Mastering English With Ease

GUIDELINES FOR PASSING ENGLISH IN WAEC & NECO EXAMINATIONS (Part 1) Special Edition for WAEC & NECO Candidates                 With the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) May/June, 2019 Series fast approaching, and that of National Examinations Council (NECO) (in Nigeria) to follow thereafter, some of our readers have asked me to provide guidelines to the candidates on how to prepare for, and excel in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE paper.   IMPORTANCE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMINATION As most of us know, ENGLISH LANGUAGE is compulsory for, and must be passed at credit level by all WASSCE/NECO candidates who wish to seek admission into tertiary institutions, irrespective of the programme they desire to pursue; so, it is very important to prepare well for it.   SCHEME OR STRUCTURE OF THE EXAMINATION There will be three papers – Papers 1, 2 and 3, all of which must be taken. Papers 1 and 2 will be combined in a composite paper to be taken at

HOW TO FORM COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES FROM POSITIVES (Part 3) In this article, we will be opportune to consider another rule on formation of comparatives and superlatives from positives, and we would also give attention to irregular adjectives. (4)      The Rule Guiding Formation of Comparatives and Superlatives from Words of Two or More Syllables and without ‘y’ , ‘ er’ , or ‘ ow’ at the End: (i)                 Add ‘more’ before such words to form the comparatives. (ii)              Add ‘most’ before such words to form the superlatives. Examples: Positives                Comparatives                Superlatives zealous                  more zealous                   most zealous wonderful              more wonderful              most wonderful unusual                 more unusual                  most unusual thoughtful             more thoughtful              most thoughtful sensible                 more sensible                  most sensible terrib

HOW TO FORM COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES FROM POSITIVES (Part 2) In this article, we will discuss words which require addition of ‘er’ and ‘est’ at their ends (as suffices) to change them from positive degree to comparative and superlative degrees.   And we will also discuss how syllabic intensity i.e. the number of syllables (sound beats) in a word affects the grammatical rule(s) used in forming a comparative and a superlative from the positive degree of such a word. (1)      The Rule Guiding Formation of Comparatives and Superlatives from One-Syllable Words Ending with a Silent ‘e’ : (i)                 Add ‘r’ to the end of such words to form the comparatives. (ii)              Add ‘st’ to the end of such words to form the superlatives. Examples: Positives                Comparatives                Superlatives nice                        nicer                                nicest close                      closer                              closest wis

HOW TO FORM COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES FROM POSITIVES (Part I) In this article, we will discuss words which require addition of ‘er’ and ‘est’ at their ends (as suffices) to change them from positive degree to comparative and superlative degrees.   And we will also discuss how syllabic intensity i.e. the number of syllables (sound beats) in a word affects the grammatical rule(s) used in forming a comparative and a superlative from the positive degree of such a word. (1)      The Rule Guiding Formation of Comparatives and Superlatives from One-Syllable Words Ending with a Silent ‘e’ : (i)                 Add ‘r’ to the end of such words to form the comparatives. (ii)              Add ‘st’ to the end of such words to form the superlatives. Examples: Positives                Comparatives                Superlatives nice                        nicer                                nicest close                      closer                              closest wis