I think it is high time I introduced you to my view on using “I am coming” when you are actually going. This will be more of an opinion piece but you can be sure that it will do justice to the use of “I am coming” when you mean to leave.
Due to the inherent or inevitable interference of our mother tongue as non-native speakers of the language, most of us have issues with correctly saying certain L1 expressions in English.
And I will be briefly discussing at least one of the most commonly misinterpreted statements, in this post.
Saying: I am coming when in fact you are leaving the spot (physically or psychologically) is admittedly natural but wrong.
This, I have noticed, many use because they intend to emphasize that they won’t be away for long.
But while it appears to be (rather colloquially) correct in relatively all Nigerian (as a case study) languages, it is semantically incorrect in the English language.
So, what should you say? Guess what? It is something not far-fetched, only you may not be used to hearing it.
I suggest you say: “I would be back”, instead. Or, “I will be right back”, if need be for emphasis.
Read Also: Do you say a cheat or a cheater?
Now, that’s for the physical aspect of it, because arguably some people also use the statement in some other ways. In cases like that, such statements as:
– (Give me) a minute, please
– Let me think about it; and
– Give me some time
Could correctly substitute the psychological effect of the trite saying.
Some other common mistakes
- Come to think of it
Readers should note that the statement ‘come to think of it’ is correct but substandard and should not be used in formal settings.
The statement is an abbreviation for “if you come to think of it”. It is colloquial!
- Humor/Humour
Attempt to tell the difference between these words and which is more acceptable. Well, it is advisable to use humour with the letter ‘u’ since it is the original English word from which the United States’ humor came.
This doesn’t, however, change the adjective humorous to humourous. The former is the officially recognized of both.
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