Some thoughts regarding grammar

Grammar has value, but not as much as some people like to claim. I see a need for grammatical rules, but I feel that when you become too rigid with grammar, you do more harm than good.


What I like about grammar is that these rules can help ensure that what you are saying is interpreted as intended. A lot of people have provided evidence of how simple changes in grammar can change the meaning of words. One of my favorite examples comes from an episode of The Simpsons. At a hockey game, Bart's fans were shouting, "Kill, Bart." Lisa's fans were shouting, "Kill Bart." That comma makes a big difference.

You might have noticed something in the previous paragraph. There are all sorts of rules regarding the proper way to write titles. I didn't follow those rules. Let me ask a simple question. Did you understand what I meant by "The Simpsons?" More than likely you did. Proper grammar was irrelevant in clarifying what I meant to say.

Most rules of grammar have limited practical value. A simple slip up should not be considered a big deal. Even an outright rejection of some rules should be considered acceptable. In many cases, strict adherence could force a writer to sacrifice readability.

An example of a drawback to grammar could be the use of prepositions at the end of a sentence. Technically speaking, this isn't against English grammar rules, but it's widely believed to be. If you try to ensure that no sentence ends in a preposition, you are likely to end up with some seriously awkward sentences. In fact, I have a book on grammar that tells us not to worry about ending sentence in prepositions for this very reason.

Readability is one of the reasons that I shun certain rules of grammar. The less talked about writability is another. As I have already stated, the schools trained me to hate writing. In order to get myself to write posts such as this, stuffy rules will only get in my way. I'm sure I have screwed up numerous sentences over the years in regards to grammar, but if I pursued grammatical perfection, I would never be able to finish anything.