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comment by veen
veen  ·  3731 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How Stephen King Teaches Writing

    You spend all your time reading proper English and you learn how it sounds, or looks.

I'm practically the first generation who grew up with the Internet (nerdy kid, got a dial-up connection when I was 10). So even though English is my second language, I've been reading, gaming and writing in English for over a decade now in part because of the Internet. English grammar is something I never really think about - I just intuitively know how it's supposed to be, without actually knowing the rules, simply because I've been exposed to it so much.





_refugee_  ·  3731 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I enjoy learning the rusty old rules. For instance I am quite convinced that there are some instances in which it is technically wrong to use an adverb, although most people seem to flout this rule. I am convinced that this is a rule because when I see the usage it strikes me as wrong. However, I haven't been able to track it down quite yet, and I know that most people wouldn't care anyway...

I think it may be this rule:

    Rule 2. Adverbs that answer the question how sometimes cause grammatical problems

People seem happy to make things adverbs that do not, or should not, be adverbs.

I try not to get pedantic about these rules as I know most no one cares except for me but I enjoy them and enjoy knowing them and enjoy knowing I am using language "correctly" - although I also love my ain't, my jargon, and my slang in casual speech.

I think language is fun.