Grammargrams Issue 1

by Mary Kay Murray

Use Standard English—but whose?

No offense, but writing is second best to speaking. Writing is just what we do when we can't be there in person. You don't want to annoy or confuse your readers, any more than you would your listeners.

Your goal is to write standard informal American English (assuming you're American). This issue deals with standard English; later issues will deal with the informal American part.

What Standard English Is And Isn't

It's easy to confuse standard English with other kinds of English:

Standard English is the opposite of bad English. It involves rules for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Informal English is the opposite of formal English. It's a tone or voice.
American, Canadian, Indian, and other national versions of English are slightly different from British English—usually just a few changes in vocabulary, grammar, and usage, but sometimes also in tone.

You learned standard English at school. Sadly, you may have learned to write standard formal English at school, but we'll deal with that later.

The Mechanics of Language

Standard Engish is the set of rules (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) we've agreed to share so we'll understand each other. These rules exist for one reason only: to make our writing as easy to follow as speech. That's why we've settled on certain standards for spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.

If we misspell words, readers must stop to figure out what we meant. If we put words in unpunctuated jumbles, our readers must waste even more time decoding it. Worse, they'll decide we're idiots and abandon us.

(Ancient cultures didn't have punctuation; all you see is a jumble of letters, run together. That makes translating Egyptian hieroglyphics or Greek papyri even harder than it already is.)

Whose Rules?

Still, language evolves constantly. The rules become simpler as time passes, which is great, but how do you know what today's language really is? School was a long time ago, and reference books are only as current as the date they were published. Worse, they often disagree.

Spelling and Definitions

Your company may have designated a particular dictionary for everyone to use. In any case, if you're not sure how to spell a word, look it up! Spell-check isn't enough.

If you don't know what the word means, your readers might not know it either, so you should consider defining the word in what you're writing or even using a different word.

Stylebooks

Stylebooks are guides to grammar, words with alternative spellings, usage, and so on, usually for application within a single company, industry, or type of publication. You can read more about stylebooks here, and our sense of the appropriate setting for each.

If your company uses a stylebook, follow it. If the company stylebook seems outdated or wrong for your setting, maybe you can diplomatically lobby for one that's more appropriate. Or, if your company doesn't have one yet, you can create your own. How cool is that!*

Two Very Easy Rules

You know more than you think you do. Always:

Let your ear be your guide. Put in all the pauses and stops you'd use if you were speaking.
Don't slow your readers down. Avoid bad grammar and misspellings.

Follow these rules and you'll have standard enough English—even if you don't know what a correlative conjunction is.

*DISCLAIMER—BE COOL, DON'T WRITE COOL

These GrammarGrams are written in standard colloquial English, because this is a very friendly website and we're talking to fellow designers. In your job, use standard informal English, as if you're talking to your grandfather or the CEO of your company. Don't say "Cool!" like I did, because it's slang and your boss won't like it. If you're in advertising, though, slang away!