3 grammar rules to start breaking today
When it comes to writing for marketing pieces, there are a few grammar rules that are ok to break. (I may have to fend off nasty gangs of grammarians waiting at my door with pitchforks for this post.)
I’m not talking anything crazy like subject verb agreement. But there are rules where there is leeway, or the rule is antiquated or it’s really just a myth.
Sentence fragments
Normally it would not be ok to have an incomplete sentence. If you want to make sense, you should always have a subject, verb and object.
But sometimes, it works well to use a sentence fragment. Think of tag lines are just a few words separated by periods:
Cleaner. Faster. Cheaper.
Service. Quality. Integrity.
Or it can be used to emphasize an important phrase:
A serious illness can have a devastating effect on your life. What would happen to your family? Your finances?
Setting the phrase “your finances” off on its own gives it extra attention.
Go ahead and use fragments. But do it sparingly.
Let your prepositions dangle
It’s almost always annoying to have someone correct your grammar. Have you ever had someone correct you for using a dangling preposition?
You say something innocent like:
“That’s what I was talking about.”
And someone suggests you change it to:
“That’s the subject about which I was speaking.”
Awkward.
No one speaks that way, nor should they. It’s awkward to say, and it sounds horrible. It makes the sentence much less clear.
In fact, it’s a rule that many believe is really a myth.
Let your prepositions free.
Who or whom… in marketing who wins… no really, it’s who
In proper English, “who” is used when referring to the subject of a sentence and “whom” for the object. So if you’re replacing the pronoun she or he, it would be “who”. For her or him, it would be whom.
Who said that?
How do you know what to use? Should you?
Whom are you talking to?
That just sounds odd. Stick with “who”.
My bold prediction is that “whom” will disappear from the English language in less than 10 years.
Does it sound natural? Go with it!
Don’t throw out grammar rules all together. The goal is to be clear and understood. Without grammar, there’s chaos.
When it comes to writing your marketing material, the goal is to have a conversational tone. If it doesn’t sound even close to how you would say it out loud, don’t write it that way.
Want a grammar refresher? Here are a couple of helpful, and even fun, sites for grammar rules.
Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tricks
And here’s an article that reassures us that the English language is not being destroyed (it is growing, changing and evolving, as language is wont to do).
In the comment section below, share your favourite grammar rules – either the ones you follow or the ones you love to break.