The Big NO-NO.

I learned about "no-no" rules in grammar when I was in junior high and a specific teacher (who was wonderful in many ways) gave us a list of grammatical "errors" that we were to entirely refrain from using in our writing. I don't remember how many items were on the list, but if memory serves, it was a LOT. I diligently avoided doing these things, of course, wanting an A in the class.

When I was in my first quarter of college, a teacher told us that we could not use a single "to be" verb in our essays. No, I'm not kidding...no "to be" verbs, and not just as an exercise in writing, but as a requirement for all of the essays we wrote (and though it wasn't an English class, there were lots of papers). I also learned from the same professor to never start a sentence with "however."

The author's of Grammar Alive! know these "No-no" rules all too well and seek to debunk the myths surrounding six of the major annoyances of English teachers and why we need to loosen up on these no-nos:

1. Sentence-ending prepositions: It's simply not a big deal, people. It arose out of a piece of eighteenth-century advice that one should not end a sentence with a weak word and grew into a hard-and-fast rule that, when adhered to, can sound downright foolish. In other instances, it actually cannot be adhered to when talking about phrasal verbs, such as those that go along with the verb "take," like "take after" and "take back." The authors note sentences that end with phrasal verbs, like "The dinosaurs died off" and "I hope a riot doesn't break out" cannot be altered (even though "off" and "out" look like prepositions).

But the best reason to break with this "rule"? Because Winston Churchill said so: "That is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I shall not put!"

2. Split infinitives: C'mon now, guys and gals. This really isn't that big of a deal. The authors suggest that it's a fast-and-easy rule mostly because it's an easy "error" to spot. But if we didn't have split infinitives, we couldn't have classic phrases like "To boldly go where no man has gone before," and who wants to mess with Star Trek? Not me. That's bad mojo.

3. Using contractions in formal writing: Contractions increase the flow of writing and it's superficial to focus on that as an "error" when there are, if I may use a cliche, bigger fish to fry in student writing.

4. Beginning sentences with coordinating conjunctions: The truth about starting sentences with coordinating conjunctions isn't that it's wrong, but that it sends a certain message to the reader. That message is one of informality. Used in the right way, it can be effective to start a sentence with "and," "but," or "so." Teach the students proper sentence boundaries and the rhetorical message of the sentence-starting coordinating conjunction, not to avoid using it altogether.

5. Using "I" in formal writing: Really? This is a "no-no"? Again, using "I" has a rhetorical purpose and can be done effectively.

6. Using "you" in formal writing: As much as I can't believe "I" is a no-no, I am a firm believer in the "Always avoid 'You' in formal writing" no-no because it's often done far too much. Students pepper their writing with "YOU" rather than referring to themselves or the subjects that they're talking about (like teenagers or mathletes or fisherpeople), and the resulting writing becomes impersonal, even blaming. The authors suggest, though, that the use of "you" invites the readers in and speaks to their needs. I can (grudgingly) see that. This should be a conversation we should have in class about the rhetorical effect of "you" on the reader.

Besides the use of "you," I am irritated by the misuse of "it's" and "its." That's not an arbitrary rule that can be effectively broken, though--saying "Its cold out" is just wrong. It's not hard to do it correctly, either, so why is it such a prevalent problem? I can't abide misused words, but I'm willing to be more flexible with "you"...I guess.