Does Grammar Change Over The Years?
I felt inspired to write this short blog post as Phil has written a few short posts on using grammar correctly. You can see Phil's profile below; from their will be able to find some short posts on writing grammar correctly.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/phil1944
Another reason I have written this post is that I know many of you use Grammarly. I have used the free version and the paid version. I'm currently using the paid version, which is generally helpful. It does have a few things that I don't like, but overall for me, it is beneficial and helps to pinpoint those mistakes that I would sometimes miss! I think sometimes we have our unique way of writing, which helps to show our character. Grammarly can potentially take some of our character or individuality away. It
Although I have written many blog posts over the years, my grammar is not brilliant! I know how to spell reasonably, but when it comes to nouns, pronouns, adjectives etc. I get lost! However, it's never too late to learn!
I always used to think that I would never add a comma after the word "and", but both Grammarly and Microsoft Word often tell me to use a comma. I had a conversation with Phil the other day about the subject.
Has anyone noticed recently that Grammarly is telling me to put a semi-colon in place of where I would usually have a comma? This has only started happening in the last ten days or so.
It's great to learn things many of us understand as Wealthy Affiliate members! But at the same time, I want to make sure that I am learning the right way, especially when it comes to grammar!
It's a short blog post, but your comments are appreciated.
Have a great day.
Roy
Recent Comments
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Hi Roy...this was an interesting read, especially after Phil's recent grammar posts. I've never used Grammarly. But it seems to be popular. I once studied linguistic anthropology in university and I agree with Fran's comments regarding the evolution of language. It does slowly change over time.
Grammar is difficult to perfect. It's especially challenging now as it is not taught in school anymore. However, it is something we can all work at once we know the basics.
Cheers,
Susan
There's only a handful of basics. And you only have to read some old journals to understand how both grammar and spelling have changed.
Good morning Susan,
My apologies for the late reply. I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment on my blog post.
Phil's grammar posts are very useful, I haven't read them all yet, however, I will when I have a bit more time.
Grammarly does help me correct my small mistakes, it doesn't get everything right though. I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to type which is not 100% accurate, but much quicker than me typing! Grammarly helps pick out those mistakes that could sometimes be missed. Although, with the latest update, I feel that it's highlighting too many unnecessary things.
Writing should also be unique to every individual, Grammarly can potentially take that individuality away. I tend to ignore lots of the suggestions to try and keep my uniqueness, as we are all individuals and unique.
I guess grammar is something that we are continually learning!
Have a great day.
Roy
Good morning Roy,
Thanks for your thoughtful response. I tend to agree with you...nothing beats the uniqueness of a real person over technology. It is helpful to learn some basics and keep brushing up over time.
Have a lovely day,
Susan
Good morning Susan,
Thank you for your reply, it's appreciated.
I believe the recent update from Grammarly, it does give more choices of alternative words. However, I often ignore the choices and just try and write in my own way! That's not because I always think I'm right, but maybe it's more the way I would speak if I was in a conversation!
I also believe that using Dragon NaturallySpeaking probably makes my words come out in more of a conversation form rather than typing the words out.
Yes, I agree with you, we almost learn over a period of time. One thing's for sure, we never stop learning!
Have a great day,
Roy
To answer your question, yes, grammar does change over the years. It is very gradual, but as our language is a living one and not a dead one like Latin, there will be changes. However, some basics remain the same, and I think Phil is doing many of our members a favor by writing his posts.
Good morning Fran,
Thank you take the time to read my blog post and respond.
I guess that you are right! I remember when I was at school we used to write paragraphs with an inch gap at the start of every paragraph! You don't see that now!
I am behind with Phil's grammar lessons, however, so far I have found them very helpful.
Have a great day.
Roy
I use a free version of Grammarly. I have noticed the use of a semi-colon recently in Grammarly. I assume they are upgrading. as Phil states in the comments.
English is my first language, but it never hurts to have a tool handy to keep us honest where Grammar is concerned.
Alex
Good morning Alex,
I hope you are doing well, thank you for commenting.
That's interesting, I am glad that I'm not the only one! Grammarly seems to be giving more options now, however, I am using the paid version. So often I will have all sorts of words and phrases underlined in Grammarly, sometimes it's too much! I like to keep my uniqueness rather than following Grammarly totally!
However, I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to type which isn't 100% accurate but much quicker than me typing. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is much more accurate than it was a few years ago It does help to pinpoint those mistakes that I could sometimes miss when I'm speed reading! Although Grammarly also misses mistakes sometimes!
