Foreword

WHY ENGLISH GRAMMAR MATTERS

By Joseph Devlin, M.A.

To write correctly and effectively, the fundamental principles of English grammar must be mastered. No matter how badly you want to write, no matter how deep your feelings, and no matter how exciting the ideas you want to share with others, if you don’t know the basic rules of how to correctly form sentences and the relation of words to one another, your writing will lack coherency. Imagine for a moment a novel with a sensational idea, unforgettable characters, set in an exotic place, and chock full of suspense—no matter how great the idea might be, if the story is penned by a writer who lacks a basic grasp of the English language, the result will be poorly written.

Learning how to write correctly should be an easy challenge considering that the average person’s vocabulary consists of a mere 2,000 words. Knowing the definitions of those words and knowing how to put them together in a sentence won't make you a master of the English language, but it will make you a competent writer, and most people who read what you write will understand it. You might think 2,000 words is a small number, considering how many thousands of words are in the dictionary. But nobody ever uses all the words in the dictionary, and there is really no need to use them. If no one understands the words you use in your writing, you will have no audience; and if you have no readers, you will have no reason to write.

The English language contains at least 250,000 distinct words. Knowing just one percent of these words will suffice for nearly every writing endeavor you might wish to undertake. Shakespeare's classic works contain 15,000 different words, but more than 10,000 are obsolete today. Of course, you might want to expand your vocabulary and use interesting words for the sake of variety or to impress your reader; or maybe a common word just doesn’t have the right ring to it. Maybe you don't want to refer to a spade as simply a spade–you'd rather call it a spatulous device for abrading the surface of the soil. The problem is, most of your readers won’t have any idea what you are talking about. So, it’s better to stick with familiar words that are widely used and understood. Proper grammatical structure of the several thousand English words you will likely use can be learned with relative ease.

Rules of grammar are necessary and should be followed so that you can express thoughts and ideas in a clear and effective manner. Written correctly, your words will convey a definite meaning and have impact on your readers. But hard and fast rules cannot make a writer. If you have no ideas to put into words, no thought can be expressed, and no writing can take place. You must have distinct thoughts and ideas before you can express them in written form.

The best way to learn to write is to sit down and write, just as the best way to learn to ride a bicycle is to mount the wheel and work the pedals. Write first about common things and familiar subjects. Familiar themes are always the best for the beginner. Don’t attempt to describe a scene in Australia if you have never been there and know nothing of the country. Never struggle to find subjects—thousands exist around you. Describe what you saw yesterday: a fire, a crowded store, a fight on the street, an exquisite sunset, and be original in your description. Imitate the best writers in their style, but not in their exact words. Get off the beaten path and make a pathway of your own.

The Nine Parts of Speech

To grasp the basic rules of grammar and the proper placement of words in sentences, it’s important to know that all words in the English language fall into nine categories, called “the parts of speech.” They are: noun, article, pronoun,