sekiharatae | Hush up you inner grammarian!

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Does anyone else have an inner grammarian that comes along and complains at inopportune moments? And -- technically -- the grammarian is correct, but that doesn't necessarily make the writing better?

I want to describe Tifa as wearing the same clothing she'd worn the night before. Or as wearing the same clothing she'd worn the night previous. Or the same clothing she'd worn previously. (Although I like being specific that she wore it at night, not just in general.) Or as wearing the same clothing she'd worn the previous night.

All but the first are correct, but -- dangit! -- the incorrect one sounds better!

So I asked my husband.

He said: Does anyone really pay attention to that anymore?

(I raised my hand.)

He said: I mean besides you and the Grammarian Your Mother Warned You About (which is the nickname we have for a friend of ours).

I know that the 'no ending a sentence with a preposition' rule has fallen out of grace, and that it's generally only followed if it would make the sentence sound stupid or awkward. But now I'm annoyed that I can't figure out a way to write the sentence where it is grammatically correct by the rules I learned (ages and ages and ages ago) and still sounds... good.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

*Meekly raises hand* I notice that kind of thing all the time.

My friends get really mad at me when I correct them when they talk... which I do all the time. I also notice when they write things wrong in books or in fanfiction.

>.>' I've been a bit of a grammar freak since I was small child.

(Btw, the last one sounds good, too!)

I should, as a fellow ficcer, say I notice those things all the time, and I do, but I don't. If the grammatical errors are staggering, yes, I'll be frothing at the mouth, or if they are used in narrative that is non-POV specific, I'm irritated at mistakes. However, in GOOD writing and storytelling the grammar rules take a backseat to character. So, you have to ask yourself, how would Cloud say that? You're writing HIS POV and unless I missed something, you aren't there. So, would your character think: She was wearing the same clothing she'd worn the night previous; or would he think: she was wearing that same brain imploding scrap of sexy cloth from the night before. ??

Preposition be damned.

/ranty opinion

Edited 2009-07-16 10:40 (UTC)

LOL *hugs*

Well, I've moved things around a bit since I sent you those paragraphs last night -- I didn't think Cloud would recognize "cap sleeves" -- but you have a very good point!

Mainly I notice prepositions at the end of a sentence when the preposition used is up, of, on, or at. ("Where is George at?" makes my teeth ache with the need to object.)

There's a large part of me that thinks "before" is no more a preposition than "prior". They're synonyms!

And now that I've thought that, I feel better about using it! Hah!

(will happily go on with my writing now...)

What about "prior night" or "previous night" ..?

Yeah, i'm like that, except it's more with other people's writing than my own.

But when i'm beta-ing, I tend to go with what sounds good rather than what's right a lot of the time, unless of course, the sentence is really bad.

There is suuuuuuch a fine line between style and grammar sometimes, and I expect that's something you really have to consider as a beta. When writing fiction, authors often break rules for the sake of emphasis or impact.

Totally. So, so totally. Actually I AM my inner Grammarian. And my husband's even worse!

THAT SAID I also believe that good writing trumps all. If the grammar is a bit off but the writing is better for it, keep it.

Also, "the night before" has kind of entered the vernacular as well. Heck, the Beatles have a great song called that. =)

Edited 2009-07-16 13:01 (UTC)

The Grammarian My Mother Warned Me About (we need a shorter name for her) has also said this, back when I was complaining about getting my tenses straight. (I was talking about things in the distant past, and then the less distant past, and finally in the present; I knew I was being a bit inconsistent in places, but it sounded awkward when I went to the trouble of being perfect.)

I concur with "the night before" as a phrase that's now common enough as to be unremarkable-- and also think that the "no ending a sentence with a preposition" now falls under the "more like guidelines than actual rules" part of English grammar. ;-)

The CCC grammar website's discussion of the "prepositions at the end of a sentence" issue claims that it was a fairly late grammatical rule, and has now been replaced by focusing on clear/non-awkward sentence construction:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm#ending

The Easy Writer list of the top 20 grammatical errors doesn't include "putting a preposition at the end of a sentence" on it, which leads me to believe that the authors don't see that as a grammatical error per se.
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/easywriter3e/20errors/

Hope that helps!

JD

Woot! Thanks for the links! I'd never been to either. =)

I did find several pages that went on at length about why it's okay to end a sentence with a preposition. I just... am being obstinate. ^^;

(It's also hard to agree with them on this subject when I disagree on others. I agree we sprinkle prepositions in where they're not needed, but I don't think "she fell out of the window" is overly verbose, or greatly improved by dropping the "of".)

wouldn't it be easier to reword the whole thing? 'she'd fallen asleep in the clothes she woke up in'? (or is that the same problem--'in which she awoke won't do at all!), 'she woke up in the same clothes she was wearing when she fell asleep'... or leave it the way you had it, 'cause hardly anyone is going to worry about it if they notice it at all--I know; YOU'd know and whatever you write has to pass down your arm to (figurative)pen...I snoozed when the whole preposition rule thing was explained--if it ever was-- so I never really got it anyhoo.
mom calling

I especially hate people who use good instead of well. Like, YOU DID SOOOO GOOD! and I'll be like, Thanks....it's well. *is shot*

Hush up you inner grammarian!

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