MIND YOUR ENGLISH

I vs Me

Mistakes made with the English pronouns I and me have been increasing exponentially for years. The difference is actually very simple – let me explain it to you.

I

I is the first person singular subject pronoun, which means that it refers to the person performing the action of a verb.

I want to go.

This is the one I like.

You and I need to get ready.

Tom and I are going to the movies.

Me

Me is an object pronoun, which means that it refers to the person that the action of a verb is being done to, or to whom a preposition refers.

David told me to leave.

He gave me ten dollars.

MIND YOUR ENGLISH

            Everyday vs Every day

Everyday and every day are commonly confused in English. There’s no difference in pronunciation, but using the wrong one when writing is a mistake in the everyday English you use every day.

Everyday

Everyday is an adjective that means commonplace, ordinary, or normal.

Examples

1. Dumso-dumso is an everyday occurrence in Ghana
2. These shoes are great for everyday wear.
3. You shouldn't wear an everyday outfit to the wedding.

Every day

Every day means "each day."

Examples

• Mr. Abotsi goes to the school every day.
• I have to work every day this week except Friday.
• Every day I feel a little better.

MIND YOUR ENGLISH

The words that we used the sages say are like the waters of rivers they do not pass the same way again.

Note that when it comes to family relationships, we avoid the use of the words junior and senior and rather go for older or elder or younger.

Thus we say or write:

His younger brother is in SHS 1.

Our elder brother has gone to Akatsi.

 The expressions it is time, it is about time, and it is high time are always followed by a verb in the past tense, unless the verb is preceded by to.

EXAMPMES

1.    It’s time we did something about our students’ performance.

2.    It’s about time I learnt some French.

3.    It’s high time the government paid teachers well.

 The expressions hardly had he and scarcely had he mean the same and must be followed by when, not that or than or then

EXAMPLES

·       Scarcely had she left when her husband called.

·       Hardly had he gone when his father arrived.

A different form of the same expression uses No sooner instead of hardly or scarcely and that takes than because of the element of comparison in the expression no sooner

Examples

·       No sooner had she left than her husband called.

·       No sooner had he gone than his father arrived. 

CONSIDER TECHNOLOGY

The Global Sustainability Development will replace the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) after 2015. Ghana has achieved 2 out of 8 MDGs. That is reduction of extreme poverty and hunger by half and the attainment of universal primary education.

The transfer of technology from rich to poor and middle-income countries as an aid to sustainable development is one of developmental goals that the world should consider in the Global Sustainability Development.

The reason technology is so important is that it makes people more productive, which boosts overall economic growth. Not just that, but once knowledge has been gained, it is embedded in society and can be used as a stepping stone for future growth. 

Countries with a reasonable technical or research and development base are in a better position to absorb and make the best use of more new technologies as they become available.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Facts and figures on climate change

Climate change is real and man-made. It will come as a big surprise that climate change from 1900 to 2025 has mostly been a net benefit, rising to increase welfare about 1.5% of GDP per year. Why? Because global warming has mixed effects and for moderate warming, the benefits prevail. The increased level of CO₂ has boosted agriculture because it works as a fertilizer and makes up the biggest positive impact at 0.8% of GDP. Likewise, moderate warming avoids more cold deaths than it incurs extra heat deaths. It also reduces the demand for heating more than increases the costs of cooling, totaling about 0.4%. On the other hand, warming increases water stress at about 0.2% and negatively impact ecosystems like wetlands at about 0.1%. Storm impacts are very small, as the total storm damages (including naturally caused storms) are about 0.2%.

As temperatures rise, the costs will rise and the benefits decline, leading to a dramatic reduction in net benefits. After year 2070, global warming will become a net cost to the world, justifying cost-effective climate action.

Short summary

There is a substantial literature about the future impacts of climate change. Less is known, however, about the impacts of climate change in the past. While there is no immediate policy relevance of estimates of past effects – as liability is yet to be established– such estimates would serve to validate models of future impacts – and thus help to improve these models and build confidence. In this chapter, we turn this question on its head. The paper uses a model to backcast past impacts, thus generating hypotheses to be tested against observations.

Unfortunately, there are no direct observations of the economic impact of past climate change. Note that the cause of climate change, past or future, is irrelevant for its impacts. There are, however, some studies that estimate particular aspects of the impact of past climate change, typically focussing on biophysical impacts.

The literature on natural disasters is perhaps most advanced. These studies typically conclude that trends in the damage done by natural disasters are largely, if not entirely, the result of increases in the number of people and their wealth. It should be noted, though, that these studies rely on ad hoc normalisation rather than multiple regression.