Have a great day.
Roy
Hi, Roy
I'm also enjoying Phill's posts. I have to admit that as a Rock 'N Roll guitar player I tend to get a little lax in the writing department.
When I was earning my master's degree in medical informatics I had a bit of a persnickety professor that was an "Oxford Man." He insisted we use the Oxford (serial) comma before the word "and".
Shortly thereafter, he posted his manifesto of other pet grammatical stylistic demands and indicated that our masters thesis would be immediately rejected upon his recognition of any single violation.
I had my thesis checked by another Oxford graduate that worked as a proofreader, just to be sure. She corrected my grammatical syntax but did not change my informational content.
Just an amusing story that came to mind as I was reading what you had to say. 😊
Frank 🎸
Good morning Frank,
Thank you for taking the time to comment on my blog post, I appreciate it. My apologies for the late reply, not deliberate.
I'm a bit behind with Phil's posts, however, I know that I will be able to learn from reading them.
It sounds like you have a fantastic gift playing the guitar, I admire anyone who can play a musical instrument. It is also very therapeutic and takes your mind off everything else!
That's an interesting story, it's amazing how people in the know can still vary their grammar! I normally add a comma where I feel it's time to take a small breather, I believe it's correct!
Wishing you a great Sunday.
Roy
Thanks, Roy
I was lucky to be gifted with music at a young age. Everything else in life I had to work for. 😊
Enjoy your Sunday,
Frank 🎸
A pleasure, Frank!
That is such a wonderful gift to have, good for you! Maybe as you have had to work for everything else in your life, it makes you appreciate your musical gift even more.
Out of interest, what make of guitar do you play, or perhaps you have several?
Have a great week.
Roy
Hi, Roy
I have “collected” (I play them all) guitars since the 1960s and built a couple of dozen for myself after doing a three year apprenticeship with a luthier.
At this point I have 66 guitars. I keep them all out on stands in my music room (and everywhere else around the house) so I can just grab one.
I have a home repair shop and the equipment I need to build electric guitars. I don’t have the tools to build acoustic guitars, but I’m mostly an electric player.
I have mostly Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, PRS, and Parker instruments.
It’s a full time job doing the seasonal adjustments on all those guitars, even with excellent temperature control.
I have maybe two dozen amplifiers and a state-of-the-art digital recording studio.
When I fully retire I’ll have a lot more time to play music and work on my guitar website.
I play all the equipment I review at the Guitar Center down the road from my medical office, so it’s lot’s of fun. I’ve known the people in there for years so they let me do whatever I want and even get me equipment from other stores to review.
Frank
Hello Frank,
Thank you for your reply, that is absolutely amazing, good for you! I think it's so important to have hobbies and interests in life!
I don't think I have ever heard of anyone with 66 guitars! I have one acoustic guitar sitting in my home office and even that takes up a little bit of room. Your home must be absolutely amazing with all those guitars about everywhere. You could almost do a YouTube video on the guitar house!
That's interesting that you have built your own guitars, I must admit that's something I haven't really heard of. I know you can purchase handmade guitars, I believe Taylor and Martin guitars are handmade, but I could be wrong! I remember looking at a Taylor and a Martin guitar. I ended up buying a Takamine as I preferred it for playability, which surprised me!
How amazing to have your own workshop, where you carry out repairs etc.; fantastic!
I have never owned a genuine Fender or Gibson, I have just had the copies! Living in the UK, I have often wondered if I could go out to the US with an empty guitar case and bring a guitar back in!?
As you mention, I would have thought with 66 guitars it must be more than a full-time job looking after them! Lots of guitar strings are needed! Do you have a 12-string?
That's also a lot of amplifiers, I hope your house is detached and that your neighbours enjoy music!!😀
I'm sure a guitar website would be fantastic with all your knowledge of guitars! Especially if you create some YouTube videos and maybe comparison videos. I really hope you can pursue this when you retire.
I think it's absolutely fantastic when people have a real passion for something. You obviously have a passion for music and guitars which is amazing, good for you!
A question for you, please, Frank. I would like to be able to play my guitar through my desktop computer. I do have a couple of Fender Stratocaster copies. I used to use some software called Guitar Port, I think it was manufactured by Line 6. What would you recommend me to use, please? I really just want to be able to practice with an electric guitar through the computer. I'm sure there must be some fantastic software and lessons which can help me to improve.
