March Forth!
Today is National Grammar Day! To celebrate, I’m freely cribbing a list of grammar myths from Grammar Girl, for your enjoyment. Full credit to Grammar Girl, though I might add a few comments here and there…
Grammar Girl’s Top 10 Language Myths:
10. A run-on sentence is a really long sentence. Wrong! They can actually be quite short. In a run-on sentence, independent clauses are squished together without the help of punctuation or a conjunction. If you write I am happy I am glad* as one sentence without a semicolon, colon, or dash between the two independent clauses, it’s a run-on sentence even though it only has six words.
9. You shouldn’t start a sentence with the word however. Wrong! It’s fine to start a sentence with however so long as you use a comma after it when it means “nevertheless.”
8. Irregardless is not a word. Wrong! Irregardless is a word in the same way ain’t is a word. They’re informal. They’re nonstandard. You shouldn’t use them if you want to be taken seriously, but they have gained wide enough use to qualify as words. (J’s note…irregardless may indeed be a word. But it’s ugly.)
7. There is only one way to write the possessive form of a word that ends in s. Wrong! It’s a style issue. For example, in the phrase Kansas’s statute, you can put just an apostrophe at the end of Kansas or you can put an apostrophe s at the end of Kansas. Both ways are acceptable.
6. Passive voice is always wrong. Wrong! Passive voice is when you don’t name the person who’s responsible for the action. An example is the sentence “Mistakes were made,” because it doesn’t say who made the mistakes. If you don’t know who is responsible for an action, passive voice can be the best choice. (J’s note…I’ve never been good with this one. I used to get marked down in grad school for this one all the time. Only by one professor, interestingly enough. I wonder why the other professors didn’t ding me?)
5. I.e. and e.g. mean the same thing. Wrong! E.g. means “for example,” and i.e. means roughly “in other words.” You use e.g. to provide a list of incomplete examples, and you use i.e. to provide a complete clarifying list or statement.
4. You use a before words that start with consonants and an before words that start with vowels. Wrong! You use a before words that start with consonant sounds and an before words that start with vowel sounds. So, you’d write that someone has an MBA instead of a MBA, because even though MBA starts with m, which is a consonant, it starts with the sound of the vowel e–MBA.
3. It’s incorrect to answer the question “How are you?” with the statement “I’m good.” Wrong! Am is a linking verb and linking verbs should be modified by adjectives such as good. Because well can also act as an adjective, it’s also fine to answer “I’m well,” but some grammarians believe “I’m well” should be used to talk about your health and not your general disposition. (J’s note…I don’t like to hear people say ‘I’m good’. Just bugs. )
2. You shouldn’t split infinitives. Wrong! Nearly all grammarians want to boldly tell you it’s OK to split infinitives. An infinitive is a two-word form of a verb. An example is “to tell.” In a split infinitive, another word separates the two parts of the verb. “To boldly tell” is a split infinitive because boldly separates to from tell.
1. You shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition. Wrong! You shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition when the sentence would mean the same thing if you left off the preposition. That means “Where are you at?” is wrong because “Where are you?” means the same thing. But there are many sentences where the final preposition is part of a phrasal verb or is necessary to keep from making stuffy, stilted sentences: I’m going to throw up, let’s kiss and make up, and what are you waiting for are just a few examples. (J’s note..I agree completely, but did anyone else read that as one sentence, “I’m going to throw up, let’s kiss and make up“? Ewww.)
Happy National Grammar Day, and thanks to Grammar Girl for the list. Just for fun, since I haven’t ranted about my own grammar pet peeves, here are a few oldies in case you’re interested:
How to Use Your Apostrophe Correctly
Stupid Grammar Rules
Thirteen Grammar Pet Peeves
Note: I’ve switched blogs and comment services and updated WordPress versions since some of these were written, so pictures are missing and there may be weird symbols inserted. I should fix them. I know.
6 Comments
Nance
I’m a little worried about #9. When “however” means “nevertheless”, it implies a contrast. If it does that, the contrasting element should be in the same sentence, or the result is a fragment. For example: {However, the dog ran away.} That is not a sentence; it is a fragment. It does not express a complete thought. If you wrote it with “however” leading a clause like this, though, it’s correct: {However you cook it, shrimp always tastes delicious.} In that case, the word “however” does not mean “nevertheless”, it leads a sentence, and does not cause a fragment.
When it comes to splitting infinitives, lots of grammarians are very relaxed about that rule. I still hate the way it sounds, though, along with the substandard “irregardless.” Ick. I’m with you on that one, too. Just because it has fallen into common usage doesn’t make it okay.
The “good” and “well” thing really gets to me when newspeople struggle with how to characterize jobs and their pay. I hate to hear this horrid phrase “well-paying jobs.” How awful is that? Just as awful as “good paying jobs”, I guess. I always defer to my bible, Strunk and White, who say to “write around it.” Just say “jobs that pay well.” DONE!
J
Nance, I’m not well versed on the ‘however’ thing, or fragments either for that matter. I learned my grammar mostly from listening to my mother speak, not from rules in a book. So things that bug me are usually things that would have bugged her as well. 😉 Having said that, what about this:
“I was thinking about ordering the steak. However, upon further reflection, I decided upon the fish.” Sure, you could write around it, and perhaps you should, but is that still a fragment? Gosh, looking at it, it sure LOOKS like one to me.
However, I’m not convinced that Grammer Girl is always correct.
apathy lounge
I’m a Reading teacher and I didn’t even know about NGD!! Thank you for bringing much needed attention to such an important topic!
Nance
J–Yes, your “however” sentence is a fragment. If you read it without the sentence before it, it would not make sense. A sentence contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. Take off the “however” and now it’s not a fragment. If you want the “however” in there, simply tie the two together using a semicolon. “I was thinking about ordering the steak; however, upon further reflection, I decided upon the fish.” That is the correct way to use “however” in that instance. I normally love GG, but if she says you can use “However” as “nevertheless” and START a sentence, she is WRONG. I’m going to do some research.
As far as writing around it, that was for a different Grammar Thing, but you can do that for just about everything, I guess.
J
Nance, you’re making more sense than she is, so I’m going with you on this one. I’m also not really happy about the ‘good’ vs. ‘well’ thing.
simon
Nance – I’ve always heard “well-paid”, rather than “well-paying”. Maybe it’s a British v. American English difference?
Regarding number 8, sorry, but I can’t accept “irregardless”. The prefix and the suffix both denote negation, so by using both you end up with a double negative, along the lines of “I don’t pay no regard to that”.