7 grammar myths you learned in schoolGrammarcan be tough. There are a lot of rules to follow, and a lot to wrap your head around. Some of the rules we learn in school, though, arent exactly accurate. While some function as helpful guidelines for style and form, other so-called rules are inventions, or superstitions, as thelexicographerHenry W. Fowler called them.Here are some common grammarmyths:1. You cant end a sentence with a prepositionMost of us learned in school that ending a sentence with aprepositionwas a mistake. This rule, however, is misguided, dating from the 17thcentury, when several notable writers tried tocodifyEnglish to fit more neatly with Latin grammar.Clearly, there are instances where attempting to avoid ending a sentence in a preposition results in a statement that is either over-formal or simply poor English. An over-formal example might be: He told her that there was nothingofwhich to be frightened. An example of poor English (or Yoda English) might be: Paidforthe house had not been.In herhelpful, myth-busting post on the issue, Catherine Soanes identifies four typical situations in which it is more natural to end a sentence with a preposition. passivestructures (she enjoys being fussedover) relative clauses(they must be convinced of the commitment that they are takingon) infinitivestructures (Tom had no-one to playwith) questions beginning with who, where, what, etc. (what music are you interestedin?)Read the entire post.2. You cant start a sentence with a conjunctionAnother common grammar myth is the rule about starting sentences withconjunctions. Conjunctions are words such asand,but,so, andif, which are used to connectclauses, sentences, or words. This grammatical superstition arises from the thought that because these words are used to connect separate clauses, they suggest the presence of afragmentwhen used at the beginning of a sentence. The argument against usingandorbutto introduce a sentence is that such a sentence expresses an incomplete thought (or fragment) and is therefore incorrect. However, this is astylisticpreference rather than a grammatical rule.Learn more about the finer points of conjunction use in Catherine Soaness post.3. Double negatives are always ungrammaticalWhen two negatives are used to communicate a negative, then the usage isungrammatical. The reason for this is that two negatives actually cancel each other out and create anaffirmativestatement. For example, the sentence I donthavenothingfor you is ungrammatical because the presence of two negatives technically switches the meaning to an affirmative one, so that it means I have something for you.Even though the use ofdouble negativesin formal speech and writing is nonstandard, the use of double negatives is common in areas such asinformalspeech and popular music (Aint No Sunshine).However, there is one use of double negatives that is entirely grammatical. In this use, the double negative is used to express and reinforce an affirmative, by way of denial or understatement. For example, take the sentenceI couldntnothelp him. [meaning: I strongly felt I should help him]The straight affirmative version of that sentence I could help him lacks the reinforced nature of the double negative version.Read more about double negatives.4. Splitting infinitives is a mistakeFor the uninitiated,splitting infinitivesis the practice of placing anadverbbetween to and the corresponding verb, as in to lightly tap. Splitting infinitives is a commonpeeveof grammar enthusiasts, but like many such peeves it has been employed by well-regarded Englishprosestylists for centuries. However, take care before splitting those infinitives; many style guides and professors would still consider this a stylistic error.These two sentences display split infinitives:She usedtosecretlyadmirehim.You havetoreallywatchhim.Those who believe that split infinitives are grammatically incorrect would rewrite these sentences as:She used secretlyto admirehim.You really haveto watchhim.Avoiding splitting infinitives can change the emphasis of whats being said. These sentences dont have quite the same meaning:You really haveto watchhim. [i.e. Its important that you watch him] You havetoreallywatchhim. [i.e. You have to watch him very closely]Read more about splitting those infinitives.5. You cant start a sentence withhopefullyYou absolutely can. This use ofhopefullyto mean it is hoped rather than theadverbialin a hopeful manner has been disputed in the past several years, though it has found its way into general acceptance. So despite the fact that all sentence adverbs were once frowned on, nowadays you should be able to usehappily, along with most other sentence adverbs (such assadly,strangely, orobviously).So why arethankfullyandhopefullysingled out for particularopprobrium? The answer lies in the fact thathopefullyandthankfullycant be reworded along the lines of other sentence adverbs, using the constructions it is hopeful that or it is thankful that:Hopefully, planning delays will be minimal.XIt is hopeful that planning delays will be minimal.Instead, you have to reword such sentences along the lines of:It is to be hoped that planning delays will be minimal.Learn more about placinghopefullyand other adverbs at the start of a sentence.6. The passive voice should not be usedEven though your teacher possibly warned you against it, thepassivevoice is perfectly acceptable. The passive tends to be used in formal documents such as official reports or scientific papers, often where an action or situation is regarded as more significant than who or what did or caused it:active: Spain beat Brazil in the final match.passive: Brazil was beaten in the final.For example, in the above active example, the victor and loser of the match are made perfectly clear by the active structure: Spain, thesubjectof the sentence, beat Brazil, theobjectof the sentence, in a match. In the passive example, the information about Spain is missing, thus theagentof Brazils loss remains unclear what is most important is the outcome of the game, not the winner.However, even though the use of the passive voice is perfectly permissible, most people favor the active voice because of how it provides a fuller account.Learn more about the passive vs. the active voice.7. You cannot usewhoseto refer to thingsYes, you can usewhoseto refer to things, not only people or groups of people. Sometimes,sticklerswill insist that rearranging the sentence usingof which. The below is an example sentence onOxfordDictionaries.comusingwhose:Gasping for breath, they reached the row of houseswhosegardens led onto the park.This is the same sentence rewritten to accommodateof which:Gasping for breath, they reached the row of houses, the gardensof whichled onto the park.The rewritten version usingof whichis clearly awkward and unwieldy. The better option here is to simply usewhoseinstead.Tell us about the grammar myths that annoy you in the comments below!The opinions and other information contained in OxfordWords blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Oxford University Press.