Estimates of the impact of past climate change on crop yields generally find a significant effect, but one that is small relative to other trends in agriculture; impacts are positive or negative depending on crop and location. Carbon dioxide concentrations vary little over space and only slowly over time, so there is little statistical evidence of its impact on crop yields. Experimental evidence, however, points to a positive impact.

The impact of past climate change on malaria has also been the subject of intense debate. Overall, there is agreement that climate change is not the main driver of the spread of malaria; some people argue it has a small effect while others argue the effect is negligible. The story is the same for diarrhoea – another big killer that is sensitive to weather and climate – but there is less evidence. There is empirical evidence for negative health impacts of both heat and cold stress. The net impact is different across space.

Empirical research into the effect of climate change on energy demand resembles that of heat and cold stress: There are many case studies, but few multi-country studies. The latter studies are, of course, best suited for the detection of structural patterns that would allow extrapolation into the future. These studies find that warming would lead to a decrease of energy demand in winter and an increase of energy demand in summer. The relative magnitude of these two opposite effects depends on socio-economic circumstances and the climatic starting point.

Statistical analyses of climate and water resources are typically done for single river basins. There are a few studies that cover a wider area. These studies typically conclude that every river responds differently to changes in precipitation and temperature.

In sum, the empirical literature on the impacts of climate change finds mixed effects. Unfortunately, none of these studies aggregates the impacts, so that it is difficult to say whether past climate change was positive or negative. 

Gender Equality as a Development Goal

It is clear that gender equality has a number of important components, but reproduction is a key issue in determining life opportunities. In particular, allowing women to decide if, when, and how often they become pregnant leads to fewer deaths in childbirth and fewer infant deaths. It also gives mothers more time to devote to raising their children and investing in the next generation. It is not surprising, then, that money spent on family-planning programs turns out to be such a good investment.

But there are other gender targets to consider. The best way to reduce violence against women, lift them out of poverty, and empower them to be full and equal members of society is to break the cycle of early marriage and childbirth.

Such a large change is not easy to achieve, but if girls can stay in school longer and have decent job opportunities available to them after they graduate, they are likely to marry and bear children later."

NEW YORK – Despite progress in many societies, women almost everywhere still suffer from significant levels of discrimination. Even in countries where gender equality has advanced furthest, women are over-represented in lower-paying jobs, under-represented in senior government and business positions, and on the receiving end of most domestic violence.

In parts of the developing world, things are much worse. In many cases, traditional cultural norms prevent girls from obtaining any real education; lead far too many to marry and bear children while still adolescents; and bar women even from opening a bank account.

At the turn of the century, the international community adopted an ambitious set of targets: the Millennium Development Goals. Much has been achieved since then, including in the area of gender equality, but we still have a long way to go. Though girls in the developing world today are much more likely to go to school, they still grow up shouldering a disproportionate burden of poverty, poor health, inadequate education, discrimination, and violence.

Most people around the world agree that men and women should be treated equally, and we also know that empowering women is a highly effective way to help families and societies lift themselves out of poverty. So how can we achieve the most gender equality at the lowest cost?

Working out the costs and benefits of a program to improve women's rights is not easy, but analyses by my think tank, the Copenhagen Consensus, offer some valuable insights. For example, investing a dollar in family planning programs can yield benefits worth $120 – an amazingly high return.

This information is particularly pertinent now, as the United Nations' 193 governments ready the next set of international goals to guide the world's approach to development until 2030. Given that there are many important targets but limited resources, hard choices have to be made. So which targets to increase gender equality should be included?

A useful way to make direct comparisons between targets is to analyze how much each will cost to achieve and how much good achieving each will do. The Copenhagen Consensus has asked more than 60 top economists to make this assessment across the full range of relevant issues, including education, food and energy security, and ending violence against women.

It is clear that gender equality has a number of important components, but reproduction is a key issue in determining life opportunities. In particular, allowing women to decide if, when, and how often they become pregnant leads to fewer deaths in childbirth and fewer infant deaths. It also gives mothers more time to devote to raising their children and investing in the next generation. It is not surprising, then, that money spent on family-planning programs turns out to be such a good investment.

But there are other gender targets to consider. The best way to reduce violence against women, lift them out of poverty, and empower them to be full and equal members of society is to break the cycle of early marriage and childbirth.

