Using a determiner correctly to make a clear distinction

I once invited readers of this column to ventilate whether we should say ‘my name is’ or ‘my names are’, but very few took the offer, and even then, only in jest. The intention was to find out whether anybody was willing to interrogate some of the things we were taught in school; things that one feels left room for questions to linger because they were not convincingly explained.

I recall, however, that even as one of the respondents thought I was up to some mischief, he posed the question; should one say ‘English teacher’ or ‘Teacher of English’? Then last week, I received a similar question from another reader. Of course, this is not something new; it must have been discussed in different forums over time, not that the discussants were at sea, but because they needed some stimulating discourse. There are times one knows something, but explaining it, putting it across so that the other party gets a clear picture presents a challenge. Sometimes, while trying to justify both expressions, the argument goes that if you know what I mean, why go into unnecessary detail?

We should discuss it, nonetheless. First, let’s consider that both ‘English’ and ‘Teacher’ are nouns (not a compound noun). The dictionary definition of noun is a word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things (common noun), or to name a particular one of these (proper noun).  ‘English’ is a common noun that refers to either the natives of the country called England or the language of the people of England.

Differentiating

To make a clear distinction between the two, it is proper to use determiner ‘the’ before the noun ‘English’ to specifically refer to the people of England. If reference is to the dialect of England, qualifying ‘English’ with ‘language’, as much as we would say ‘The Swahili’ (people) and ‘Swahili language’ (their dialect) leaves no room for doubt. The determiner and qualification therefore serve the purpose of forestalling requests for clarification.

Having said that, it should be fairly obvious that to say ‘English Teacher’ would be making specific reference to an individual who teaches the ‘English’ (people) something. The noun ‘Teacher’ is self-explanatory, meaning a person who imparts knowledge to others either as a vocation (profession) or through any other forum where participants benefit from his knowledge. When the preposition ‘of’ comes after ‘teacher’, followed by another noun (Mathematics, Geography, History), it does not leave room for doubt regarding what subject one teaches.

The preposition ‘of’, as we know, is used to express the relationship between the whole and a part of it (for example, John’s shirt sleeve was torn during the fight), or a measure and a value. For example, the public wage bill has gone up by 5 percent. University lecturers demand a salary raise of 50 percent. There are other uses of the preposition ‘of’ that do not concern us today. The acronym ToE (Teacher of English) comes in handy in helping us remember the correct form.

Basic rules

At this juncture, it is worthwhile reminding ourselves of some of the basic rules of grammar that we already know, but which we have somehow allowed ourselves to forget when, faced with awkward situations, we resort to the classical defensive response ;  “kwani hapa niko shuleni?’’ (Am I in school?).

A collective noun, for instance, takes a singular verb when the collective is considered as a whole unit. The same takes on a plural verb when the individuals it comprises are considered individually. Examples are; The Council of Governors has chosen its leader. The Military were called out of the barracks to quell he riots in Nairobi’s informal settlement.

When we use a past tense in the main clause, the same should apply in the subordinate. A subordinate clause is simply a dependent clause. The following sentence illustrates this:  “Steve Jobs succeeded because he worked hard’’. To use a present tense in the dependent clause would be grammatically incorrect. For example; “Steve Jobs succeeded because he works hard”.

When two singular nouns refer to the same person, the verb remains singular. For example; The Secretary and Principal of the Commission is here to officiate at the conference.

When we use abstract nouns (e.g. addiction, devotion, sadness, happiness, danger etcetera) always remember to add a prepositional phrase to show the relationship. For example; Ali is addicted to cocaine. His devotion to Christianity is questionable.

Mr  Chagema is a correspondent at The [email protected]