When texting Grandma about breakfast, one tiny comma can make all the difference. A simple “Let’s eat, Grandma!” turns into a chilling invitation for cannibalism: “Let’s eat Grandma!” This amusing yet alarming example underscores the critical role grammar plays in communication.
“If you know the basic rules of grammar, it’s easier for you to organize your thoughts,” said English teacher Gregory McGarry. “Being persuasive [verbally] requires a working knowledge of conjunctions. When it comes to written language, organizing your thoughts in English requires a knowledge of grammar and punctuation so that people can keep track of your argument and the evidence you’re using to back it up.”
Grammar creates a smoother, more efficient flow of communication. With shared rules, misunderstandings are minimized and ideas are more easily understood.
“It’s not that without proper grammar people can’t understand you,” said sophomore Katherine Lu. “It’s that proper grammar helps people understand you better … If people all follow [the standards], less active thought [is required] when it comes to interpreting what people are trying to communicate to you. If someone says ‘Him and me go to the park yesterday,’ you would have to actively think and parse what that says. If someone says it in a more standard way, then you would understand it [faster].”
While grammar helps ensure clarity, it’s not necessary to adhere to the rules strictly all of the time.
“One of our jobs as English teachers is to try to help students understand that the best choice of wording or the best choice of structure is what’s appropriate to the task,” said English teacher Holly Estrada. “If we’re writing an essay or producing some text that’s going to be published, grammar is very important. It creates ethos. But say, in a text, I don’t care if someone abbreviates a word. We want to make sure to have the register and the grammar match whatever the purpose of the text is.”
Additionally, grammar is heavily influenced by one’s cultural roots and their background.
“People who have one language as their mother tongue might have grammatical aspects from that language that influence their speech in a different language,” Lu said. “For example, in Chinese, the words for turn off and close are the same. A Chinese person might say, ‘turn off the window’ instead of ‘close the window.’”
Because speaking is such an integral part of human interaction, people are often judged by their speech patterns, which are shaped by their usage of grammar.
“Ironically, sometimes, I’ve seen politicians give speeches, and sometimes people lament that their structure is a little bit more sophisticated,” Estrada said. “They’ll say that they wish that the person were a little bit more informal and a little bit less intellectual or articulate, ironically.”
The perception of grammar and its role in society is further complicated by the natural evolution of language itself. As English thrives as a living language with over one billion speakers worldwide–a direct contrast to dead languages like Latin that no longer are spoken–it constantly adapts with cultural shifts and societal changes.
“We shouldn’t strive to maintain traditional rules because grammar evolves at a slow pace,” Lu said. “It’s not like the evolution of grammar will lead to a completely new, unintelligible language. For example, in the past, it was standard not to end sentences with prepositions or split infinitives or begin sentences with conjunctions. Now it’s more accepted, especially in spoken language and also in written language.”
This understanding of grammatical evolution highlights the delicate balance between tradition and innovation. As it changes, educators must also evaluate these shifts and adjust accordingly.
“Let’s make sure [grammar] evolves in a way where it’s still helpful and useful,” McGarry said. “We lose some meaning sometimes. We need to be intentional, as educators, about [explaining] what we’re losing and why we might not want to lose it. But we can’t really control this. Language is more powerful than any individual or even any government. Language has a tendency to shift and adapt based on social reality.”
