Lexis and Structure

Lexis and Structure

🟢 Lite — Quick Review (1h–1d)

Rapid summary for last-minute revision before your exam.

Lexis = vocabulary: word meaning, synonyms, antonyms, collocations, idioms, and word formation (affixes, compounding, blending). Structure = grammar: parts of speech, phrases, clauses, tenses, concord, voice, speech, punctuation, and sentence types. NABTEB tests these in Section B (Objective) as fill-in-gap/register/idiom items, and in Section C (Essay/Comprehension-linked) as error correction and register choice. Master the 8 parts of speech, the rule of concord (subject–verb agreement), and the difference between denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (implied meaning). Quick-win: a collocation is a natural word partnership — make a decision, not do one.

🟡 Standard — Regular Study (2d–2mo)

Standard content for students with a few days to months.

Lexis: Word Meaning and Use

Lexis covers how words are chosen, combined, and interpreted. Synonyms share similar meaning (brave/courageous); antonyms are opposites (brave/cowardly). Denotation is the dictionary meaning; connotation is the emotional or cultural shade (e.g., skinny denotatively = thin, but connotes weakness, while slim connotes attractiveness). Collocations are fixed pairings English speakers use by convention: strong tea (not powerful tea), take a photo (not make a photo). Idioms are figurative expressions whose meaning is not derivable from the words (kick the bucket = die).

Word Formation

English expands its lexicon through affixation (prefix un- + happy = unhappy; suffix -ness in happiness), compounding (blackboard, sunrise), blending (smoke + fog = smog), clipping (advertisement → ad), borrowing (chef from French), and acronyms (NABTEB, OPEC).

Structure: Parts of Speech

The 8 parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Each performs a defined grammatical role — a noun names (book, Ada); a verb expresses action or state (runs, is); an adjective modifies a noun (tall boy); an adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (runs fast).

Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

A phrase lacks a finite verb (in the morning). A clause has a subject + finite verb. A main (independent) clause stands alone; a subordinate (dependent) clause cannot (when it rained).

Tense, Concord, Voice, and Speech

Tense locates action in time across simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect-continuous aspects. Concord demands that the subject and verb agree in number and person: He goes (not go); They go (not goes); collective nouns take singular verbs when acting as a unit. Active voice (subject acts) is preferred; passive voice (subject receives action) emphasises the action. Direct speech quotes verbatim; reported (indirect) speech shifts tense, pronouns, and time markers (He said, “I am tired” → He said he was tired).

Punctuation

Period (.), comma (,), semicolon (;), colon (:), question mark (?), exclamation (!), apostrophe (’), hyphen (-), and quotation marks ("") govern clarity and rhythm.

🔴 Extended — Deep Study (3mo+)

Comprehensive coverage for students on a longer study timeline.

Edge Cases in Lexis

Register shifts confuse candidates: kid (informal) vs child (neutral) vs offspring (formal). NABTEB often tests register-matching — pick the word that fits the social context. Watch for false friends (words that look like English but mean something else in Nigerian usage) and near-synonyms with different collocational ranges (big problem but great difficulty, never great problem or big difficulty in standard usage).

Mechanism of Concord Failures

Most concord errors come from intervening phrases: The box of chocolates is here (subject = box, not chocolates). With indefinite pronouns (everyone, each, somebody), use singular verbs. With either…or / neither…nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither the teacher nor the students are present.

Voice and Speech Transformations

Passive formation: object of active → subject of passive + be + past participle (They built the bridge → The bridge was built). Reported speech requires backshifting of tense (present → past, will → would), pronoun adjustment, and deictic shift (today → that day, tomorrow → the following day).

Punctuation Mechanics

A semicolon joins related independent clauses; a colon introduces a list, explanation, or quotation; a comma separates items in a list and sets off non-defining clauses; the apostrophe marks possession (Ada’s book) and contractions (don’t); the hyphen joins compound modifiers (well-known author).

Connections

Lexis and structure overlap in concord (structural rule applied across word choices), register (lexical choice shaped by syntactic formality), and idiom (lexical items with internal grammar).

Common Mistakes

• Confusing its (possessive) with it’s (it is).
• Using less for uncountable and fewer for countable nouns.
• Leaving the subject-verb gap in long sentences.
• Misplacing adverbs (Only she sang vs She only sang).

Practice Prompts

1. Choose the option that best completes: The chairman, along with the members, ___ arriving now. (a) is (b) are (c) were (d) have — explain your concord rule.
2. Rewrite in passive voice: The principal announced the result yesterday — and identify one tense and one time-marker change required if the sentence is later reported.

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