Bending Grammar to Your Will

Every language has a set of grammatical rules that it follows. For example, in English, a simple sentence like

Jim threw the ball

can be broken into its components

subject - verb - direct object

That is the basic form of English sentences, though obviously you can add things like adjective phrases and indirect objects, and you can change the tense of the verb to present or future. We're not here for a grammar lesson, however. Today we're going to talk about the darker side of English grammar, and how to conquer it and make it your slave.

I'm sure you've heard the rule, "Never end a sentence with a preposition." Well, I'm here today to tell you that rule is bullshit. That's what we call a "prescriptive" rule of grammar - it tells us how a sentence should be composed. The subject-verb-object rule mentioned above is called a "descriptive" rule, meaning it just explains how sentences actually are composed. What's the difference? English-speakers were creating SVO sentences before the rule; the rule is merely an observation. Think about how awkward the following sentences are

Jim the ball throwing.
The ball threw Jim.

The first is out because of the word order, and the second is weird because an inanimate object acted on a person. These are considered violations of the rule because they don't actually make sense if you try and interpret them as they are - they require work to put them right. On the other hand, look what happens when you mess with prepositions

Nashville is the city from which Nancy came.
Nashville is the city Nancy came from.

No meaning is lost between those two sentences, and in fact it takes more effort to misread the second one, which violates the "rule," than it does to read it and comprehend it. I bring this up to make one major point: Go with clarity. If you think your sentence actually makes sense and you think it sounds good, don't worry about people who say you're violating a rule.

The other idea I want to convey boils down to Sometimes don't go with clarity. You have to be more careful with this because, if it is misused, you end up destroying the story. But think - what kinds of situations exist in which even rules like Subject-Verb-Object can be violated? One that comes to mind involves characters whose primary languages are fundamentally different from English, like Japanse, which is basically Subject-Object-Verb. If those characters haven't had much experience speaking English, they may occasionally put their words in the wrong order. Another example is small children - they love playing with language and seeing what kinds of things they can put together. Excited people sometimes say weird stuff, as do people who are focusing on too many things at once. Think about what kinds of grammatical idiosyncrasies your characters have and work with them when it is appropriate.

Remember, grammar serves you, not the other way around. If rules (descriptive or otherwise) interfere with the story you want to write, throw them away. You're a writer. You're allowed to do that. Be clear. If you need a character to say something unclear, just make sure you have solid reasons for it.

Challenge: Take three characters and put them in a plausible situation (airport, bus, etc). For your characters and the narrator, pick unique styles of speech. Some examples include American South, New England, Urban, Broken, Stuttering, and Whatever You Think "Normal" Is. See what happens.