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is Grammar Really important?


pennywise

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So, I assume all of us have been in at least one form of online discussion at one point or another, amirite? Well, I've got to ask you, do you really think grammar is so important of a topic, that it can make a person's argument invalid? I would agree if you said it would when a person speaks in broken english, that isn't even entirely legible, but if a person misspells a word or two, is it really important?

 

I've seen many people on this forum call out a person , and say that their opinion is invalid, just because their grammar isn't perfect. Why do you do this? A person's grammar should not be relevant to the argument, why do you make it so? What does everybody think about this?

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I've seen many people on this forum call out a person , and say that their opinion is invalid, just because their grammar isn't perfect.

 

It's just stupid. Some sort of *last resort* argument I suppose. As long as you understand what the other person is saying, everything's fine.

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I believe that if you are trying to get a point across to someone its important to use grammar, purely because it's easier for the others to understand how you feel on the discussion. Other from that, general chatting, i don't really think it's important ::'

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It's important to be clear with what you say. Having said that, a few misspelt words don't invalidate an argument. People who think this or pull you up on the slightest misspellings are the kind you'd call grammar Nazis.

 

 

 

I also find it incredibly condescending when people pretend they don't understand what you're saying because of one misplaced letter in a word.

 

 

 

I'm sure everyone's seen this:

 

 

 

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

 

 

 

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Well, I type using correct spelling, grammar, etc, because it's kind of an OCD thing for me. If I make a typo, I'll have to delete the whole text and re-type it from the error. Though I don't really mind when people don't use grammar and stuff on the forums, though when it gets over the top (Leetspeak, being a jackass on purpose) I get slightly annoyed.

 

 

 

I also hate people who call others out on a small typo mistake and then try and act funny, like Warrior said.

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i don't think it so important if you understand the person. if you pick on someone who's grammar isen't perfect. you're just a douche!

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I have found grammer to be very important, too many times have I gotten confused/angry because of lack of grammer <.< because of the way it seems to sound (internet is great place to have your meaning misinterprated (sp?) )

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I find some people on the internet take grammar and spelling FAR too seriously. I only correct someone when I genuinely cannot understand what they're saying, or if I'm winding them up.

 

 

 

I'm even fine working in txt-speak. So long as it's not a formal document, I don't see why it's needed.

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Well, I like to spell things out as well as I can. Not only does it get me into the habit of typing out essays and sentences properly, but it will increase my typing skills in those categories.

 

 

 

As for the thread, I think grammar has a small, but significant impact on some posts. If someone comes in and starts ranting and raving without any sign of care, their rant won't be respected as such. As you see, proper punctuation and grammar will help create a feel that they worked harder on their post rather than just lace a bunch of random junk together.

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A well-typed post shows that the author actually gives a damn about what they're trying to say, thus giving the reader some incentive to actually bother to slog through what might otherwise be yet another abortion of logic.

 

 

 

Also, semantics can play a significant part in some arguments.

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Well, first of all, there's a difference between spelling and grammar. Spelling is just a code, a set of rules that gets regular updates. A spelling mistake is not that big a deal, as long as the meaning of the word isn't changed in a way that makes it hard to understand (dear, deer). Nevertheless, the set of rules is there to make sure people do still understand each other when writing. Especially for English, which doesn't have a phonetic spelling at all and rather random spelling rules, it's important to have everybody spell more or less in the same way.

 

 

 

Then there's grammar. Grammar is much more inherent to a language than spelling is. It evolves naturally. Language change is often language erosion, because we have a way of simplifying our language and rid it of the exceptions. Again, not that big of a deal, but using good grammar is still important if you want to be understood. To your readers, correct grammar is connected with a good education. As such, bad grammar will not do your argument any good.

 

 

 

More important to me, however, is coherence. How do you build up your argument? This is also an aspect of language: what sentence comes first, which words do I use to bind together my argument, how do I conclude?

 

 

 

Wrong spelling and faulty grammar do not make an argument invalid. However, the more you are able to word your argument, making use of all the nuances and possibilities of vocabulary, grammar, coherence and even sound, the more you will be able to pinpoint your exact meaning. And that is what communication and language are about.

