Alexander Chagema

Where the infinitive or gerund fits in a sentence

Alexander Chagema Apr 27, 2020

Over the past week, I glimpsed several grammar constructions worth sharing on this platform. A lot has been going on following the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, and discourse across various platforms has been varied and intense. I came across expressions like “I saw a horrible dream yesterday night…”, “Bring a good reason for not […]

When to use definite and indefinite articles

Alexander Chagema Apr 20, 2020

“On a day that Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe admitted the virus was now being spread through community transmission, the government was toying with the idea of either locking down the entire country or the four counties of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale that have been declared hot-spots”. This quote from a local daily caught the […]

The conflicting forms of English grammar

Alexander Chagema Apr 13, 2020

Competition between the ‘Yankees’ and ‘Limeys’ (derogatory terms) spanning decades is, to a larger extent, responsible for the American and British versions of the English language. Out of this competition arose terminologies that sometimes leave us bewildered, not knowing which to apply in a given context. Take ‘pants’, for instance. In British English, pants mean […]

Adverb placement in a sentence matters

Alexander Chagema Apr 06, 2020

COVID-19 statistics from our Health ministry are too depressing. Generally, the attitude of Kenyans towards the pandemic has been casual, but last week’s exponential rise in cases has compelled a sizeable number of Kenyans to sit up and take note. The point is, all is not well. We hardly know what trajectory the pandemic will […]

Walking around tricky singular noun plurals

Alexander Chagema Mar 23, 2020

The inevitability of death notwithstanding, human beings are not primed to accept it except in its finality. We all would love to live long productive lives, perhaps even match the unbroken record left by biblical Methuselah who is said to have lived for 969 years. Renowned country music maestro Kenny Rogers was 81 years old […]

Subject must always agree with predicate

Alexander Chagema Mar 16, 2020

The hype that coronavirus has received is intense, and so has the attendant fear. When it was first reported in Wuhan, China in December last year, it did not cause much concern. Indeed, there was no reason to panic, especially after Wuhan was quarantined. However, little did the world know that the Chinese authorities had […]

Do not refer to people as ‘that’, use pronouns

Alexander Chagema Mar 09, 2020

Ironically, while trying to enthusiastically correct Kenya’s collective mainstream media, the Media Observer makes more grammatical errors in a single issue than the media does in a month. However, we must give the devil his due. Many are times the Media Observer’s grammarians have pointed out embarrassing mistakes made by those whose stoke-in-trade is the […]

‘Including’ does not refer to identical things

Alexander Chagema Mar 02, 2020

Inter alia, the Media Observer, Kenya’s media watchdog publication had this to say of a passage culled from a local newspaper: “Accompanied by several county askaris, Waititu oversaw the felling of indigenous trees including cypress and cedar, all over 20 years old (end of newspaper quote). Cypress and cedar are not indigenous trees (Laconic critique by the […]

The paradox of ‘how do you do’ greeting

Alexander Chagema Feb 24, 2020

The number and letter combination ‘5W1H’ is not an M-Pesa or scientific code. It is representative of the five-question words; who, what, when where why and how (single ‘h’). In media practice, good journalism demands that every story worth its weight in gold should answer 5W1H. In court, a prosecutor who establishes 5W1H is bound […]

Use homonyms well to deliver right message

Alexander Chagema Feb 17, 2020

In life and in death, Kenya’s second and longest-serving president mesmerized a number of people. The multitudes that thronged Parliament Buildings to view Daniel Arap Moi’s body as it lay in State attest to it. And so did the thousands who attended the former president’s memorial service at Nyayo National Stadium on Tuesday last week. […]

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