Such a large change is not easy to achieve, but if girls can stay in school longer and have decent job opportunities available to them after they graduate, they are likely to marry and bear children later. For example, in rural India, recruiters for well-paid back-office jobs visited randomly selected villages over a period of three years. Female employment rose and women aged 15-21 were 5-6% less likely to get married or give birth over this period. Moreover, better job opportunities created an incentive to become better educated. As a result, younger girls in these areas stayed in school longer, and women enrolled in training courses.

More broadly, the evidence from different approaches and countries is that spending one dollar on improving women's access to economic opportunities yields about $7 in health, education, and poverty-alleviation benefits. Other studies show that spending a dollar on improving girls' education is also a sound investment, producing $5 of benefits for each dollar spent.

There are plenty of other possible gender-equality targets that seem unquestionably good, but for which we do not have cost/benefit estimates. For example, ensuring that women have equal rights to inherit, sign a contract, register a business, or open a bank account would cost little, but could have far-reaching economic benefits. However, we do not have the data to quantify these benefits well.

Likewise, increasing women's political representation would cost little, whereas the benefits would often be welcome but difficult to quantify. Essentially, women's priorities would begin to take equal precedence with those favored by men.

There is no simple way to achieve something as complex as gender equality. But economic analyses can help show us where we can do the most good. Clearly, the international community needs to consider the case for family planning carefully when formulating its priorities for the next set of development goals. And we now have stronger information for other gender targets when they compete with targets related to nutrition, health, poverty, and the environment.

Ministers of State in Ghana

                                     Ministers of State:
1.    Minister for Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration, Hanna Serwaah Tetteh (MP)
2.    Minister for Defence, Dr. Benjamin Bewa-Nyog Kunbuor (MP)
3.    Minister for the Interior, Mark Owen Woyongo (MP)
4.    Minister for Food and Agriculture, Fifi Fiavi Franklin Kwetey (MP)
5.    Minister for Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman
6.    Minister for Finance, Seth Emmanuel Terkper
7.    Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills
8.    Minister for Roads and Highways, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini (MP)
9.    Minister for Local Government & Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda (MP)
10.  Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr. Kweku Agyeman Mensah
11.  Minister for Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah
12.  Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur
13.  Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong
14.  Minister for Petroleum, Emmanuel Armarh Kofi Buah
15.  Minister for Transport, Mrs. Peace Dzifa Attivor
16.  Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu (MP)
17.  Minister for Health (Nominee), Alex Segbefia
18.  Minister for Youth and Sports, Dr. Mustapha Ahmed (MP)
19.  Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Henry Seidu Daannaa
20.  Minister for Trade and Industry, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah
21.  Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare
22.  Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Sherry Hanny Ayittey
23.  Minister for Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor (MP)
24.  Minister for Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Mahama Ayariga (MP)
25.  Minister of State at the Presidency, Alhassan Azong (MP)
26.  Minister of State at the Presidency, Akwasi Oppong Fosu
27.  Minister of State at the Presidency, Elvis Afriyie- Ankrah
28.  Minister of State at the Presidency, Abdul Rashid Hassan Pelpuo (MP)
29.  Minister of State at the Presidency, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe Ghansah (MP)

Deputy Ministers of State
1.    Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration, Ambassador Kwesi Quartey
2.    Defence (Nominee), Kenneth Gilbert Adjei
3.    Interior, James Agalga (MP)
4.    Food and Agriculture, Dr. Hanna Bissiw (MP)
5.    Food and Agriculture, Dr. Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu (MP
6.    Education, Sam Okudzeto- Ablakwa (MP)
7.    Education, Alex Kyeremeh (MP)
8.    Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson (MP)
9.    Finance, Mrs. Mona Quartey   
10.  Lands and Natural Resources, Barbara Serwaa Asamoah
11.  Lands and Natural Resources (Nominee), Kwabena Mintah Akandoh (MP)
12.  Roads and Highways, Isaac Adjei-Mensah (MP)
13.  Water Resources, Works and Housing, Samson Ahi (MP)
14.  Water Resources, Works and Housing (Nominee), Samuel Yaw Adusei
15.  Communications, Ato Sarpong
16.  Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu
17.  Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs. Dela Sowah (MP)
18.  Gender, Children and Social Protection, John Alexander Ackon
19.  Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine (MP)
20.  Petroleum, Benjamin Dagadu
21.  Transport, Joyce Bawa Mogtari
22.  Employment and Labour Relations, Baba Jamal
23.  Health, Dr. Victor Asare Bampoe
24.  Youth and Sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah
25.  Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Effah Baafi (MP)   
26.  Trade and Industry, Kweku Ricketts Hagan (MP)
27.  Trade and Industry, Murtala Mohammed (MP)
28.  Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Dzifa Gomashie   
29.   Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mrs. Benita Okity Duah (MP)
30.   Minister for Power, John Abdulai Jinapor
31.   Local Government & Rural Development, Emmanuel Agyekum (MP)
32.   Local Government & Rural Development, Edwin Nii Vandepuye (MP)
33.   Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Dr. Bernice Heloo (MP)
34.   Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Dr. Alfred Sugri Tia (MP)   
Regional Ministers
1.    Ashanti (Nominee), Peter Anarfi- Mensah               
2.    Brong Ahafo, Eric Opoku (MP)
3.    Central, Aquinas Quansah (MP)
4.    Eastern, Antwi Boasiako Sekyere
5.    Greater Accra, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo (MP)
6.    Northern,  Alhaji Limuna Mohammed Muniru
7.    Upper East, James Zoogah Tiigah
8.    Upper West, Alhaji Amidu Sulemani (MP)
9.    Volta, Helen Adjoa Ntoso (MP)
10.  Western, Paul Evans Aidoo (MP)


