Grammatical Error Definition and Examples

Grammatical Error Definition and Examples Grammatical error is a term used in prescriptive grammar  to describe an instance of faulty, unconventional, or controversial usage, such as a ​misplaced modifier  or an inappropriate verb tense. Also called a usage error. Compare grammatical error with correctness. Grammatical errors are usually distinguished from (though sometimes confused with) factual errors, logical fallacies,  misspellings, typographical errors, and faulty punctuation. Interestingly, many people  tend to view usage errors primarily as gaffes or potential sources of embarrassment, not as impediments to effective communication. According to an ad for an amazing book on usage, Mistakes in English can cause you embarrassment, hold you back socially and on the job. It can make you look awkward and hide your true intellect. (Note that in the second sentence the singular pronoun it has no clear referent. Many English teachers would regard this as a grammatical error- specifically, a case of faulty pronoun reference.)   Examples and Observations The expression grammatical error sounds, and is, in a sense, paradoxical, for the reason that a form cannot be grammatical and erroneous at the same time. One would not say musical discord. . . . Because of the apparent contradiction of terms, the form grammatical error should be avoided and error in construction, or error in English, etc., be used in its stead. Of course one should never say, good grammar or bad grammar.(J. T. Baker, Correct English, Mar. 1, 1901)â€Å"We believe, as do most linguists, that native speakers do not make mistakes.†(Peter Trudgill and Lars-Gunnar Andersson, 1990, quoted by Carl James in Errors in Language Learning and Use. Addison Wesley Longman, 1998) Garner on Grammatical Errors If descriptivists believe that any linguistic evidence validates usage, then we must not be descriptivists. Hardly anyone wants to be a nonjudgmental collector of evidence. It’s far more interesting and valuable to assemble the evidence and then to draw conclusions from it. Judgments. Rulings. To the extent that the masses want such reasoningas one could only wishit’s because they want to use language effectively. (Bryan A. Garner, Which Language Rules to Flout. Or Flaunt? The New York Times, September 27, 2012)Because grammatical may mean either (1) relating to grammar [grammatical subject] or (2) consistent with grammar [a grammatical sentence], there is nothing wrong with the age-old phrase grammatical error (sense 1). Its as acceptable as the phrases criminal lawyer and logical fallacy. (Bryan A. Garner, Garners Modern American Usage. Oxford University Press, 2009) Grammar and Usage Usage is a concept that embraces many aspects of and attitudes toward language. Grammar is certainly only a small part of what goes to make up usage, though some people use one term for the other, as when they label what is really a controversial point of usage a grammatical error. (Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., 2003) Error Analysis Error analysis, as a descriptive rather than a prescriptive approach to error, provides a methodology for determining why a student makes a particular grammatical error and has been a potentially valuable borrowing from this field [research in second-language acquisition], one that could have altered the prescriptive drilling of standard forms which still comprises much of basic writing texts. Unfortunately, however, error analysis in the composition classroom has generally served to simply keep the focus on error. (Eleanor Kutz, Between Students Language and Academic Discourse: Interlanguage as Middle Ground. Negotiating Academic Literacies, ed. by Vivian Zamel and Ruth Spack. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1998) The Lighter Side of Grammatical Error First mobster: Hey. Theys throwin robots.Linguo: They are throwing robots.Second mobster: Its disrespecting us. Shut up ayou face.Linguo: Shut up your face.Second mobster: Whatsa matta you?First mobster: You aint so big.Second mobster: Me an him are gonna whack you in the labonza.Linguo: Mmmm . . . Aah! Bad grammar overload. Error. Error.[Linguo explodes](Trilogy of Error, The Simpsons, 2001) Also Known As: error, usage error, grammar error or mistake, bad grammar