English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
BORDER, BOARDER or BOTHER?
This study ~bothers~ on earlier claims by scholars (nonstandard).
This study ~boarders~ on earlier claims by scholars (nonstandard).
This study *borders* on earlier claims by scholars (standard).
If behaviour, a quality, or a feeling borders on something more extreme, it is almost that thing.
As a noun, border also means a line that has been agreed to divide one country from another:
I was stopped at the ~bother~. ❌
I was stopped at the ~boarder~. ❌
I was stopped at the *border*. ✅
My son was a ~border~ in that school (nonstandard).
My son was a ~bother~ in that school (nonstandard).
My son was a *boarder* in that school (standard).
A boarder is a pupil who lives at school during the term.
I do not ~border~ people (nonstandard).
I do not ~boarder~ people (nonstandard).
I do not *bother* people (nonstandard).
My son was a *boarder* in a school in Cotonou but surprisingly we were harassed at the *border* when he was going to school last week on issues that *border* on smuggling which should not *bother* an innocent young boy.
Can you also use these words in a single sentence?