Deputy Regional Ministers

1.    Ashanti-       
2.    Brong Ahafo, Justice Samuel Adjei
3.    Central, Queenstar Pokua Sawyerr (MP)
4.    Eastern, Mavis Ama Frimpong
5.    Greater Accra, Isaac Nii Djanmah Vanderpuye
6.    Northern, Alhaji A. B. A. Fuseini (MP)
7.    Upper East, Daniel Aweyue Syme
8.    Upper West, Dr. Mohammed Alfa
9.    Volta,  Francis Komla Ganyaglo
10.  Western, Alfred Ekow Gyan

CAPITALISATION RULES

Capital letters are used with particular types of nouns, in certain positions in sentences, and with some adjectives. You must always use capital letters for:

The beginning of a sentence

EXAMPLES

• Dogs are noisy.
• Children are noisy too.

The first person personal pronoun, I

EXAMPLES

• Yesterday, I went to the park.
• He isn't like I am.

Names and titles of people

EXAMPLES

• Winston Churchill
• Marilyn Monroe
• the Queen of England
• the President of Ghana
• the Headmistress of Abor Senior High School
• Doctor Mathews
• Professor Appiah
• 
  

Titles of works, books, movies

EXAMPLES

• War and Peace
• The Merchant of Venice
• Crime and Punishment
• Spider Man II

Months of the year

EXAMPLES

• January
• July
• February
• August

Days of the week

EXAMPLES

• Monday
• Friday
• Tuesday
• Saturday

Seasons

EXAMPLES

• Spring
• Summer
• Autumn
• Winter

Holidays

EXAMPLES

• Christmas
• Easter
• New Year's Day
• Thanksgiving Day

Names of countries and continents

EXAMPLES

• America
• England
• Scotland
• China

Names of regions, states, districts

EXAMPLES

• Sussex
• California
• Provence
• Tuscany

Names of cities, towns, villages

EXAMPLES

• London
• Cape Town
• Florence
• Vancouver

Names of rivers, oceans, seas, lakes

EXAMPLES

• the Atlantic
• the Pacific
• Lake Victoria
• the Rhine
• the Thames

Names of geographical formations

EXAMPLES

• the Himalayas
• the Alps
• the Sahara

Adjectives relating to nationality

EXAMPLES

• French music
• Australian animals
• German literature
• Arabic writing

Collective nouns for nationalities

EXAMPLES

• the French
• the Germans
• the Americans
• the Chinese

Language names

EXAMPLES

• I speak Ewe.
• He understands Twi.

Names of streets, buildings, parks

EXAMPLES

• Park Lane
• Sydney Opera House
• Central Park
• the Empire State Building
• Wall Street

COMPOUND NOUNS

Words can be combined to form compound nouns. These are very common, and new combinations are invented almost daily. They normally have two parts. The first part tells us what kind of object or person it is, or what its purpose is. The second part identifies the object or person in question. Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different, or more specific, than the two separate words.

First part: type or purpose	Second part: what or who	Compound noun
police	man	policeman
boy	friend	boyfriend
fish	tank	water tank
dining	table	dining-table

You have noticed that the compound noun can be written either as a single word, as a word with a hyphen, or as two words. There are no clear rules about this. A good rule of thumb is to write the most common compound nouns as one word, and the others as two words.

The elements in a compound noun are very diverse parts of speech.

