With tears flowing down my cheeks uncontrollably, I was in the hospital where my sister had a successful surgical operation. During this challenging period, the relative of a patient wrestling for her life said, “Doctor, I have headache.” She complained about the mosquitoes that feasted on her body while staying up all night to watch over her sick cousin. Expressing her feeling to the medical doctor was commendable, but her statement was riddled with an error. This is the question: What exactly is wrong with the expression?
A headache is a pain in the head. Some of us have experienced this bad feeling countless times. The article ‘a’ is mandatory in her expression. The reason is that ‘headache’ is a countable noun. Consult any reliable English dictionary in your library to verify today’s lessons.
Review the following sentences:
I could not travel to Enugu because I had headache. (Wrong)
I could not travel to Enugu because I had a headache. (Correct)
The principal can not attend the meeting because he has headache. (Wrong)
The principal can not attend the meeting because he has a headache. (Correct)
NOTE:
Figuratively, a headache means an unpleasant problem.
Below is an example:
The Federal Government had a headache with the Labour Union concerning the fuel subsidy.
STROKE
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a stroke is “the loss of brain function arising when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted”. Several times, I heard the news about people who had strokes before they died. The case of a man, who suffered the same illness, in his 30s is terrible.
A lot of medical practitioners may not know that it is wrong to omit the article ‘a’ while talking about the medical condition.
Study the following sentences:
The man had stroke before he died in our hospital. (Wrong)
The man had a stroke before he died in our hospital. (Correct)
Whoever has stroke should consult certified doctors instead of herbalists. (Wrong)
Whoever has a stroke should consult certified doctors instead of herbalists. (Correct)
The word ‘stroke’ can also be pluralized with ‘s’ inflection because it is a countable noun.
In 2021, several old men died of strokes in Canada.
Mr. Bala and his wife had strokes before they died.
COMA
In life, several people struggle with sad occurrences. My boss once narrated the story of a woman who was in a coma for three years. However, I puzzled over the popular omission of the correct article whenever we talk about someone in an unconscious state.
Examples
The man who was in coma last week just died. (Wrong)
The man who was in a coma last week just died. (Correct)
The armed robber just came out of coma. (Wrong)
The armed robber just came out of a coma. (Correct)
Kindly note that it is ungrammatical to omit these articles (‘a’ and ‘an’)before some nouns in your conversations. Several English users commit these blunders because they believe that these highlighted nouns do not require articles.
Assignment
Choose the correct answer to each of the following questions.
1. The teenager had _________ before he came back from school. (a) headache (b) head ache (c) a headache
2. Felix’s grandma slipped into ______. (a) some coma (b) a coma (c) coma
3. The man in his 30s has ______. (a) stroke (b) a stroke (c) some stroke
Kindly forward your answers to 07049203179; [email protected].
Names of those who answered the questions correctly
Ojeka Victoria, Babatunde Johnson, Eze Bright, Nwachukwu Innocent, Abdullahi Azeez, Owolabi Okikiola, Pitan Rasheed, Odumeso Fatima, Rasheed Fatah, Ibrahim Bukola, Alimi Olive, Oluwagbenga Sunday, Isaac Nelson, Lawal Babalola, Victory Precious, Bola Seun and Johnson Seyi.
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