I’m not a fan of those apps and checkers that purport to “fix” your writing. They get way too hysterical about choices that should be judgment calls (e.g., starting a sentence with “But”). Here, however, is a useful list of common-sense sources to help with grammar conundrums. Thanks to Melissa Donovan, and to Chris the Story Reading Ape for sharing it.
(Forgive a moment’s rant about people I see on various self-help social-media pages who claim that they can be good writers while dispensing with a thorough understanding of the “grammar rules.” Some of these “rules” are flexible, but some basic punctuation conventions and sentence-structure mandates like subject/verb agreement are not. Yes, commas can be tricky, and we can argue about which ones are needed and which are optional, but if you still don’t know where apostrophes belong and where they don’t. . . . Yes, there really are grammar police. They’re called agents. 😦 )
What is the distinction between “poor grammar” and “bad grammar”? Evidently, you didn’t proofread your “10 Good Grammar Resources by……” Your first sentence should have read: “There’s good grammar and bad grammar, proper grammar and improper grammar” OR “There’s good grammar and bad grammar, formal grammar and informal grammar.”
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I’m not sure who the “you” is in the second sentence. You might want to look at my series on “grammar rules” in this category of posts, especially the series on “How Much Grammar Do You Need?”
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My reply was addressed to the author of “10 Good Grammar Resources by Melissa Donovan”? By referencing “you,” I am, in effect, communicating with the author.
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Thanks for clarifying! 🙂
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The “you” is referring to the author.
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I am constantly tempted to find a way to correct the spelling and grammar errors I see all over the Net, even in journalists’ writings. It would take all day! Is this not being taught anymore?
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Good question. FWIW, my experience as a college writing teacher tells me you can’t “teach” a lot of this until people decide they want to learn it. A good friend of mine used to say, “When the student is ready, the teacher will come.” That said, I do think that people who want to be writers have a special duty to try to learn.
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Oh–and I agree about journalists. Not sure who is editing/proofreading the NYT these days. :-0 !
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