By UKA NWAFOR –
Language, the bedrock of the potential developments of both the individual and the society, is one phenomenon which has human thoughts in gaze. It’s a generator of ideas and concepts; it is assumed that effective ideas are possible only when an acceptable pattern of use is followed. Many people are confused whether to use ‘content or contented, roast or roasted, mature or matured, secure or secured, select or selected, stinking or stinkingly, among others.
Many people, especially those whose businesses have language as their primary tool, usually misuse many of the English ‘adjectives.’ Perhaps, it can be strongly argued that English grammar has become indispensable to everyone in the present-day society of technology and social media boom. And should the foregoing be anything true, it means that survival of any business depends on the effective use of the English language.
Let’s consider these strangest uses of the adjectives/adverbs
Content or contented: it is non-standard to say or write, ‘the man is contented with his one-room apartment.’ This is because ‘contented’ is not used as a complement/predicate (after a noun). It is an attributive adjective used only before the nominal (noun or pronoun) it modifies. The standard version is, ‘the contented man lives in one-room apartment. ‘Contented’ is an ‘attributive’ adjective, and it means showing feeling of happiness or satisfaction. For instance, ‘a contended look’, a contented life’, ‘a contented man’. Note that his adjective is not to be used after a nominal but before it. That is why it’s referred to as ‘attributive.’ ‘Content,’ on the other hand, is a predicative adjective which means it should be used only after the nominal it modifies or complements. Hence, it’d be awful to say ‘a content person’ or a content life.’ Even though ‘a content person’ may be possible when one intends to mean a person known for creating contents; ‘content creator.’ In this sense, it no longer means being happy or satisfied. That is why ‘the man is content with his one-room apartment’ is dead correct.
Select or selected: the first implies special quality of the person/thing referred to. Such that ‘select few’ refers to a small group with special qualities. I often feel pitched when I read or hear expressions such as ‘the selected few have been entrusted with the company’s managerial responsibilities. It’s awfully so since ‘selected’ denotes no special qualities as is the first, ‘select.’ The standard version should be, ‘the select few have been entrusted with the company’s managerial responsibilities.’ Also, ‘the select students have been placed on scholarship,’ ‘the man usually takes us to select restaurants,’ they live in a very select area in the city. They denote few persons and places with special qualities respectively. The case is not the same with ‘selected few’ which is a group of persons/things formed irrespective of quality. For examples, ‘the selected students/few are to sweep the principal’s office tomorrow.’ Here, no special quality is intended since the selection may be done randomly.
Roast, roasted or roasting: I’m certain you often hear people at a fish spot say, ‘I want a roasted fish,’ bring me the roasted fish if it is ready.’ These can hardly form acceptable expressions in British English, though it may in American English. I usually take my time to observe how people use the language whenever I’m in any gathering. I observe that while a considerable few are conscious of appropriate usage, many badly make mess of it. The word ‘roast’ itself can be a ‘verb and adjective.’ As an adjective, it is used both attributively and predicatively; meaning that it can be used before or after a nominal, and it means cooked or to cook food or meat without liquid over a fire. Therefore, the correct version of the above expressions will now be: ‘I want a roast fish.’ Please, bring me the roast fish if it is ready.’ Also, roast meat’, roast chicken’. As a verb; ‘the man usually roasts the fish.’ He roasted the fish for us.’ The meat was roasted for us (by the man) (passive). As a noun, ‘roast’ means anything ‘roast’. Examples: 1. We were served a fish roast at the party. 2. We ordered only a chicken roast. 3. The lady promised to serve us a meat roast when we visit. ‘Roasting’, an attributive adjective also, is, on the other hand, concerned with which to do the roasting. Eg, ‘Roasting plate/dish.’
Laughable or laughing: both are adjectives. the first, is ridiculous or silly and unworthy of seriousness. Eg, ‘His manner of talk is very laughable. The decision to ignore the lecturer when he comes is laughable. Whereas, ‘laughing,’ is expressing happiness and amusement. Eg, ‘She always wears a laughing look’, ‘laughing faces’. ‘Their laughing faces show how happy and enthralled they are today’.
Exempt or exempted: it’s to be noted that it’s not always appropriate to use past participle as adjectives because many are meant to be used only in passive. For instance, ‘exempted’ cannot function as an adjective modifying or complementing a nominal. It can only be used as a verb in passive form. Any use short of this would know little or no acceptance. It’d be non-standard to say or write: 1.The men are exempted from the tax. 2. The course reps are exempted in the departmental dues. Note that (1) could be correct if the intention is that it’s a passive sentence whose performer (the subject) is not mentioned; which in full version would read, “The men were exempted from the tax by the Commissioner. While (2) is dead wrong. So it should be used as a verb. For examples: 1. The Commissioner exempted the men from tax. 2. The boys exempted themselves from school work. 3. The course reps were exempted from dues by the Head of Department. ‘Exempt,’ on the other hand, is mainly predicative, meaning it’s used after a nominal to complement a subject or an object. Examples: 1. the reps are exempt from the dues. 2. The men are exempt from the tax. 3. The boy is exempt from the work. Another possible use, especially in compounds, is ‘the senate deliberated fee-exempt scheme for the indigent students.
