Bendable Grammar Rules

Bendable Grammar Rules:

"You might be surprised to learn how much language changes over time. One of my favorite shows is The Adventure of English. It’s a series that presents the history of English much like a biography. It is fascinating to see how the rules of English grammar changed over time. There’s a lot of drama in this journey, believe it or not!

Then again, some old habits die hard, and some grammar teachers cling to rules they learned in their grammar school days. Recently, I read a newly-published grammar book with a very catchy title. I thought it would be pretty up-to-date in its views, but I was wrong. I was surprised to see the old grammar myth:

“Never end a sentence with a preposition.”

"The author went on to name all the prepositions with which one should never end a sentence. With was one. I sure hope your English teachers aren’t actually subtracting points for this.

Another stubborn rule is the split infinitive principle. Sure, your writing would be pretty ugly and awkward if you started to brazenly split infinitives on a regular basis. But an occasional infraction can be quite lovely. Just look at the examples provided by the Guide to Grammar.

But that’s not all. The Grammar Guide also advises that the old rule about starting a sentence with and or but is perfectly bendable."