Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

It’s a funny thing about grammar. Most people think it’s a set of rules cast in stone that they learned in grade school and then were forced to follow forevermore. It’s as if they could write only sentences and paragraphs and essays that fit a precut template.

Perhaps this is why the study of grammar holds as much excitement as having a wart removed or one’s eyebrows tweezed. Most of us grit our teeth and endure the agony because we want to be seen in the best light possible, but none of these things are done for their sheer enjoyment.

I answer grammar questions on this web site and am amazed with how many people out there want to know specific points about our language. They’re eager to use it correctly, but they’re unsure. I don’t think it is because they didn’t do their eighth grade grammar homework. Or that they don’t have a current dictionary.

I believe it’s because the notion that writers and speakers use grammar to make themselves understood better wasn’t emphasized enough in those elementary school texts. It was all about memorizing the rules. Next, it was about examples that clearly demonstrated the rule under particular question, but it was hardly about using the same rules in everyday situations.

Regardless of age or profession, those who contact me seem eager to make this transition. For instance, one emailer wanted to know where, if anywhere, to put an apostrophe in the title, “Veterans Memorial.” Given that the words were to be chiseled in marble, it was an important question.