In a post a year ago I presented an inventory of some of the major bogus rules of English grammar and usage. They are also the subject of a series of short videos I am making at baltimoresun.com. But ...

When you first learn the rules for English grammar in elementary school, you find there are a lot of don’ts: Don’t end a sentence with a preposition; don’t begin a sentence with because. But as you ...

A student posting in the grammar forum on Reddit recently made me sad: “I’m a college student majoring in a scientific field and am interested in conducting my own research. One thing that’s stopping ...

If you’ve ever been cited for breaking traditional grammar rules you will rejoice at the publication of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Cambridge University Press, 2002). Coauthor and ...

About a decade ago, I read a blog written by a linguistics student who proclaimed, “Prescriptivism must die!!!” He was talking about the school of thought that believes that textbooks and other ...

Back in the 19th century, some grammar teachers had a problem with the word reliable. It doesn’t properly fit the pattern of adjectives ending with –able. If you can be loved, you are lovable. If you ...

Ever heard about the time Winston Churchill weighed in on ending sentences with prepositions? According to one of many versions of the story, an editor revised a sentence of Churchill’s so the final ...

When we speak our native language we unconsciously follow certain rules. These rules are different in different languages. For example, if I want to talk about a particular collection of oranges, in ...

Bryan A. Garner, the founder of LawProse, is the author of “Garner’s Modern American Usage” and the editor in chief of Black’s Law Dictionary. Robert Lane Greene Robert Lane Greene, an international ...