughter
Worn-out tyres
Part-time lecturer
First-aid treatment
On-the-spot assessment
Pre-natal care
Ante-natal care
Post-war experience

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(ii) To divide words into two at line endings: In writing, there is need sometimes

to break a word into two at the end of the line. When this becomes the case, the

following three considerations influence the splitting of the word:

a. The etymology of the word: i.e the source or origin of the word as well as its

constituent.

For Example.

Bio-graphy
Atmo-sphere
Back-yard
Chemi-stry

b. The syllable structure of the word: i.e how many syllables the word

contains. The writer is here advised to split the word so that there is some

balancing of the number of syllables in each line, for example.

Consist-ency
Mathe-matics
Sleep-ing
Autho-rity

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c. The use of affixes: The presence of affixes in a word can provide convenient
point for the splitting of the word at a line ending

auto-biography

in-efficiency
mal-practices
godli-ness
un-kind
kind-ness
recommend-ation
beauty-ful
ir-relevant

Note that the hyphen should be used very sparingly as an indiscriminate use of the
punctuation mark when writing has a tendency to make the written piece somewhat
untidy; in fact, it is recommended that only polysyllabic words could be split at the
end of a line.

5. The apostrophe: the apostrophe has two main functions in the sentence:

(i) To form the possessive of nouns and impersonal pronouns: e.g

The people's Club of Nigeria

Ada's beautiful dress
Christ's apostles
Someone's property
Evereybody's opinion
Anyone's business
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(ii) To indicate where there has been an omission of one or more letters in the
contracted from words: eg

Shan't
I'm
Should've
Mayn't

6. Quotation marks: There are two main functions of quotation marks:

(i) To present a verbatim text as in the direct speech: eg

a. The mysterious woman cursed, 'May you never see the light of the next
day.’
b. 'I am very happy that we’re able to come,’ he said.
c. 'I am finished, done for, ruined,’ she wailed when the loss of the precious
ornaments was revealed to her.
d. According to Yackson (1987), ' …. The protagonist is attempting to define
his place in the scheme of things and 'his wrestle with words' and varying
syntactic patterns is a search for an adequate expression that can clarify his
status for him.

(ii) To indicate the title of a poem, short story, or articles and other unpublished
material: eg

J.P Clark, in his poem 'Ibadan' …

'The Squandering of Riches' by Onyeke …

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7. Parenthesis: This has essentially one dominant function: that of enclosing

textual material that is supposed to be regarded as of serious importance. For
example:

a. The cost of cars in Nigeria (and you will agree with me that cars are very
important) should be reviewed
b. I would like you to consolidate your relationship with this supermarket as
our prices are highly competitive (you can compare our price with those of XYZ
Stores ).
Another function of the parenthesis is that it can be used to repeat information as in
repeating information given in figures after having been in words initially, eg
c. Five Hundred Naira (N 500.00)
d. Those books are sold at N45.00 (Forty Five Naira) in the local market

ACTIVITY

I. Copy the sentences below and replace the asterisks with the correct punctuation
marks.
1. Because it was a very hot afternoon* Dr* Stanley*s laboratory class was
half asleep as he held the test-tube in the flame of the Bunsen burner*
2. *When the liquid in the test-tube begins to boil* what*s the best thing to
do** He asked*

II. Re-copy and punctuate the following passage.

The human population has grown dramatically this century in 1990 there was 1.6
billion people on earth by 1950 the figure had grown to 2.7 billion demographers
estimate that by the end of the century the earth’s population will be over 6.1
billion demography is the study of the change in size distribution and character of
the human population and the two most basic factors in demography are the birth-
rate and the death –rate the former expresses the number of children born per 1000
per year the latter indicates the number of people who die per 1000 per year if we
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consider the earth as a whole we see that population growth or decline is caused by
the difference between the number of births and deaths over a given period there
are normally more births than deaths and this is known as a natural increase in
population

Suggested Readings

Atkinson, D. (1999). Language and science, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics,

19, 193-214.

Brown, F. A. (2003). English for tertiary education: An integrated approach. Jos:

Mazlink.
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (2004). English for specific puroses- 19th Edition.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jowitt, D. (2012). Nigerian English usage: An introduction, Lagos: LearnAfrica.
Oluikpe, B. O. A (Ed) (2011) The use of English for higher education, Onitsha:
Africana First Publishers Plc.
Quirk, R., & Greenbaum, S. (1973). A university grammar of English, London:
Longman.

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