Guardian Style Guide author David Marsh set out to master perfect grammatical English – but discovered that 'right' isn't always best. Here are the 10 grammar laws you no longer need to check[br]
• Plus: five rules you should remember
• What pop music can teach you about building sentences
• A few words on punctuationEvery situation in which language is used – texting your mates,asking for a pay rise, composing a small ad, and making a speech,drafting a will, writing up an experiment, or praying,rapping, or any other – has its own conventions. You wouldn't expect a politician being interviewed by Kirsty Wark about the economy to start quoting Ludacris: "I preserve my mind on my money, and money on my mind; but you'se a hell of a distraction when you shake your behind." Although it might beget Newsnight more entertaining.
This renders the concept of what is "right" more than a simple matter of lawful and wrong. What is right in a tweet might not be in an essay; no single register of English is lawful for every occasion. Updating your status on Facebook is instinctive for anyone who can read and write to a basic level; for more formal communication,the conventions are harder to grasp and this is why so many people fret about the "rules" of grammar.
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Source: theguardian.com