English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)
Nigerian Syntactic Structures
Syntactic structure has to do with the combination of words into sentences. Certain expressions are peculiar to Nigerians and they cannot be described as standard usage. Examples include:
The man lied on my head (Nonstandard).
The man lied against me (Standard).
Politicians are eating our money (Nonstandard).
Politicians embezzle money/ Politicians loot public treasure (Standard).
Next tomorrow is my birthday (Nonstandard).
The day after tomorrow is my birthday (Standard).
You are too much (Nonstandard).
You are great (Standard).
The boy is sharp (Nonstandard).
The boy is smart (Standard).
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)
Academic Advisor, Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan;
&
Doctoral Student of English, University of Ibadan.
