English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
OBLIGATORY S IN GRAMMAR
Mackerel is ~a specie~ of fish (nonstandard).
Mackerel is ~species~ of fish (nonstandard).
Mackerel is *a species* of fish (standard).
A species is a class of plants or animals whose members have the same main characteristics and are able to breed with each other.
No one really knows ~the in and out~ of any discipline (nonstandard).
No one really knows *the ins and outs* of any discipline (standard).
The ins and outs of a situation are all the detailed points and facts about it.
President Bola Tinubu understands politics even to the ~grassroot~ level (nonstandard).
President Bola Tinubu understands politics even to the *grassroots* level (standard). The grassroots of an organisation or movement are the ordinary people who form the main part of it, rather than its leaders.
Note too that “grassroots” is one of the few compound words that can be written in the three possible ways:
Grassroots (single word)✔️
Grass-roots (hyphenated)✔️
Grass roots (spaced) ✔️
GAB
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