After the long, slow march up to the black-board you pick up the chalk with trembling fingers. Heart pounding, palms sweating, the hairs on the back of your neck begin to stand up as you realize your worst nightmare is becoming a reality. Quickly, your eyes dance around the room, looking for someone, anyone who will save you. But you find no one, you are alone. Your blood begins to curdle as you stand paralyzed, racking your brain – is that…a…subordinate clause? Past participle? Coordinating conjunction?
All eyes are on you and the sentence you’ve just been sentenced to diagram.
Grammar may not strike fear in the hearts of every man, woman and child as it once did me, but its ins and outs, rules and exceptions can make it far from a warm and fuzzy subject matter. Dangling modifiers are daunting and attributive adjectives seem alien. It seems unnecessary that such a seemingly archaic system would still exist as the authority, would still govern how we write and speak each day. And in our modern world, where information is instant, videos are viral, and a Tweet or text can tell it all, it begs the question: does grammar even matter anymore?
By definition, grammar refers to the logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. In essence, grammar was created to act as the glue that holds our language together and foster our ability to process and express our thoughts. Grammar is the reason that those who speak the same language are able to understand each other. Without it, there would be no ground rules for how we can successfully communicate.
Instead of viewing grammar as the big bad wolf of writing, try seeing the ability to understand and use its basic principles as the first step in becoming a better communicator. Whether simple or more complex, your writing is certainly more likely to make an impact with your audience without any glaring grammatical (or spelling) errors. You spent the time crafting your words – don’t you owe it to yourself to make sure they aren’t tossed aside because you decided a little punctuation did not go a long way?
Now, I know they say that rules are meant to be broken. Our language is a living one, and in many respects it adjusts and changes along with our culture. The dictionary now recognizes slang like ain’t and modern cultural terms like cyberslacking. William Shakespeare is credited with the invention of over 1,700 words throughout his works. He changed nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, and generally misused the language to tell his tales. If you fancy yourself the next great bard, then by all means, twist the English language with all your might and give the world your creative best. But for the rest of us, a good grasp on grammar will prove to be the most effective weapon we have in our communication arsenal. So slow down a little, and take the time to make sure that your writing is the best that it can be. In the end, it will serve as a lasting impression of how much you care about what you have to say. If it seems like you don’t care, then why would your reader?
No one ever said that grammar was sexy. However, the word glamour is actually a derivative of the word grammar, which was once used to describe learning and magical practices. The pronunciation was altered to glam-our, and the word came to mean magical beauty or enchantment. A potentially great piece of writing that utilizes bad grammar is like a glamorous movie star at a cocktail party – she has the perfect hair, the perfect makeup, the prefect dress. And stuck right between her perfect front teeth is a giant piece of spinach.
Let your grammar be a glamorous glass of champagne and not the spinach.
http://www.grammarbook.com/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
Associated Press Stylebook on Twitter @APStylebook
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