![]() Without the rules, English would be utterly incomprehensible. Most English grammar rules exist for the sake of clarity with mostly-followed rules, writer and reader are more likely have a common understanding of a given sentence. It works, though, and would not be nearly as effective or entertaining otherwise. Trademark style: Joe Bob Briggs, the famously good reviewer of infamously bad movies, has a signature style that dispenses with numerous rules and standards of English spelling and grammar.Or just recast the sentence: “Both the Language Ninja and the Rocky Mountain English Professor know this rule.” If a rule is likely to cause the reader to think, “Wait, what?” then consider breaking the rule. When it “sounds” wrong: To my ear, “Not only the Language Ninja, but also the Rocky Mountain English Professor knows this rule” doesn’t sound right, because clearly the subject, taken as a whole, is plural.It’s a ridiculous “rule” that usually can’t be followed without completely obfuscating your message. Never mind that it’s physically impossible to split a Latin infinitive because it’s only one word, not two as in English. Never mind that they are different languages. When it’s a made-up rule with no basis in reality: A long time ago some pointy-headed grammarian decided that because you can’t split infinitives in Latin, you shouldn’t do it in English, and made a rule about it.As Sir Winston Churchill is alleged to have written, “This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.” That rule that says you can’t end a sentence with a preposition? It’s often impossible to follow that rule without ending up with stilted, awkward, unreadable prose. When you can’t write a sentence clearly without breaking a rule, break it. Avoiding awkwardness: Some rules seem to be designed to make getting your point across as awkward as possible.Rhetorical effect: Vernacular, double-negatives, and the like, when used judiciously, can help emphasize or drive home a point.(I broke two in the previous sentence alone!) Why? I’m glad you asked: Here are some good reasons for breaking English grammar rules: When to Break the Rulesīut sometimes, you gotta break the rules. Sometimes, you just have to let clients be right. In any case, although I wanted to tell my client that a sentence like that is one that only academics could love, I politely agreed that he was correct and to please revert my offending edit. He pointed out that in a sentence where the subject is in the form “Not only…but also,” the verb must agree with the noun in the “but also” part.Įxample: “Not only language ninjas but also Rocky Mountain English professors know this rule” and “Not only the Language Ninja, but also the Rocky Mountain English Professor knows this rule” are correct, but “Not only language ninjas, but also the Rocky Mountain English Professor know this rule” is not.ĭid you know about this rule? I sure didn’t, despite my English degree and nearly 20 years of professional writing and editing experience. A client whose academic paper I was editing objected to one of my corrections. Morris Vaughan breaking the rules, grammar, language, STYLE, writing
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