Welcome or welcomed: the correctness of both depends on the context of use. However, it may sound absurd to use the latter in the sense of modifier or complement. It can only be used as a passive verb. This is why it’s non-standard to say; ‘you’re welcomed to the ceremony,’ our presence was not welcomed so we had to leave.’ It is only ‘welcome’, which is adjective that can be used in this sense, before or after the nominal. So the standard version of the above expressions will now be, ‘you’re welcome to the ceremony’ and ‘our presence was not welcome to the ceremony’ respectively. As has been said above that the word is also a verb, and the examples can be seen in the following: 1. the professor usually welcomes us whenever we visit. 2. They welcomed the man to the occasion. 3. We were welcomed to the occasion by the celebrant.
Mature or matured: many people know only of ‘matured’ as a modifier or complement, and can argue their hearts out to prove that it’s all there is as concerns appropriateness. Their insistence is not unexpected, anyway. It’s non-standard to say, for instance, ‘the boys are not yet matured to take care of themselves.’ ‘Mature,’ itself is both an adjective and a verb. As an adjective, it can only, like any other adjectives, describe a nominal (noun, pronoun or noun group). It’s not to be forgotten that they can largely modify adverbs. The above expression is wrong because ‘matured’ is not suitable in that position. It is a past verb, and should be so used rather than in the sense above. The standard form is ‘the boys are not yet mature to take care of themselves. Other examples: 1. I like mature men. 2. He’s one of the mature students on campus. 3. Jane is mature now. The uses above, as can be seen, show that, as an adjective, it can be used both attributively and predicatively. As a verb, it’s used as those with similar characteristics treated above. Examples: 1. A female child matures earlier than male child. 2. His plans usually mature sooner than later. 3. Time matures all. 4. Time has matured the boys. 5. The girls were matured by time (passive).
Secure/secured: it’s obvious that people struggle and rumble with the use of these words. Many are more familiar with the latter than the former. That’s why we often hear expressions such as; ‘the house is not in a secured place, or ‘don’t worry, the children are secured there, and so many others. ‘Secure’ like others of this nature is an adjective, and can be used both in attributive and predicate positions. The correct form the above will be, ‘The house is not in a secure place,’ and ‘don’t worry, the children are secure there.’ As a verb, it can be used as follows: 1. the man usually secures jobs for people.2. The man secures the place regularly. 3. They secure our compound in festive periods. 4. The men secured our compound that year. 5. Our compound was secured that year by the men (passive).
Complete/completed: this is another set of confusing words. A great many users don’t know whether to say or write, ‘our building will be complete or completed before the end of the year.’ Since ‘complete’ is an adjective and expected to complement the subject ‘building,’ it’s absolutely suitable in the above context. Hence, ‘our building will be complete before the end of the year’ is grammatically correct. It can be used before or after a noun or pronoun. Examples: 1. He has a complete set of the tools with him. 2. There was a complete confusion at the meeting. 3. The phone comes complete with an extra battery. 3. Johnson completes his work on time. 4. They often complete a form before allowed in. 5. The lady has completed the form given to her. 6. The contract was completed shortly after the agreed time by the men.
Collect/collected: you may be surprised to know that the word ‘collect,’ to begin with, may have other functions apart from being a verb. This is the major reason I’d always maintain that English can hardly be learned through tacit knowledge. It’s not a language one can learn by applying learning methods obtainable in other languages like Africans’ where one may be tempted to conclude that if ‘P’ is possible in ‘Y’ then it’s also possible in ‘Z.’ it’s disappointingly not so. English requires a considerable degree of attention and consistency. Of course, it’s not in doubt that you are already aware that ‘collect’ is a verb and means, ‘to receive, to take away, to gather, or to increase. Examples: 1. they usually collect waste/dirt kept in front of our house. 2. The people had begun to collect at the market square when I arrived. 3. The psychologist collected some samples. It might perhaps be shocking to know the word can also function as adjective, and equally as an adverb. As an adjective it means being paid for, especially a telephone charges (calls) by the receiver. Examples, ‘The call I made yesterday was a collect call.’ This means that it was the receiver rather than I (the caller) that paid for the charges. As an adverb, it means a call in a manner of collect call. Example, ‘Monica usually calls her brother collect. ‘Collect’ here functions as an adverb.
Stinking/stinkinly: oftentimes, many users struggle with the use of the word ‘stinking; whether to use ‘stinking or stinkigly.’ Because of this, one often hears expression like ‘Chief Ezeudo is stinkingly rich.’ To shock you again, there’s no such word as “stinkinly’ in English. If it exists, it can only be in your memory. What we have functioning as both adjective and adverb is ‘stinking.’ Hence, the above expression is wrong. The standard form of the expression will become, ‘Chief Ezeudo is stinking rich.’ This means that the Chief Ezeudo is extremely rich. It functions here as an adverb modifying the adjective ‘rich.’ What I believe informed the misuse of this word is the common belief that all adverbs end in ‘ly.’ This conclusion is dead wrong as there are one thousand and one words ending in ‘ly’ that are not adverbs. Such words will form a topic of their own which will be taken care of soon.
Spanking/spankinly: like stinking above, many struggle as well with their uses. That is why we often hear expressions such as, ‘the room is spankinly clean.’ The word like stinkingly above does not exist in the language. What is possible is ‘spanking’ which is both adjective and adverb depending on the context of use. So, the correct form is, ‘the room is spanking clean.’
The society, as the whole world, looks up to you to be complete and fulfilled only when you have achieved a considerable proficiency in the use of English language.
© Uka Nwafor
You can visit my Facebook page: English Grammar Clinic and Language Matters or (call: 08033935430)
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