Everything You Wish You Knew About Grammar But Were Afraid to Ask By Allison Nick

People often mistake me for being a grammar queen. They assume, because I read so much, because I was an English major, because I am a writer, that I am also an expert on grammar.

This is not quite the case. The reading and writing and English majoring did force me to be more aware of grammar, to see the ways in which punctuation adds to meaning, to garner an innate sense of how to write correctly, but I am no stickler for the rules and am often scared to admit that I don’t even know the rule in the first place.

Friends always seem so surprised when I have to Google their grammar questions, same as them. I always felt a little bit like a fraud. My passion was for books and language and stories, so I should also know the ins and outs of grammar. I was like a surgeon who knew nothing of basic anatomy, dangerously faking my way through, sewing sentences and cutting commas as I saw fit.

The thing I am learning now, as I take jobs and internships related to writing and communications, is that all those people, all those assumptions they made: they weren’t wrong. I need to know my grammar.

So I’m daring to ask and find answers to the grammar questions I’ve always been afraid to ask. And I’m asking you to join me. Please leave your own grammar queries and quandaries in the comments section. Do it. Do it right now.

I’m hoping to have a recurring Grammar Q&A post so please, please send in your grammar questions and keep a lookout for the first Q&A.