Is it okay to say “this your” book? (See more…)

Nigerian English may not necessarily be bad English because it obeys grammatical rules. 

However, expressions like this your, this our, that your, this her, that his, etc, do not obey grammatical rules and therefore cannot be said to be Nigerian English. These terms are commonplace in both oral and written communication in Nigeria. Such usage patterns can only gravitate towards Pidgin English where grammatical rules do not apply. 

For instance, “this your” is used as a possessive construction in a regional variation such as Pidgin.

“This” and “that” are determiners while “your,” “our,” “his” and “her” can be described as possessive adjectives.

Two determiners or determiners like ‘this,’ and possessive adjectives like ‘your,’ do not collocate or follow each other directly in a sentence. They occupy specific positions in a noun phrase.

For instance, the correct rendering of “This your car is good,” could be:

This car is good.

Your car is good.

However, “this your” and other listed wrong terms have become notable features with their increasing presence in formal writing and speech.