ppendix F. . .

On Grammar

By "grammar" we mean the rules by which words are put together
to form sentences. By-and-large, grammatical rules are arbitrary
and are not necessarily guided by logic or reason.

There is therefore no "good" grammar in the sense of an intrinsic
right and wrong. Grammar is whateer rules a group of people follow,
often unconsciously, in erbal communication. There are rules that
are generally accepted by educated writers!spea"ers of #nglish, and
it is important to "now and obey these rules insofar as you want to
present yourself as being an educated person.

The point deseres emphasis$ Grammar is whateer linguistic
rules a group of people follow. Blac" grammar, the language of the
street, and teen-tal", are all o"ay and it is not wrong to say "they
hates grammar," in a context where that is the accepted form. %ndeed
because #nglish is a liing language, educated grammar is changing.
Before &'(), students were taught to say, "% shall" but increasingly
since that time, "% will" has become the preferred style. *o it is
not a +uestion of good or bad, but what is considered correct by
educated people.

#rnest Tuc"er of the ,hicago -merican summari.ed some of the
important rules of educated grammar by illustrating the errors. They
are well worth rehearsing$

&. /ust between you and %, case is important.
",ase" refers to whether a word is the sub0ect or the ob0ect in a
sentence, and the most fre+uent error is in the misuse of "%" and
"me" when combined with another person. %nstead of "1e and /oan
are. . .," one should say, "% and /oan are. . ." -nd instead of
". . .between /oan and %," one should say, ". . .between /oan and me."
This is an easy rule to "eep straight because all you hae to do is
try the sentence without the other person or with the order reersed.
%f it doesn2t sound right to say, "1e are. . ." or "between %,"
then it isn2t right with another person in the sentence.

This is an excellent rule to illustrate the inconsistency
in the #nglish language. 3e use the same word as sub0ect and ob0ect
for another person, namely "you." 4ence, we say, "5ou and %
are. . ."
and ". . .between me and you." Then again, we hae different words
for the third person$ "*he and % are. . ." and ". . .between me and
her." But most of the grammatical errors are li"e, "1e and my sister
used to fight a lot," or "5ou can2t separate my sister and %." %t is
well worth the effort to be on the loo"out for such errors.

6. 7on2t use no double negaties.
The most common negatie words are no, not, none, and neer, and
common negatie prefixes are un-, in-, non-, and dis-. - "double
negatie" is a sentence with two such words or prefixes. This is
one grammatical rule that is based on logical reasoning because
two negaties combine to ma"e a positie. 81athematically$
6 - 8-&9 : ;.9 4ence, to say "% didn2t do nothing" literally
means that you did something. Better to say that you did nothing,
or you didn2t do anything, if that2s what you mean. %t may
seem as if two negaties should emphasi.e the negatie, but they
cancel each other out.

Of course, you can use a double negatie if you intend for
one to cancel out the other. For example, there is a somewhat
different meaning if you say, "% don2t disli"e you," rather than,
"% li"e you." But for such sentences to be interpreted the way
that you intend, it must be clear to the other person that you
"now better than to use a double negatie incorrectly.

;. Try to not eer split infinities.
-n infinitie is a erb form when used as a noun, which we do by
preceding the erb with the word "to." The result is an indiisible
unit. For example, if you li"e to watch T.<. fre+uently, "to watch"
stands as a single word and you should not say that you li"e to
fre+uently watch T.<. %t may help you get a feel for this rule by
pondering why 4amlet said, "To be or not to be," rather than,
"To be or to not be." %t is only when you hear an infinitie as a
single unit that you can be confident of not splitting them in your
erbal behaior.

=. >repositions aren2t good to end sentences with.
>repositions are words that combine with nouns!pronouns to ma"e
a phrase. - phrase, in turn, is a group of words that express a
single thought or idea. %n a prepositional phrase, the preposition
logically comes at the beginning$ "at the store," "on the table,"
"with much interest." #nding a sentence in a preposition re+uires
the listener!reader to reconstruct the idea. ,ompare$ "The store
we saw the coat at," with "The store at which we saw the coat."
-gain$ "The table you left my boo" on," with "The table on which
you left my boo"."
3inston ,hurchill is said to hae asserted that this is a
rule "up with which % will not put," but the reason for the rule
is clear if one ends a sentence in seeral prepositions$ ,onsider$
3hat reason did you bring the topic up for?
3hat reason did you bring the topic we disagree about up for?
3hat reason did you bring the topic we disagree and fight
oer about up for?
The best way to aoid getting tangled up in sentences that are
hard to untangle is to aoid ending sentences with prepositions.
@. 1a"e each pronoun agree with their antecedents.
3e are prone to mixing up singular and plural pronouns, especially
when the sentence contains conflicting cues. For example, you may
thin" of a number of people when % say, "#ery student in the
class. . ," and so use the plural ending, "had their eyes shut,"
but student is singular and so the ending should be, "had his or
her eyes shut."
(. <erbs has got to agree with their sub0ects.
This rule is similar to the preceding one, and is most difficult
when the erb and sub0ect are separated by a conflicting phrase.
For example, if you reali.e that "none" is a contraction for
"no one," you will be careful to say that "Aone of these rules
is difficult to obey."
%t is important to "now that some words such as "data"
are plural and that some words such as "wages" may be singular
or plural.
B. Finally, there are some fre+uently-used words that
many people hae difficulty distinguishing. % hae tried to
illustrate these in their correct usage, and if these sentences
do not ma"e the point clear to you, you should consult your
dictionary for additional clarification.
The effect of learning these rules is to affect your erbal behaior.
The sender may or may not imply what the receiing person infers.
% thin" that % can do it, so may % try.
7on2t "eep them between the two of usC spread them among more people.
3ho is doing what to whom?
Bring it when you come hereC then you ta"e it when you go there.
The DprincipleE of reinforcement is the DprincipalE basis for
performance.
5ou count the number to see if there are fewerC you measure the amount
to see if there is lessC there may be more in either case.
%f you lay a boo" on the des", it will lie thereC if you laid it on
the des" yesterday, it lay there eer since.
%t is a person who writes about a thing that is interesting.
1ay the better person win this matchC may the best person win the
championship.
%f you are not sure which word to use, use "that."
Two plus two are four.
The data are impressie.
Fegardless of what you may thin", irregardless is not a word.
http://www.unm.edu/~quadl/college_learning/grammar.html