DOES GRAMMAR PEDANTRY GO TO FAR?

DOES GRAMMAR PEDANTRY GO TO FAR?

 

 

Last weekend, The Guardian newspaper ran a story by Katharine Whitehorn called “Excess grammar.” In the article, Whitehorn discusses the idea that grammar and writing pedantry may go too far. Grammar pedantry, Whitehorn observes, often follows some old (dare I say “archaic”?) rules. The article concludes that we may be overcorrecting grammar.

My hunch is that this is true, but where do we draw the line between “correction” and “hyper-correction”? Whitehorn doesn’t offer many hints in her article. However, I suggest that we begin by exploring which grammar “rules” are widely accepted as old-fashioned and out-of-date. It might surprise you that some of the unbreakable grammar “rules” that you learned in school can, and should, be broken.

Which grammar rules should be tossed out the window in modern writing? Grammar Girl’s “Top Ten Grammar Myths” provides some solid suggestions. Many of the grammar issues that Grammar Girl mentions are actually misunderstandings of practical rules or concepts in the English language. For example, numbers ten and six are language concepts that should be understood and used appropriately. Further down the list, however, Grammar Girl discusses rules that are either unfounded or no longer practical, and are therefore hyper-corrected in modern writing:

·   Passive voice is always wrong;
·   Mixing up good and well;
·   Splitting infinitives; and
·   Ending sentences with a preposition.

Unfortunately, convincing other writers, especially diehard grammarians, that these rules and others (“Never start a sentence with ‘and’ or but’.”) are completely unnecessary—or downright incorrect—isn’t easy. In school, many people, especially Baby Boomers, were conditioned to avoid these “errors.” As a result, we continue to teach and use these rules in order to appease the grammar “traditionalists” in academia, the professional world, and wherever else they might be writing. 

To answer Whitehorn’s question, yes; grammar pedantry does go overboard for most. But, this seems like a natural consequence when we have so many dead or changing rules, and most people aren’t kept up-to-date on the evolution of these rules. It seems that whether or not we are overprescribing in English grammar will depend on the school of thought in which we were educated. Without a clear consensus on which rules continue to be important, and which are now obsolete, there will continue to be pedants holding us tightly to the ways that we used to write and speak.

What should writers do? Be flexible. If you understand that language and its rules change, that not everyone agrees on how those changes should happen, you can adapt. Likewise, it’s valuable to understand the ways in which rules haven’t changed. If you are in a formal environment that adheres to older rules and style guidelines, it’s a good idea to keep your writing “old-school.”

Written by NativeEnglish

Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.