Around 10 years ago I was playing in quite a large church, however, I moved church and was busy doing other things within the church. So my guitar playing has virtually stopped, it is something that I would like to do again!
How amazing that you can review all the guitar equipment at the local centre! It would be great if you could make some videos on the subject, that could be a powerful tool for making money online.
Wishing you all the best.
Roy
Hi, Roy
That's a lot of questions, let's see ...
Most of my guitars are in my music studio on stands, there is a photo of them, along with a photo of Les Paul & I at the Iridium in NYC on my WA profile page.
I do already have a guitar website that I built at WA, it's also listed on my profile if you're interested in taking a look. It only has about 100 articles on it, so far. If you check it out, let me know what you think.
Takamine are set up very easy to play and sound great.
Any guitar that you enjoy playing is a great guitar, even a Fender or Gibson copy. You should be able to bring one guitar back with you to the UK, especially if you have the bill of sale. There must be a ton of amazing guitar stores in the UK.
Our house sits in the middle of about 1 ½ acres of land so the neighbors never hear anything. I don't really play loud these days. Many times I don't plug my guitar into an amp or I use the master volume to keep the sound level low.
I don't have to change guitar strings as often as you might think, with all those guitars.
I don't currently have an acoustic 12-string guitar. I had one of the "Jimmy Page" double neck Gibson SG guitars but it got stolen from my apartment many years ago when I lived in Rome, Italy.
Yes, you can play your guitar through your desktop computer. The easiest way would be to plug the Strat into your Line 6 Guitar Port and configure the sound in the computer's settings app. You can also get something like an "iRig HD,' which will do the same thing.
Yousician and Fender Play both have excellent online guitar learning apps, or there are a ton of YouTube instructional videos.
I may do some home YouTube instructional videos in the future. I don't think Guitar Center cooperate will give me permission to record videos in their store and put them on YouTube.
I highly recommend you begin playing the guitar again and have fun with it. If you keep at least one guitar out on a stand where you can see it then you'll play it often. Even 15 or 20 minutes a day of play time would be awesome.
Frank
Good morning Frank,
Thank you so much for your detailed reply, it's appreciated. My apologies for the rather long reply.
I just looked at the photograph of your guitars, it looks like you have a great place to store them. A very interesting room indeed!
That's great you have a guitar website, I have just taken a quick look. It looks like you have some good and interesting articles on your website, I hope you are starting to see some results.
We used to have a guitar shop just about 6 miles down the road from me, which was absolutely amazing! Living in a village, I was amazed to find a guitar shop on a working farm that had a craft centre and light industry. I think they may have moved on now, possibly, they had a fantastic array of guitars and associated equipment.
I believe the guitars are quite a bit cheaper in the US, I must admit I haven't looked lately. Things may have changed.
It's great that you have a house set in over an acre, that sounds perfect for a guitar house!
I'm sorry that you had your double-neck guitar stolen, that's very disappointing. I'm sure something like that is fairly unique, they look fairly cumbersome, I have no idea what they would be like to play.
Thank you for the information regarding guitar software etc., it's always good to get recommendations from someone who has knowledge on the subject.
I would really like to get back into playing the guitar, I have my acoustic guitar on a stand in my home office. Unfortunately, it seems to be more of an ornament at the moment, but it really is something that I want to start using again.
I used to pick up my guitar every morning and night and just practice for a few minutes. It was very therapeutic and it takes your mind off everything else! It can happen again.
Once again, thank you so much for all the info, it's appreciated.
Have a great day.
Roy
Hi, Roy
That guitar website is about 1 year old and getting about 5,000 visitors a month.
I make more noise watching movies than with guitars at this point, but I've never had a complaint.
You can check on Amazon UK for guitars at competitive prices if you're in the market for another one.
If you watch Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven" on YouTube, you will see how Jimmy Page uses the Gibson SG double neck guitar in the context of that song.
Try to pick up your acoustic guitar for about 15 minutes a day and you'll be surprised how many songs you can play in a week. Music is one of the best therapies available!
Frank
Hello Frank,
I hope you're doing well. Thank you for your reply.
5000 visitors a month is not bad for a one-year-old website! Keep posting as much as you can.
It sounds like the perfect place to have guitars and not having to worry about the noise has to be good!
I would like to have another guitar at some point, hopefully, once I have sold my offline business, it will give me more time for the guitar.
