To some,
grammar comes second nature; he or she does not have to think “Am I using the
right form of ‘your?’ or ‘too’?”. To others, however, the task is not so simple.
Some older folk may be guilty, as a result of forgetting what they learned in
school so long ago. Some younger siblings are the perpetrators behind flawed
spelling and grammar. Everyone also knows that one person who corrects other’s
grammar and undermines their points by shoving their expertise down the throat
of others. Everyone also probably
dislikes that person for that exact reason.
Grammar is
defined as “The study of how words and their component parts combine to form
sentences, and the study of structural relationships in language or in a
language, sometimes including pronunciation, meaning, and linguistic history”
(TheFreeDictionary.com). This definition is a standard one, but grammar also
applies to so much more. It teaches speakers new to the language how to conduct
themselves grammatically. It also helps augment an argument by showing you are
fully competent to be making that argument. No one wants to have a discussion with
someone who does not know what he or she is talking about, or with someone who
does not know how to write a proper sentence. As much as we like to believe it
is the words they say, not the manner in which they communicate these words, we
tend to focus on the spelling and grammar aspect as much as the underlying
point.
Ever since
I was younger and tried to perfect my grammar, I have had so many people ask me
“Who cares? Who cares if people use the wrong form of ‘your’? It’s just a
word”. Grammar, albeit a bit boring and trying at times, is our means of
communication in this world. It matters. It will always matter. It provides structure in a world so often filled
with chaos. While I strive to not correct people myself-that is never
appreciated-I still find myself cringing when someone writes “Your an idiot!”
on Facebook, Twitter, or any place else. Furthermore, technology has just
showed masses of people how fantastic it is by trying to autocorrect “your” to
“you’re”. If that is not a sign of how excruciatingly
easy it is to whip your grammar into shape, I’m not sure what is!
I have always loved to write, my grammar was decent, but never totally perfect. It is one of my biggest pet peeves when people mix up "your" and "you're" as well. How can someone with an education mix that up? I think grammar should be practiced more in schools. As we get older, we forget the simple grammar rules we learned in elementary school.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
ReplyDelete“Am I using the right form of ‘your?’ or ‘too’?”.
This should have been:
“Am I using the right form of ‘your’ or ‘too?’”
Or if you're foreign, or use word processors a lot and want double and triple-click to work correctly, you move the closing punctuation outside the quotes:
“Am I using the right form of ‘your’ or ‘too’”?
Citation: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm
"Everyone also probably dislikes that person for that exact reason."
It's a heavy burden, but I bear it willingly...
I agree with you because I also think that grammar is important. I think that the way in which a person expresses themselves, either verbally or in text, is a direct reflection of that person. I do not claim to be perfect and make grammatical mistakes regularly but I think it is important to be conscious of what one says or how one writes. I cringe when I text someone who uses abbreviations or spells things incorrectly because they either do not care enough or are too lazy to type things out correctly. It may seem petty but if a guy texts me 'how r u' or any other ridiculous abbreviation I immediately discard them as someone I could ever date. Crazy? Perhaps. Like I mentioned before I do not think anyone is perfect but I do wish people would put more thought in how they expressed themselves. For many it may not be a big deal but bad grammar is a deal breaker for me and a major pet peeve.
ReplyDelete