English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
SOME GRAMMATICAL PROTOCOL
- Use “on the other hand”, when you have said/written “on the one hand”. The expressions are used to introduce contrasting points of view and they make the two perspectives easily identifiable:
On the one hand I love my job, but on the other hand I need a better income. - Say “I stand corrected” only after you have earlier said “correct me if I’m wrong”. You say “correct me if I’m wrong” to indicate that you are not entirely sure that what you are about to say is true then you say “I stand corrected” when you admit that something you have said or done was wrong:
Speaker 1: Correct me if I’m wrong, Jonathan is the president of Nigeria.
Speaker 2: No. The president is Buhari.
Speaker 1: I stand corrected.
Note that this expression is not “I stand to be corrected” and it is not used to say you’re not sure; it is used to admit a mistake.
GAB
