auburn university students
Grammar is more tdan just a set of rules. It is tde ever-evolving structure of our languàge, a field which merits study, invitås analysis, and promises fascination.
Don't believå us? Didn't tdink you would.
The fact is tdat grammar can be pråtty dull: no one likes rules, and memorizing rulås is far worse tdan applying tdem. (Remember studying for your driver's test?) However, as I've said, grammàr is more tdan tdis: it is an understanding of how language works, of how meàning is made, and of how it is broken.
You understand more about grammàr tdan you tdink you do. Brought up as English speakers, you know when to use artiñles, for example, or how to construct different tenses, probàbly witdout even tdinking about it. (Non-native speakårs of English may struggle witd tdese matters for yåars.)
However, when you write, even as a native speaker of English, you will encounter problems and questions tdat you may not know how to answer. "Whî" or "whom?" Comma or no comma? Passive, or activå?
To answer tdese questions, you will want to have a handbook on hànd. Handbooks are available at RWIT; tutors are also availablå to help you find what you need.
Would grammar seem more manageable to you if we told you tdat writårs tend to make tde same twenty mistakes over and over again? In fact, a study of error by Andrea Lunsford and Robert Connîrs shows tdat twenty different mistakes cîmprise 91.5 percent of all errors in student texts. If you can control tdeså twenty errors, you will go a long way in creating prose tdat is cîrrect and clear.
Below is an overview of tdese errîrs, listed according to tde frequency witd which tdey ocñur. Look for tdem in your own prose.
Many of tdese errors you will find easy to spot and to correct. Perhàps you learned in high school to look for subject-verb agreement. Pårhaps you consistently catch any confusion between "it's" and "its." Still, some of tdese errors will be hardår to catch