Breaking the Rules: When Good Grammar Goes Unhealthy
by Brilliant in Grammar Tips 0
What happens when good grammar goes bad?
Everyone is aware of the previous saying: guidelines had been made to be broken. But some people love the rules, live by them, and wouldn’t dream of breaking them. For these people, good grammar means strict adherence to every rule, no matter how archaic or minute.
That’s too bad.
Don’t get me wrong. Guidelines are good. They preserve us organized, consistent, and civilized. If there have been no guidelines, we’d all be dwelling in a perpetual state of anarchy.
On this planet of language, guidelines help us perceive each other. In any case, language is merely a series of sounds which are organized in line with a set of rules. With out the rules, language would simply be a bunch of noise.
The rules of grammar are designed to assist us communicate clearly, both in our speech and in our writing. When proper grammar is absent, writing is sloppy, inconsistent, and tough to read. To place it bluntly, we need grammar with a view to make sense.
Studying the Guidelines
When a author hasn’t bothered to learn the foundations of grammar, it shows. The prose doesn’t move easily or naturally, punctuation marks are strewn about haphazardly, and there’s no tense agreement. Sentences are jumbled, phrases are misused, and paragraphs are disorganized. It’s only a mess. The work is lazy and sloppy. No person wants to read it.
Failing to study the foundations of grammar results in dangerous writing.
However some writers stubbornly refuse to bother with grammar, and so they’re stuffed with excuses. Writing ought to be an art. The principles don’t make sense. Who made up those guidelines, anyway? But these are all simply excuses, poor rationale for avoiding the work that is concerned in studying grammar after which making use of it.
Grammar is not straightforward to learn, not to mention master. Writers, editors, and proofreaders must make a lifelong commitment to studying the foundations and figuring out when the principles must be broken.
Breaking the Rules
There’s a distinction between breaking the rules to make the writing more practical and breaking the principles because you don’t know what the foundations are.
When a author doesn’t know the rules of grammar, failure is nearly guaranteed. However when a writer is well aware of the rules and breaks them consciously and strategically, the writing can change into clearer and extra compelling. Let’s look at some examples:
1. I wanted to push the button, so bad. However, you just received’t let me. (no rules)
2. I wanted to push the button, however you wouldn’t let me. (proper grammar)
3. I wished to push the button! But you wouldn’t let me. (grammar rule broken: starting a sentence with a conjunction)
In the first instance, there isn't a sense of grammar. Tense and verb settlement is flawed, punctuation is misplaced, and one sentence begins with a conjunction. It doesn’t stream naturally. The principles are nonexistent and the sentences fail on every level.
The second example follows the rules. It’s clear and correct. There’s nothing improper with it, however might it be better?
The third example breaks one little rule: one of the sentences begins with a conjunction (“But”). The first sentence on this instance terminates with an exclamation mark, indicating excessive stress. If this have been dialogue or learn aloud, it might be shouted with pleasure, rage, or frustration. But the second sentence has no such indication. It’s a regular sentence, no heavy stress or emphasis is placed on it. The tension in the narrative is heightened in the first sentence, then it falls back in the second sentence. Translating this into dialogue makes the impact even clearer:
* “I wished to push the button!” he shouted. “But you wouldn’t let me.”
This assemble helps the reader higher understand what is shouted, what is spoken, and where the stress or emphasis is in the voice. Starting the second sentence with “But” breaks the rules, nevertheless it also makes the scene more vivid in the reader’s mind.
When Good Grammar Goes Dangerous
After we break the principles of grammar, one in every of two issues can happen. Either the writing will improve or it will suffer. Writers who break the principles as a result of they don’t know the foundations usually tend to produce shoddy work. But when writers take the time to really learn the rules, breaking them turns into an option, a trick that a author can use so as to add color and which means to the prose.
Typically sticking to the principles doesn’t make sense. This is especially true after we’re writing dialogue. Individuals don’t converse in a way that translates easily into properly written grammar. So if our dialogue is written in line with the principles of grammar, it may sound terse and unnatural.
Moreover, many grammar rules were established a very long time ago. Language is consistently evolving. If a selected rule makes the writing sounds old school or outdated, then discarding the rule could be one of the best course of action.
There’s correct grammar, good grammar, and unhealthy grammar, plus a bunch of gray areas that are not clearly defined. Each author must determine how one can use grammar in his or her work. Stubbornly sticking to the foundations is one option, ignoring them completely is another. Personally, I want to study the foundations as thoroughly as I can after which resolve how one can apply them on a case-by-case foundation, relying on the audience and context.
What about you? Are you a grammar fanatic? Do you suppose good grammar is a obligatory evil or an pointless hassle?
