A little followed grammatical rule is that one is never to end a sentence with a preposition. It is acceptable, however, to end a sentence with a word that is commonly used as a preposition, but not in that specific sentence. This rule is broken often in speech, which is why it is commonly broken is writing. Most people write as they would speak. (This topic is further discussed in the post “Students lack a decent vocabulary”) Writing is not speaking. Some styles purposely use incorrect grammar, but for all intensive purposes, this is wrong. Students need to read novels that are grammatically correct so that they may pick up on how the rules are applied. Few, if any, students enjoy doing grammar worksheets and activities. Because of the lack of enthusiasm, few students actually learn the rules. Schools must find new ways to present this information. Without grammar, writing would make little sense. With incorrect grammar, writing rarely makes sense at all.The preposition rule is my greatest pet peeve of the moment and is continuously found. For example, “For me, Holden Caulfield, the isolated adolescent and protagonist of the novel, was someone to relate with.” (Sorry to pick on BK Lounge, but it was the one that caused me to write this.) The sentence should say, “For me, Holden Caulfield, the isolated adolescent and protagonist of the novel, was someone with which I could relate.” A minor change, but vast improvement.
2 comments:
First of all, kudos to you for finding a comic that represents your pet peeve. I must say that if you don't go into biochemistry, I would not reccomend you becoming a high school english teacher, you're students may dislike you greatly because they might feel that you are always getting on their case for silly things, like this.
If I started talking and writing like you suggest, people may wonder about what I have been sniffing. This is just one topic which I can not relate. See, for me that last sentence felt akward to write. I do have to agree with the statement that you made about students that need to read gramatically-correct novels. I remember back in the day, reading novels and seeing so many grammatical mistakes (s-kat, you are not alone) and asking my teachers why they get to do that, but I get marked off if I try. I rememeber one teacher, Mr. Fisher in the sixth grade who told me that writers have a "writer's license" to make mistakes and still be okay. Even today this does not make much sense. But even with perfectly written novels, I do not believe that your "pet peeve" will ever go away, completely.
I'm surprise anyone even knows that rule ever existed, I know I didn't. Actually I wouldn't be able to pick out a preposition in a sentence if asked. I do agree that grammar is important, even if it is not one of my strong suites. And I do agree with s-kat when she states that grammar needs to be presented to students in a more enthusiastic way. I for one hate grammar and more often than not zone out when verbs are mentioned. Oh and j-dog I had Mr.Fisher as well and I never understood why writers got to write whatever they wanted while I was stuck with "rules," rules I never followed, which explains why I failed that class....
Circling back to the initial point, ahh! grammar needs to be fun and I agree with j-dog when she says that your pet-peeve will never go completely away, but at least you got people thinking about it.
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