Quotes on English Grammar

For most of us the rules of English grammar are at best a dimly remembered thing. But even for those who make the rules, grammatical correctitude sometimes proves easier to urge than to achieve. Among the errors cited in this book are a number committed by some of the leading authorities of this century. If men such as Fowler and Bernstein and Quirk and Howard cannot always get their English right, is it reasonable to expect the rest of us to?

Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it is the sickening grammar that they use.

Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.

Every English poet should master the rules of grammar before he attempts to bend or break them.

Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football.