Inbound message:
This from an old friend, a graduate of (name deleted to protect the guilty) with a degree in English, and a former editor of the (name deleted to protect the co-conspirator). Ignore the content.
"I just got a call from Sam saying Sally had died last week. She had been ill for several years, which he said explains why we haven't heard much from them. She died in a nursing home where Sam says she got wonderful care."
What's interesting to me is that there are two erroneous "hads" in the first two sentences, and yet none in the last.
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Reply:
It indicates to me that he wasn't taught it and hasn't thought about it, so he doesn't (read: can't) follow a consistent pattern. This argues for teaching grammar as a separate discipline, as opposed to the currently-popular preference for nudging students toward good grammar in their writing, all the while not correcting errors, which to some is "playing gotcha".
Can quarterbacks and surgeons and chefs and small-engine mechanics become proficient without instruction and drill in the basics of their trades? It makes no sense to me to imagine that writers can become good at their trade without learning the basics. "Here's the ball and here's the club and you just go out there and see if you can hit it. He won the Masters last year but if you approach your game with confidence, you can beat him." Yeah, right.
.brad.mon.13sept10.