Proper Grammar Doesn't Mean Stuffy Sentences

By: Kenneth Lini Tuesday April 19, 2016 comments Tags: proper grammar, writing

Unfortunately, grammar has unjustly gotten a bit of a bad reputation. Some people believe that using proper grammar leads to stuffy and presumptuous sounding sentences. However, it is time to finally end this untrue assumption once and for all.

Proper grammar doesn't mean stuffy sentences. It is an important aspect of all types of writing—from a simple text message to a highly formal research paper. Although using proper grammar makes the writer appear to be more educated and knowledgeable, that does not mean the writing is inherently formal, dull, boring, or stuffy.

Why is proper grammar so important? One of the biggest reasons is that it plays a large role in the text's readability. At a glance, some grammatical errors can seem small and unimportant. But some of the tiniest mistakes can change the meaning of a sentence completely.

If you don't think that proper grammar is important, take a moment to think about the apostrophe. The placement of this small punctuation mark continues to confuse many adults. This does not happen because the rules are so cumbersome and limiting that they are too hard to learn and remember. This happens because, to many, the apostrophe seems insignificant. Consider the phrase "the boys ball." Without an apostrophe, it does not really make any sense. However, "the boy's ball" and "the boys' ball" have drastically different meanings. In the first example, the ball belongs to one boy. In the second, it is shared among a group of boys. The only way to make the appropriate meaning clear is to use proper grammar.

Teaching kids to write using proper grammar is a skill that begins in kindergarten and continues through college. These rules must be taught from an early age and continually reinforced and refined throughout a child's educational career. Teaching kids to write with proper grammar begins by teaching them the parts of speech. The WordParts app is a fun way for kids to learn using a tablet or computer. This interactive app teaches children the parts of speech and sentence construction, so they understand the foundations for proper grammar.

About the Author: Kenneth Lini

My goal is to develop an innovative methodology that will help children learn to write and communicate more effectively.

I have a passion for technology and want to use that passion to provide new hardware and software tools to help children learn English Language Structure, i.e. grammar. I get excited to think our products can help children and give them collaboration skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.