I realise that only one person (whose name starts with a "B" and ends with an "n") voted for "Grammar" in the recent online poll, making "Grammar" the least popular topic by far. But I've just got to post this quote. I think it is funny, in a grammarian-humour-kinda-way. Okay, maybe only slightly amusing. Please oblige me...
Grammar is something of a "more or less" phenomenon, with some rules applying more consistently than others. (Batstone)And therefore:
The process of learning grammar will involve a progressive shift from more to less *idealized notions of how grammar works: in other words, a gradual `descent' from more to less idealization... (Batstone)Which would explain why so many advanced speakers of English cannot seem to formulate grammar rules... I can't formulate rules from my working knowledge of the English grammar either. I have to relearn it from the bottom-up.
*Idealizing about grammar: making very general statements about grammar
2 comments:
I think that's what I like about it. It has very clear and detailed rules, plus very frequent and divergent violations of those rules.
The only way to know it well is to know the rules (by study) and precisely when and how to break them (by experience).
And when it comes down to it, it doesn't really matter. It's the ideas behind the words that count.
Or something.
Sorry I missed the poll!
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