Words and How We Use Them

Here's a fantastic article I saw the other day on LitHub. (click here)

I have always been kind of a grammar and usage snob. Being a teacher does that to you. That said, I have come to accept a more elastic approach to the English language. It makes me cringe to hear certain terms and abbreviations, but that's language.

Also, I have come to break free of certain hardwired rules such as not being allowed to end a sentence in a preposition.

Probably my biggest beef is with the current curriculum. They expect young people to know the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb, a nominative case, subjunctive moods, and perfect participles. I think it's far more important to understand the basic proper uses of grammar and good writing than it is to know such terminology. Luckily, my colleagues agreed that this wasn't the best use of an 11-year-old's brain, and we taught the importance of understanding how to use words correctly than the jargon behind it.

Don't hassle yourself if you don't understand the difference between past perfect tense and regular old past tense. And don't ever correct someone in a social situation. That's for a teacher to do in the classroom only. Maybe in your own home too. (See that? I used in incomplete sentence!)

If someone tells you, "You sing really good," learn to take the compliment.