Is Correct Grammar Outdated?

Together with the democratization of mass media that has gone hand in hand with the spread of the Internet and related technologies, we have witnessed a drastic decline in educational quality and less of a focus on proper grammar and polished writing skills. Nevertheless, whether one uses correct grammar in one’s writing differentiates ignorant pablum from distinguished prose. Revising grammar in one’s work before publishing anything online or offline should be second nature for every writer. Learning English grammar rules is a lifelong commitment; basic principles, like never ending a sentence with a preposition or avoiding dangling participles, can be difficult to implement consistently even for prolific writers. In many cases, acronyms or foreign loan words are incorporated so commonly into the English language that many people forget their original meaning (hence references to the “SAT test” or the “soup du jour of the day”). Some fledgling writers intersperse informal language in formal writing: phrases like “y’all” or “ain’t” should be replaced with their standard English equivalents. Even writers with doctoral degrees in English make mistakes precisely because of the fickle relationship between formal written language and the informal spoken language that people use in regular contexts. One tool that writers should use religiously is online grammar corrector software to catch many hard-to-remember errors in their work. This can help prevent making the kind of simple errors that will influence readers to judge your writing negatively. However, learning the finer points of English grammar is necessary even beyond any software tool to ensure the highest quality output.