5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Review Grammar

I think it’s probably clear by now that I like grammar. This kind of comes with being a writer, but I’ve always felt this way. Then I went to college and studied to be a teacher, which involved double majoring in secondary education and English, and that program involved taking a class on correct grammar. I went on to teach ninth grade English, and part of the curriculum involved, you guessed it, grammar.

Today I thought that I would break from my trend of giving grammar tutorials to tell you 5 reasons why everyone should review grammar. After all, I’m convinced that everyone should, but you might not be!

1. There are so many nuances that is easy to forget the rules if you haven’t reviewed them in a year or more. Obviously I’m not expecting that you memorize all the rules every year, but it can’t hurt to look over the rules or to study an area where you know you struggle.

2. Unless you’re writing correctly regularly, you’ll forget the rules. As Suzuki used to say, practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect! (That’s the guy behind Suzuki musical training, not the car company.) I don’t know anyone who keeps a grammar guide on hand every time they write something, so you’re probably making at least a small grammatical mistake regularly. If you keep doing the same thing incorrectly over and over again, then you’ll remember the wrong version. This has definitely happened to me!

3. So many people judge others for making grammatical mistakes. You know when you accidentally make a typo on social media and immediately cringe because you know everyone will notice it? Imagine if you made an equally obvious mistake regularly in your writing without realizing it. Well, others probably will notice and may judge you. I know you shouldn’t care about what other people think, but I prefer to avoid being judged if it is possible.

4. Put your best foot forward and look as smart as you are. Similarly, it’s possible that people who judge you will be ones you want to work with. They may not want to work with you if your writing (in blog posts or emails, even if you’re not a blogger) is not high quality.

5. Incorrect grammar can change the entire meaning of the sentence. I actually used an example of this in my first comma tutorial – commas stop cannibalism! You don’t want to say, “Let’s eat Grandma!” unless you are cooking Grandma for dinner (I really hope you’re not doing that). Instead, you want to say, “Let’s eat, Grandma!” That version means, “Dinner is ready, so it is time for us to eat.”

var linkwithin_site_id = 1800999;

Kate Mitchell

Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.