COM-384 Lecture 4: Chapter 4
27 Sep 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Taking grammar, spelling and punctuation for granted can get us into a lot of trouble. Spelling caused a credibility problem for the irs when its publication for tax practitioners appeared with practioner on its cover. Computers make it easy to spell check, but careful reading is necessary too. The purpose of writing is to get a message across to a reader. That doesn"t mean you should bother to learn the rules or you shouldn"t obey them most of the time. The main reason grammar exists is to avoid ambiguity. The common misuse of that and which is an example of how bad grammar can tangle meaning. Using that and which correctly is important, for it involves questions of both ambiguity and naturalness. Another rule that aids clarity is that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree. Misidentifying the subject is no excuse to break the rule. Like any other rule, this one is no substitute for thought.