I will have a look for the double neck guitar, I believe I have seen the video before, I'm sure it's great fun!
Yes, I believe you big time as I only used to practice for a few minutes a day, but I would literally pick up the guitar morning and night. I have now arrived at the stage where I can hardly remember a single song, it's bad! I also used to have one or two band practices a week, this was great for learning new skills.
Have a great weekend and thank you for your help. It's amazing how Grammarly's conversation changed into the guitar conversation, but it's good!
Roy
Hi, Roy
I manage about two articles a week on my website. Right now I don’t have time for more.
Sometimes a new guitar can get you practicing again. Every guitar plays and sounds a little different, which can alter your musical approach to a certain degree and can be helpful if you are in a “rut.”
I’ll be writing an article soon about that.
The Grammarly conversation changed to guitars after I said “as a Rock 'N’ Roll guitar player I tend to get a little lax in the writing department.”
I’m glad it did because it’s always fun talking about guitars. Sorry Phill, if we went a little overboard, no harm intended. 😊
Frank🎸
Hello Frank,
Two articles a week isn't too bad, I appreciate that time is very important. I found that the biggest thing in Internet marketing is being consistent. All the successful Internet marketers that I know are consistent.
It's amazing how almost identical guitars can feel and sound different. I've always fancied a genuine American Gibson or Fender electric guitar.
Please don't apologise for the conversation, it's good how one conversation leads to another. I've always found music a very interesting topic and we can learn so much from other members' experiences.
Have a great day.
Roy
Thanks, Roy
For the average length (2,500 to 3,000 words) and amount of detail I put into my articles it would be time-challenging to do three a week.
Yes, there's so many things that can change the sound and playability of an electric guitar:
Model, year of construction, electronics (pickup type), neck and body wood, tuning machines, nut, bridge & saddles, strings (brand, gauge, & material), etc.
Grab your guitar and play a little each day!
Frank
Good morning Frank,
I understand, that is certainly a good length for an article, mine are probably normally around the thousand mark.
I don't know if this helps, but I use speech software all the time to write my blog posts. To be fair, I hardly type at all! I have used Dragon NaturallySpeaking for years, it's not perfect, but it's far quicker than me typing! I have seen the accuracy increase over the years as various versions gradually improve.
It fascinates me the sound a musical instrument can make, it really is quite amazing! I also find it amazing when you are in a band situation and just a few instruments can make such an amazing sound!
Thank you for the encouragement, I need to pick up that guitar again!
Wishing you a great day.
Roy
Hi, Roy
I tried the voice recognition but it doesn't really save me much time. I type pretty fast and I use a lot of tables, where I have to constantly click inside fields, etc.
I use the medical version of Dragon Natural Dictation at work, in my office and in the hospital. Its integrated with the patient's electronic health records, so there are paragraphs of prewritten text for certain diagnoses that also pull in laboratory values and imaging reports.
Don't forget to put guitar playing back into your daily routine! 😊
Frank
Hello Frank,
I hope you're doing well.
That's interesting, if you can type quickly there is probably not a huge amount of difference in the speed! I have seen some people who can type unbelievably quickly, I'm not one of them!
I understand if you have lots of tables to click into etc., that makes sense. You obviously have a good idea of how Dragon works if you are using the medical edition.
Probably one thing Dragon helps with is to make our words sound a bit more like we are speaking to someone. That's just my small take, I could be wrong!
Thank you for encouraging me to pick up the guitar.
All the best.
Roy
Hi, Roy
Yes, I believe you are correct in saying that speaking tends to come out sounding more natural than typing or writing, which gives us the luxury of “overthinking” the situation.
Frank
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I think that grammar has changed since I had it drummed into me in public school. What is accepted as good grammar has certainly changed. I have notice that many authors no longer write in complete sentences. I think I was in 5th grade when I answered a question that made my teacher laugh so hard so started to cry. I said that an adjective was a word that mortified a noun.
Good morning Jim,
My apologies for the late reply, I appreciate you commenting, thank you.
I guess if you went to public school you learned grammar the right way! I like to try and do things properly although I am still learning about grammar!
I have definitely made my sentences shorter. This is probably due to the fact that the Yoast SEO plug-in asked me to write in shorter sentences! I don't know if that's correct in grammar terms!
One thing is for sure, we never stop learning!
Have a great day.
Roy
That's not far wrong, Jim. An adjective qualifies a noun, whereas an adverb modifies a verb.