OUR KIND OF ENGLISH: ‘The ONLY thing you should ‘inherit to your child is...' Tripe, isn't it?

Grammatical consistency.  This, in part, is about correct alignment of the subject and the verb that defines it. In reverse, you’ve grammatical inconsistency; in which case, the communicator mixes verb tenses, pronouns and other grammatical elements, therein bringing confusion.

Enough with lecturing! And now, let’s share linguistic gems we picked up over the past week. Here we go…

Bongo’s senior-most broadsheet of Saturday, July 19 has a story on Page 2 entitled, ‘Muhimbili reforms for Vision 2050.’  The scribbler is reporting on Bongo’s topmost referral medical facility’s aspirations that’ll be in harmony with our Republic’s recently launched Vision 2050. He mentions a number of fields that Muhimbili aspires to cover in its pursuit of the Vision, and adds: “Other aspirations include a healthy society where every individual, especially children, women, people with disability and older persons ENJOYS affordable comprehensive and equitable access to quality health care.”

Take note of the grammatical inconsistency depicted! “…children, women, people with disability and older persons ENJOYS…”  The scribbler errs by using a singular verb “enjoys” while he’s communicating about (several) plural nouns. He ought to have used plural verb “ENJOY.”

On the same page there’s a story about resolutions adopted by the Network of Independent Media Councils of Africa (NIMCA) during a recent pan-African summit of media leaders that was held in Arusha recently. The story is entitled, ‘NIMCA maps out ethical Artificial Intelligence use in journalism,’ and therein, the scribbler writes in the last paragraph of Column 5: “Through the resolutions, NIMCA also called ON massive investment in media infrastructure including information and communication technology hubs, broadband connectivity and digital tools in schools.”

The preposition “on” has been misused, for the phrasal verb “call on” means to ask SOMEONE/A PARTY to do something.  For example: NIMCA called ON stakeholders TO invest more on media infrastructure.

The correct phrasal verb in the context of our colleague’s sentence should be “called FOR,” which means to demand or request something. So, a rewrite should read: “Through the resolutions, NIMCA also called FOR massive investment in media infrastructure….

Back to Friday, July 18 when Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet ran on Page 4 a story with the headline, ‘Global universities to participate in overseas education fair in Dar.’

In this one, the scribbler reports in attribution to what a boss with a Dar-based global education body, Mr AM, said: “Mr M said some students who will need to study MASTERS and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, especially in engineering programmes, will be given 100 scholarship (sic!).”  

A masters degree? Nope! It’s a MASTER’S degree. The apostrophe between R and S is not optional. And then, we aver, our colleague must have set out to write; “…will be given 100 per cent scholarships.”

Further reporting on Mr M, the scribbler pens: “He said the only (sic!) thing that a parent can INHERIT TO his child is education…”

Oh, no Siree! You don’t inherit “to” someone; you inherit “from” someone. However, since the story is about the best (not the only, please!) thing a parent can bequeath his child before the said parent dies, the sentence should’ve been written thus: “He said the best thing that a CHILD can inherit FROM his parent is education…”

We wind up this edition with a story on Page 5 of the tabloid associated with this columnist, entitled ‘Rostam Aziz calls for strong investment in digital media,’ the intro of which is written thus: “Prominent businessman Rostam Aziz has urged the private sector, journalists and civil society to SIGNIFICANTLY scale up in Tanzania’s media industry…”   

A perfect sentence, grammar-wise, but then, why not drop the adverb “significantly” and remain with, simply, SCALE UP?

Ah, this treacherous language called English!