Active and passive verbsDepending on the way in which you word a sentence, a verb can be eitheractiveorpassive.When the verb is active, thesubjectof the verb is doing the action, as in these examples:FrancebeatBrazil in the final.

[subject][active verb]

More than 300 million peoplespeakSpanish.

[subject][active verb]

Jackwill takethe matter forward.

[subject][active verb]

When the verb is passive, the subject undergoes the action rather than doing it:Brazilwas beatenin the final.

[subject][passive verb]

Spanishis spokenby more than 300 million people worldwide.

[subject][passive verb]

The matterwill be takenforward by Jack.

[subject][passive verb]

Here, the sentences points of view have changed:Brazil, Spanish, andthe matterhave become the subjects of the passive verbswere beaten, is spoken, andwill be taken. In the first example, you can see that the subject of the active verb (France) does not appear in the corresponding passive version of the sentence. In the other two passive examples, the former subjects of the active verbs (more than 300 million people; Jack) are now introduced with the word by.The person or thing in a passive sentence that does or causes something is called theagent:more than 300 million peopleandJackare the agents of the second and third passive examples.These two different ways of using verbs are known asvoices. In everyday writing, the active voice is much more common than the passive. The passive tends to be used informaldocuments such as official reports or scientific papers, often where an action or situation is regarded as more significant than who or what did or caused it:The resultswere publishedin the Journal of the American Medical Association.A fair grading systemwas foundto be important to all students.Passive verb formsThe passive is formed with tenses of theauxiliary verbto be and thepast participleof the main verb. Here is a table showing the passive forms for most English verbs:TensePassiveExample

present simpleam/are/is + past participleHeis takento school by his mum.

present continuousam/are/is being + past participleTheyare beingbullied.

present perfecthave/has been + past participleHaveyoubeen interviewedfor many jobs?

past simplewas/were + past participleWewere toldnot to touch anything.

past continuouswas/were being + past participleOur computerswere being attackedby hackers.

past perfecthad been + past participleHis motherhad been brought upin India.

futurewill be + past participleArrangementswill be madeto move them to other locations.

future perfectwill have been + past participleAll the merchandisewill have been shippedby tomorrow.

Writing essay draftsWriting the first draftWrite a rst, roughdraftof your essay, using the points made in your plan as the basis for paragraphs or sections. Always try to keep to one main point per paragraph: make the point at the outset, then support it with arguments, evidence, or discussion. You may not keep strictly to your original plan since your thoughts will develop as your writing proceeds, but make sure that you have anintroduction, amain section(orbody), andconclusion. Once you have written a rst draft, you might nd it helpful to read it through quickly to check that you have addressed all the points raised by the question and that you have not wandered off the subject. Do not worry aboutgrammar,punctuation, andspellingat this stage: these are matters to be addressed at the end of the essay-writing process. Put your rst draft aside for a day or so (if youve planned enough time to do so). This will give your mind a rest and allow you to look at the essay with a fresh eye later on.Preparing the final draftThis is essentially anassessment, redrafting, and checking process. Look at your rst draft critically: think of your reader, and rewrite or sharpen up passages that seem unclear, rambling, or badly worded. For guidance on language and choosing the right word, read ourtop tips for word choice. Assess the essaysstructurefor logical order andcoherence. Make sure your sentences and paragraphs are linked and make sense. You may wish to reconsider the beginning and end of the essay in the light of what you have written orrevisedin the main body of it: does the introduction still clearly state your approach and does the nal conclusionincorporateandsum upyour key arguments? Check your facts andevidence. Have you provided all the relevant supporting data and referenced all yoursourcesin a consistent and accurate way? Write aBibliographyorReferencessection. If you have been asked to keep to a particular word count for the essay, then now is the time to count the words and reduce or expand your text as necessary.When you have nished writing and rening it, read the whole essay once more for clarity, logical structure, and relevance to the question.Final checksThe nal stage of the essay-writing process should be a thoroughproofread. This is the point at which you must check yourgrammar,spelling,punctuation, andformattingvery carefully. You should read the essay more than once for such mistakes, and might nd it useful to ask a friend to proofread your essay as well if they have time: another person can often spot errors that you might have missed. Lastly, check that you have attached anysupplementaryor supporting material, such as graphs, tables, or diagrams, and that you have put your name, the date, the essay question or title, and any other necessary information (such as a module or course title) at the top.