![]() The pronoun “I” usually pairs up with “am,” not “are.” But at some point, “aren’t I” became standard idiom, so it’s correct even though it’s ungrammatical. The third arbiter of correctness in English, common usage, tells you whether a structure is so well established that it’s considered idiomatic - correct despite being ungrammatical. If you say “dog” when you mean “cat,” you’re using the word “dog” wrong. You don’t say, “We knows how,” you say, “We know how.” “Know” is the correct conjugation for the first person plural, so “knows” is ungrammatical when paired with “we.”ĭictionary definitions are more straightforward. Syntax means the grammatical mechanics of sentences, for example how subjects should agree with verbs. Opinion A Word, Please: The distinction between ‘un’ and ‘dis’ may leave you dissatisfiedīoth of the prefixes have multiple definitions, and sometimes the distinction between them is difficult to parse. Instead, there are three elements that determine correctness: syntax, dictionary definitions and common usage. There’s no Grammar Penal Code - no official list of what’s right and wrong. Second, understand where correctness comes from in English. Think about “aren’t I” and “amn’t I” and you’ll see what I mean. English is pretty flexible, so more than one wording can be grammatical. So what’s a well-meaning English speaker to do?įirst, toss out the idea that there’s only one correct way to write or say something. ![]() So you can’t blame the questioner for seeking out help on the internet, where you can get good answers and bad answers, with no way to know which are right, served with a generous helping of spam ads for stock market tips and software products. Even I found this matter tough to research. No one teaches us in school where to turn with questions like this. “The use of either one is grammatically correct,” said another. “‘More clear’ is not English,” one user replied. ![]() Second: The writer posted this question in a public forum, where people who don’t know the answer can pretend that they do and where, as a result, people contradict each other with absolute certainty. The first is that the writer was under the impression that “more clear” is the grammatically correct wording in some contexts, while “clearer” is correct in others. There are some problems with this question. “When is it grammatically correct to use ‘more clear’ in place of ‘clearer’?” an internet user asked on Quora last year.
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