My former students call me Uncle Dooba. And in keeping with African traditions, their parents also call me the same thing. I’ve, however, observed that some of them struggle with the written form of the name.
In-text messages and letters, they write “uncle Dooba”. That is, they capitalize the Dooba (because they know it is a proper noun) but not the uncle. However, that is beautifully wrong.
The correct way to write it is “Uncle Dooba”. Because the uncle has become part of the name. The same way, it should be:
Auntie Aisha
Auntie Mairo
Uncle Richard
President Buhari
Governor Bello
Professor Zainab
Parents should share this lesson with their children. Adults who make the same mistake should learn from it.
Retrieval Practice (correct the following sentences).
- My mother’s brother, uncle Alfa, is coming today.
- I want to play with cousin jackie.
- Our math teacher said that we shouldn’t call him uncle musa but Mr. Bukar.
Series count: 64/100
- Dr Ibraheem Dooba