[Linguists’ Forum] Exploring the Interconnections of Grammatical Units in English, By Lateef Kugbayi PhD

By Olusegun Kugbayi On Dec 7, 2025

Five grammatical units have been identified in the study of language. These are morphemes, words, phrases, clauses and sentences. Although each of these units is an independent grammatical element, it does not operate in isolation from the other elements. In fact, every grammatical unit above the morpheme contains one or more of the elements immediately below it. For example, a word is usually a (free) morpheme or a combination of morphemes. Other examples that demonstrate the relationships are:
1. student + s (2 morphemes) = students (1 word)
2. the + students (2 words) = the students (1 phrase)
3. The students + have done + the assignment (3 phrases [noun phrase + verb phrase + noun phrase]) = The students have done the assignment (1 clause)
4. The students have done the assignment + that Mr Adetokunbo gave them (2 clauses) = The students have done the assignment that Mr Adetokunbo gave them (1 sentence)
For the sake of grammaticality, acceptance and consistency, candidates in WASSCE, NECO, IELTS and other related examinations must ensure that all grammatical elements in their essays agree with one another. To encourage impactful writing by the candidates, this Forum considers discussing the interlinks among the grammatical elements in this episode. Theoretically, the description of the relationships that exist among the grammatical elements in English is called concord. This means the agreement of the various grammatical parts of the sentence. Significant among the cases of concord in the language are:
1. [Dedun] “love” music (singular subject + plural verb = inconsistent).
[Dedun] “loves” music (singular subject + singular verb = consistent).
2. [Dedun and her husband] “loves” music (plural subject + singular verb = inconsistent).
[Dedun and her husband] “love” music (plural subject + plural verb = consistent).
The subject and the verb must agree in (singular/plural) number. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular as well.
3. [One] of my friends “are” a soldier (inconsistent).
[One] of my friends “is” a soldier (consistent).
The modifier of the subject (“of my friends”) does not change the number (singular/plural form) of the subject.
4. [Some] of the farmers [depends] on loan (inconsistent).
[Some] of the farmers [depend] on loan (consistent).
[Some] of the yam “have” been sold (inconsistent).
[Some] of the yam “has” been sold (consistent).
The verb that has “some” as its subject is plural if the noun before it is countable, but singular if the noun before it is uncountable.
5. [Neither] of the students “love” examination (inconsistent).
[Neither] of the students “loves” examination (consistent).
[Neither] the teacher nor his students “is” in class (inconsistent).
[Neither] the teacher nor his students “are” in class (consistent).
[Either] the boys or Mr Kabiru “are” travelling tomorrow (inconsistent).
[Either] the boys or Mr Kabiru “is” travelling tomorrow (consistent).
When “either”/“neither” is used as a correlative conjunction, the subject that is closer to the verb determines the number (singular/plural form) of the verb.
6. Mrs Chukwuemeke is [one of the ladies] who “has” left the company (inconsistent).
Mrs Chukwuemeke is [one of the ladies] who “have” left the company (consistent).
A relative clause modifies the noun that is closest to it. It is the number (singular/plural form) of that noun that determines the number (singular/plural form) of the verb.
7. [The man together with his children] “have” founded a new company (inconsistent).
[The man together with his children] “has” founded a new company (inconsistent).
Phrases such as “along with,” “together with,” “in conjunction with,” “as well as,” etc. and the information that follows them are not part of the subjects that precede the phrases. They are not conjunctions like “and.” Therefore, they only join the subjects and do not determine the number (singular/plural form) of the verb.