 

 

 

I don't consider myself a grammar nazi, but I love reading texts that are written by people who command their language and know how to make it work for them. When I just learned to drive, my brother often told me the car was driving me, instead of me driving the car. I often have that feeling with people who can't manage to write a sensible text of more than five sentences. Then again, I studied languages and literature at university, so I sometimes go way too far in this. The English-speaking world has such a gorgeous language that I'm so jealous of, with so many possibilities, nuances and ways of expressing oneself, that I really don't understand why not everybody wants to perfect it ::'.

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Spelling makes little difference, I think, since it's pretty easy to understand someone even if they don't know how to spell a particular word or they make a typo.

 

 

 

Grammar, on the other hand, I regard as extremely important if you are actually trying to engage in a debate or argument. As Zonorhc said, a well-typed post gives the impression that you actually care about that which you are arguing. If the post is riddled with grammatical errors or uses idiotic things like excessive exclamation points or ellipses, you are less likely to be taken seriously. Plus, no matter whether your post is still legible or not most people aren't going to bother trying to read it, for the simple reason that they must, in fact, try. It shouldn't be an effort to read something, even on the internet.

 

 

 

As a minor point, just because it is the internet should not be an excuse to let whatever skills you have fly out the window. I always try to type as well as I can so that I actually continue to progress or at least maintain skill, rather than regressing and starting my next school paper with "wel i think taht..."

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If you''e listening to a political debate, and one of the the candidates is speaking Jive, while the other is speaking proper English, who would you be rooting for?

 

The person who speaks properly.

 

To some extent, this includes spelling. Everyone has a few words that they just can't help, but to misspell. But when you go as far as to have a spelling mistake every three words, even when most browsers have a spell check function in it, you're going too far.

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The thing that makes me sad is that when someone has perfect grammar, it makes me think, "that person has perfect grammar, that's great".

 

Grammar is a standard that should be adhered to. When I see someone who uses perfect grammar, what should really happen is that I don't even give it a second glance, and think nothing of it. This is the state that education is in today.

 

The thing that should only impress me is the style, flair and intelligence of the writing, not the technical accuracy.

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Yes, grammar is important. At this point, a lot of people's grammar is so bad it's getting hard to just understand them. I don't expect everyone to write English fluently, especially not considering this game has a lot of non-native English speakers (myself included). But the fact is, a lot of people are too damn lazy to just spell correctly. And that I find a lack of respect. If you don't have the decency to talk to me in a normal way (not neccesarily perfect!), I'm not talking to you.

 

 

 

Mostly, grammar signifies eductation. A lot of people that "can't" spell usually don't have very bright things to say. Also, usually it are 10-12 year olds. Not trying to stereotype or saying that ALL 10-12 year olds are like this, but it definately correlates with age.

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I think that as long as someone can be understood it does not matter whether they have comma's and apostrophes in the right place or spelt a few words wrong. We all make mistakes, and if some one's text can still be understood and the meaning in the text understood then their grammar does not matter in the slightest.

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Grammar is important but not as important as long as you have a good idea of what is being said. You just need to make sure your paper (or w/e your writing) is legible enough that people can get a good idea of what you are saying.

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if u tlk 2 me liek dis ur tots r gnored.

 

 

 

If you could understand that,good job.I would only ignore it if you fail to put in a good effort.Par Example:

 

 

 

i typ lik dis-Ignored.You've only saved 3 typed letters :roll:

 

i type like this-This is ok,at least I can read.

 

I type in this manner.-I actually type like that sometimes...It feels better.

 

 

 

Of course failure to insert paragraphs will result in the requirement of a tl;dr,which would lead me to ignore.

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It's important but it doesn't invalidate an argument. It's what you say that counts - not how you say it. I think it makes things look a lot neater, and with better grammar there will be less confusion and people will be able to read your posts with more haste.

 

 

 

However, I do find it funny when there are people who say stuff like, "ur a idoit". :lol:

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