As the story goes, an editor switched around Winston Churchill’s sentence to avoid having the sentence end with a preposition. Churchill, in an attempt to parody that editor’s strict application of the grammatical rule, replied with a note reading, “Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.”
Churchill humorously dealt with a common dilemma faced by students who wish to speak using proper English, but doing so without sounding too formal, according to Jeffrey Reaser, an assistant English professor. Certain grammatical rules, Reaser said, have been abandoned due to how strange some of the rules sound aloud.
“There are two competing forces at work. One is the desire to be correct with our speech — we have an insecurity about our ability to be correct — and also a desire to not sound too stuffy,” Reaser said.
According to Reaser, the growing trend to disregard some grammatical rules in speech — such as using “to whom” and not ending a sentence with a preposition — came about due to the country’s sense of American populism.
“Everybody’s middle-class. Certain things are basically absent from our standard spoken grammar,” Reaser said. “To say otherwise is to be an outcast or to be uncooperative with your language.”
Reaser said even formal standards have changed and cited a common grammar mistake that follows this logic — the incorrect use of “to be” in the personal sense.
“Some things are expected in speech. Using the correct form of ‘I’m cool, am I not?’ has been replaced with ‘I’m cool, aren’t I?’,” Reaser said. “The use of ‘importantly’ and ‘hopefully’ as sentence adverbs is also commonly misused. It used to be that you couldn’t do such a thing.”
Mass publications, such as the New York Times, have changed sentence structure over the centuries and, according to Reaser, in turn, caused a change in the general public’s speech pattern.
“The language and colloquialisms have changed over time. The writing is much more conversational than there was previously,” Reaser said. “Split infinitives used to be a grammatical sin, but people don’t concern themselves with it anymore.”
However, such publications cannot be seen as the only factors that brought about such grammatical modifications. According to Reaser, some proper grammar rules were never truly a part of the English language to begin with, a fact that made it easier for the public to stop following them.
“Some of the rules are Latin conventions, but English is not a Latin language,” Reaser said.
Reaser said he concerns himself more with the thoughts and content of his students’ papers rather than their proper use of grammar. He added, though, that since many of these students are studying to become English teachers, they should know the proper rules and be able to purposefully distinguish between when and when not to use the informal tone.
“I do expect there to be evidence for following conventions. They should be violated on purpose, not accidentally, by knowing when it is appropriate to use the formal or informal tones,” Reaser said.
When dealing with the job application process, Carol Schroeder, the University Career Center’s director, said decent grammar, in both spoken and written forms, is an essential aspect to the average student’s academics and future careers.
“Students should use good grammar, and I think it’s important for students to know that from the time they walk through the door to the time they leave,” Schroeder said. “If you look at the polls from employers, the No. 1 quality they’re looking for is communication.”
In one’s everyday life, according to Schroeder, students should use proper grammar every moment of every day.
“If you use good grammar you can walk with kings, and if you use poor grammar it will hurt you in the long run,” Schroeder said.
However, when in an interview, Schroeder said it is important to impress the employer with what one says and how it is said, not to use perfectly correct grammar. Overly correct grammar, she said, can be off-putting to the employer.
“You don’t have to speak like you’re writing a term paper,” Schroeder said. “It is much more important for a student to have thought out very carefully what that student wants to relay to the employer.”
Mariah Jones, a freshman in First Year College, agreed there should be a distinct difference between one’s papers and speech. She said that while proper grammar is appropriate in some situations, it would be awkward in everyday conversation.
“The grammar you use in papers should definitely be formal and as correct as you can be, but when you’re just having a conversation with your friends, it should be informal,” Jones said.
When speaking with a potential employer, Schroeder said she advises students to communicate their thoughts using clear, simple English and practice what they want to say. She said one’s diction and grammar is an extremely important and influential aspect of an interview.
“Talking about ourselves can be very uncomfortable, but the more you practice, the better you sound,” Schroeder said. “Five-cent words will do very nicely — you don’t need 50-cent words.”
Schroeder said the Career Center is always available to help — if not in person, the center’s online component will prove sufficient for students’ needs. The center offers students interview practice, help with resume construction and online information about job requirements, according to Schroeder.
What one says and how one says it is an essential aspect of communication, according to Schroeder.
However, Schroeder added that being overly grammatical can sound forced. What students should do instead is know what they want to say and how they want to get that point across in a clear manner.
“You can be a really bright person, but if nobody can understand you, that can be a problem,” Schroeder said. You should be yourself, but you should be your best self.”