Compound elements	Examples
noun + noun	bedroom water tank motorcycle printer cartridge
noun + verb	rainfall haircut train-spotting
noun + adverb	hanger-on passer-by
verb + noun	washing machine driving licence swimming pool
verb + adverb	lookout take-off drawback
adverb + noun	onlooker bystander
adjective + verb	dry-cleaning public speaking
adjective + noun	greenhouse software redhead
adverb + verb	output overthrow upturn input

PRONUNCIATION

Stress is important in pronunciation, as it distinguishes between a compound noun and an adjective with a noun. In compound nouns, the stress usually falls on the first syllable.

EXAMPLES

• a 'greenhouse = place where we grow plants (compound noun)
• a green 'house = house painted green (adjective and noun)
• a 'bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)
• a blue 'bird = any bird with blue feathers (adjective and noun)

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place, or thing. In English, there is a particular group of indefinite pronouns formed with a quantifier or distributive preceeded by any, some, every and no.

	Person	Place	Thing
All	everyone everybody	everywhere	everything
Part (positive)	someone somebody	somewhere	something
Part (negative)	anyone anybody	anywhere	anything
None	no one nobody	nowhere	nothing

Indefinite pronouns with  some and any are used to describe indefinite and incomplete quantities in the same way that some and any are used alone.

Indefinite pronouns are placed in the same location as a noun would go in the sentence.

Noun	Indefinite pronoun
I would like to go to Paris this summer.	I would like to go somewhere this summer.
Jim gave me this book.	Someone gave me this book.
I won't tell your secret to Sam.	I won't tell your secret to anyone.
I bought my school supplies at the mall.	I bought everything at the mall.

AFFIRMATIVE

In affirmative sentences, indefinite pronouns using some are used to describe an indefinite quantity, the indefinite pronouns with every are used to describe a complete quantity, and the pronouns with no are used to describe an absence. Indefinite pronouns with no are often used in affirmative sentences with a negative meaning, but these are nevertheless not negative sentences because they are lacking the word not.

EXAMPLES

 

• Everyone is sleeping in my bed.
• Someone is sleeping in my bed.
• No one is sleeping in my bed.
• I gave everything to Sally.
• He saw something in the garden.
• There is nothing to eat.
• I looked everywhere for my keys.
• Keith is looking for somewhere to live.
• There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris.

Any and the indefinite pronouns formed with it can also be used in affirmative sentences with a meaning that is close to every: whichever person, whichever place, whichever thing, etc.

EXAMPLES

• They can choose anything from the menu.
• You may invite anybody you want to your birthday party.
• We can go anywhere you'd like this summer.
• He would give anything to get into Oxford.
• Fido would follow you anywhere.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

Negative sentences can only be formed with the indefinite pronouns that include any.

EXAMPLES

• I don't have anything to eat.
• She didn't go anywhere last week.
• I can't find anyone to come with me.

Many negative sentences that include an indefinite pronoun with any can be turned into affirmative sentences with a negative meaning by using an indefinite pronoun with no. However, there is a change in meaning with this transformation: the sentence that includes an indefinite pronoun withno is stronger, and can imply emotional content such as definsiveness, hopelessness, anger, etc.

EXAMPLES

• I don't know anything about it. = neutral
• I know nothing about it. = defensive
• I don't have anybody to talk to. = neutral
• I have nobody to talk to. = hopeless
• There wasn't anything we could do. = neutral
• There was nothing we could do. = defensive/angry

NEGATIVE QUESTIONS

Indefinite pronouns with every, some, and any can be used to form negative questions. These questions can usually be answered with a "yes" or a "no"

Pronouns formed with anyand every are used to form true questions, while those with some generally imply a question to which we already know or suspect the answer.

EXAMPLES

• Is there anything to eat?
• Did you go anywhere last night?
• Is everyone here?
• Have you looked everywhere?

These questions can be turned in to false or rhetorical questions by making them negative. The speaker, when posing a question of this type, is expecting an answer of "no".

EXAMPLES

• Isn't there anything to eat?
• Didn't you go anywhere last night?
• Isn't everyone here?
• Haven't you looked everywhere?

Some and pronouns formed with it is only used in questions to which we think we already know the answer, or questions which are not true questions (invitations, requests, etc.) The person asking these questions is expecting an answer of "Yes".

EXAMPLES

• Are you looking for someone?
• Have you lost something?
• Are you going somewhere?
• Could somebody help me, please? = request
• Would you like to go somewhere this weekend? = invitation

These questions can be made even more definite if they are made negative. In this case, the speaker is absolutely certain he will receive the answer "Yes".

EXAMPLES

• Aren't you looking for someone?
• Haven't you lost something?
• Aren't you going somewhere?
• Couldn't somebody help me, please?
• Wouldn't you like to go somewhere this weekend?