English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Obligatory A’s
She went into ~coma~ for days (nonstandard).
She went into a coma for days (nonstandard).
She’s got ~headache~ (nonstandard).
She’s got a headache (standard).
The plan has just reached ~crossroads~ (nonstandard).
The plan has just reached a crossroads (standard). If you say that something is at a crossroads, you mean that it has reached a very important stage in its development where it could go one way or another. Note the s after “crossroad”.
Our economy is ~in shambles~ (nonstandard).
Our economy is in a shambles (standard).
If a place, event, or situation is a shambles or is in a shambles, everything is in disorder.
GAB
2 Comments
Thank you sir, I noticed bot examples in number 1 were designated nonstandard, could that be a mistake?
For the first example, you wrote “non standard” for both. Please check