Is anyone else turned off completely by bad grammar?

1. 57

   osa agbonlahorposted 12 years ago

   Is anyone else turned off completely by bad grammar?
   
   I remember reading a really great story on here a while ago, and I found that I just couldn't finish it because half the words were misspelled and the grammar was terrible.
   Is grammar as important as content?
   (I believe so, but what do you think?)

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2. 67

   Ellana317posted 12 years ago

   Hummmm... Bad grammar tends to bother me but if the story is good enough I'll read on. That said, I'm not totally turned off by it because sometimes I am one of those people with bad grammar.  We all have our "off" days right?  LOL...

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3. 62

   sethpowersposted 12 years ago

   Good grammar can really breathe life into even mediocre writing. It helps readers consume and comprehend the information better.
   
   Bad grammar indicates carelessness from the writer. It's like a carpenter building a shoddy house. Would you want to live in a house like that? My point exactly.

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4. 81

   Attikosposted 12 years ago

   Good writing conveys meaning clearly, concisely. It's the way to the story. I don't read poor writing at all. There may be valuable meaning behind it, but how would you know? It's impossible to be sure you're getting the one the writer put there, and the work you have to do to get through all the obstacles isn't worth it.

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5. 100

   chef-de-jourposted 12 years ago

   If I encounter bad grammar in a story or article I tend to stop reading immediately. It's a natural reaction that is a little like a reflex action, I can't help myself. You know that feeling when you've digested something and it leaves you with a queasy stomach? Similar thing with grammar.
   Writing reflects the person and bad grammar is a bit like looking into a cracked mirror. Meaning is distorted and no matter how you look at it you can't form a whole.
   I can tolerate a typo here and there but one too many and I'm off!
   
   Having said that, grammar as a subject totally bores me and I can't see the point of its existence! Yet I know it needs to be studied and used!

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   1. 73

      nmdondersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I agree and think that it really takes away from credibility when there are a lot of errors present.  I get that we all make mistakes. I'm very critical of myself and still mess up, but I do my best to ensure that what I put out there isn't sloppy.

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6. 61

   duffsmomposted 12 years ago

   I can't stand bad grammar.  What bothers me is how acceptable it seems to be.  I like to read the News on Yahoo.  The poor grammar and poor news writing is astonishing!
   
   Like you I tend to step aside from stories or articles with poor spelling or poor grammar.
   
   Yes, I believe that grammar is as important as content.

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7. 68

   Sarah Christinaposted 12 years ago

   If there is a misspelled word here and there, or a poorly formed sentence or two, I don't get very annoyed (although I do always notice, I just tend to have an editing eye). If, however, the article I'm reading is full of errors (especially misspelling) then I will often stop reading it. Even I don't have perfect grammar all the time, but I am a bit of a perfectionist and judge my writing very harshly. With others, I am a bit more lenient--but if I can't grasp the point of what they are trying to say because of their terrible grammar, I'm not going keep reading. So yes, I would say that grammar is equally as important as content. Enough bad grammar can ruin any article or story, no matter how imaginative or original the piece may be.

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8. 78

   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   Sad to say but I have been enjoying an ebook and love the story, but if I see a grammar or spelling error it lessens my enthusiasm for the book slightly. But not enough to stop reading it.

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9. 60

   Tarantula Bposted 12 years ago

   off put me not; grammer bad luv> short too warning! But seriously agree. Don't get finnicky though.

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   1. 60

      Tarantula Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      ...but seriously, blatant errors just shout out at me. "The writer's who randomly use apostrophes' ", "Generically modified food sold here".... Such things distract you from even the best pieces of writing.

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10. 60

    opiningminionposted 12 years ago

    Absolutely. A written expression vexed with errors razes the mood, tempo and effect the piece is leveling for. (...I should know, for I too am guilty of soiling a scribble or few...)

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11. 60

    Brandon Tartposted 12 years ago

    This is one of those questions that one could become discursive on the matter of.  Now, when one is reading a philosopher like Hegel, Nietzsche and Kant, for instance, it may appear that they are playing jazz linguistically.  At least it's fair to say that their style of structuring thoughts leads to what the translators of their writing must resort to to make it comprehendible.
    
    It looks odd, that is, when you compare these genius mind's writing styles to what we are accustomed to today from writers whose sentence structures are about as medium pitched as the center of a grey scale.  One who is not an avid reader of either Pre, or Post-Enlightment era literature may draw the conclusion that their writing is not well executed.
    
    Ever read, The Death of the Author, by Roland Barthes?  I venture to say that many "educated" people who dare traverse all five pages of that critical, and beautiful essay by Barthes would summon the grammar gods to have his head for what appears to their modern eyes as little more than a list of run-ons....
    
    While this may or may not be so, it is good that we can identify what is discursive (when the time comes) and not poorly written literature that does indeed consist of run-ons that say nothing at all.  There must be room to account, however, for the moment of being human, tired, inadequately supplied with lighting that enables writers to proof their documents of high-literary wit and woe -- where "the" is eth, hte or whatever else you can extrapolate from the word, THE.
    
    The point I am making is that I find it to be that bad grammar can be excused when, and only when a truly superior idea is put forth by a genius from a different creative tribe.  I don't expect everyone to be Chaucer - and thank GOD!  When that is the case, should he or she desire to call me to make their potentially  fortune 500-type proposal more eloquent, then those inventive gurus of their own domain can call me and I will take HET from them and make it sound better.
    
    Grammar is not the end all be all.  1+1=7...

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    1. 68

       Sarah Christinaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, it's true that many great writers have broken the grammar rules. As one of my college professors once said, "First you learn the rules, and then you break them." That's the distinction--if it's not on purpose then the bad grammar has no purpose.

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12. 60

    Mahmoposted 12 years ago

    Frankly speaking, the English language in itself is a weird language in its rules.I came across an essay at the following url to share with you, because it really reflects the confusion which other people experience with this language.
    
    http://www.vincentchow.net/885/english- … d-language

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