Grammar Rules!

Would that schools still taught whole sections on grammar, but they don’t. I was lucky enough to get a good grammar education, both in grade school and college, but it is something that many schools neglect. And really, that’s a disservice to their students. It is unfair to expect someone to know how to construct a sentence correctly if nobody ever taught them. I don’t profess to be the grammar-know-it-all. I do, however, have a pretty firm grasp on most of the principles.

The Baldwin School did a fabulous job of teaching me how to write a paper, and they started early. By the time I got to Skidmore College I could write a paper better than most people, only because I had had a lot of practice. It isn’t that I have some gift, I was just forced to write paper after paper after paper, and all those papers were graded on content, style and grammar. Of course I didn’t appreciate this until I got to college and realized that I was leaps and bounds ahead of many of my peers who did not receive the same kind of education.

Add to this that I like rules. I like logic and patterns and processes. Geometry was my favorite subject, and diagramming sentences was a close second. Now, here’s the thing about grammar rules. Once you understand them, I mean really honestly fully grasp them, you are allowed to break them (most of them anyway). But, you can’t break them until you can do everything without breaking them. If you start breaking rules before you understand them, then your writing won’t have the effect you’re going for, and it will sound cumbersome at best. You also can't rely on grammar check to catch your mistakes because, believe it or not, it's often wrong. Grammar check is making a best guess based on the words you used and the order you put them in. It doesn't read and it doesn't understand your intentions.

Like I said – I am not the Grammar Rule Queen, so don’t yell at me when I make mistakes - nobody is perfect. I’m not going to critique comments or other people’s blogs and postings; that’s mean and unsupportive. All I’m going to do is post a series of grammar rules so you can refer to them if you so choose. They will be common errors and misconceptions. I may also throw in a few words that people often misuse. If this is something that you find interesting, or if you are a big nerd like me, you can also join SPOGG - The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. I'm not kidding.

Lastly, if you would like me to address anything specific feel free to let me know; I'll do my level best.