RE-EXAMINING THE CRUX OF LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION: A CALL TO BEHOOVING GRAMMATICAL EXACTITUDE_ BISHOP ENGLISH PETERSON

The correct option is (c) are.

The sentence reads: ‘She is one of the workers who are always punctual.’

Why 'are' is correct?

The relative pronoun ‘who’ refers to ‘workers,’ not ‘she.’ The phrase ‘one of the workers’ places her inside a plural group. The clause ‘who are always punctual’ describes that group. Since ‘workers’ is plural, the verb must be ‘are.’ As the _Cambridge Grammar of the English Language_ (Huddleston & Pullum, 2002) states, ‘the verb in a relative clause agrees with the antecedent of the relative pronoun.’ Here, the antecedent is ‘workers.’

Why Students Must Study English: A Language Consultant’s View

This morning, someone sent this whiteboard trying to enquire whether or not which construct was actually good and punching. But, like two peas in a pod, I am that man whose contributions to the development of language speak essence so and always, I had to help situate things as and when exactitude requires.

‘She is one of the workers who ___ always punctual.’ Four options. One right answer. And every week, I meet students, professionals, even ministers who would confidently circle ‘is.’ That is why I am invited for language consultation — from Ghana to Kenya, from Nigeria and right here in Lungi and Banjul, the Gambia.

People assume English is just about ‘speaking well.’ It is not. It is about thinking well. The moment you read ‘She is one,’ your ear pulls you toward ‘is.’ But grammar is not about ear; it is about law. The law says the verb must agree with the noun it actually describes. ‘Who’ points to ‘workers,’ and ‘workers are punctual.’ Full stop.

This is why students must study English beyond exam cramming. Through my work with Great Writers Association, Nigeria, and many other platforms across West Africa, I have seen how one misplaced verb can cost a scholarship, derail a policy memo, or sink a grant proposal. A development report cannot say ‘partners who is committed’ and still command respect. As _The Elements of Style_ (Strunk & White, 2000) puts it, ‘A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines.’ Precision is credibility.

Last month in Accra, I reviewed a tech startup’s investor pitch. It read, ‘One of the innovations that has failed.’ The panel frowned. Why? The sentence meant every innovation succeeded except one. They intended, ‘One innovation has failed.’ One verb, one funding round. That is the weight of grammar.

Students tell me, ‘Sir, English is not our mother tongue.’ I reply, ‘Neither is Python, but you study it to run your world.’ English is the operating system of global education, law, trade, and diplomacy. When I address young authors at Great Writers Association, Nigeria, I remind them: your manuscript will be judged in seconds. If your concord fails, your idea suffers. The microphone magnifies error; the page preserves it.

The demand is real. Almost all university students I encounter, from Fourah Bay College to University of Nairobi(Kenya), now seek Peterson’s tutelage. This is not because grammar is glamorous, but because error is expensive. I was in Makeni a month ago, editing aviation safety bulletins — one subject-verb slip nearly altered an instruction. In Kenya, a legislative draft stalled over a pronoun, was sent to me--expecting my intervention. In Nigeria, a court affidavit was returned for correction. Language travels, and so do its consequences.

Studying English is not elitism. It is citizenship. The _UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report_ (2023) states, ‘Literacy in the language of instruction remains the single strongest predictor of academic success.’ If you cannot parse a relative clause, you cannot parse a contract, a constitution, or a prescription. You become vulnerable.

So when you master ‘who are’ versus ‘who is,’ you are not just passing a test. You are building the habit of accuracy. And in a world of AI, misinformation, and high-stakes communication, accuracy is power. That is why they keep calling me online— to Ghana, to Kenya, to Nigeria, to Lungi. Not because I know big words, but because I teach people to make small words count.

And that, class, is why the answer is ‘are.’

© Bishop English Peterson

   - Sierra Leone