3 Grammar Rules You Can Stop Obsessing Over

Hey, you grammar snobs. Think you’ve got it all figured out? I used to think the same thing. Then I stumbled across a breakdown from Arika Okrent that basically flips a few of those “rules” on their head.

Turns out, some of the grammar laws we cling to are less about clarity and more about tradition. Or better yet, imitation. Specifically, the imitation of Latin. And English is not Latin, no matter how hard a few 17th-century scholars tried to make it behave like it.

Here are three classic “rules” that might not deserve the guilt trip they come with.

Ending a sentence with a preposition
You’ve heard it before. “That’s something up with which I will not put.” Sounds ridiculous, right? That’s because it is. This rule came from writers like John Dryden, who wanted English to mimic Latin structure. The problem is, English works better when it flows naturally. Ending a sentence with a preposition is often clearer and way less awkward.

Splitting an infinitive
“To boldly go” is probably the most famous offender thanks to Star Trek. Traditionalists hate it. Real speakers use it all the time. Again, this rule exists because Latin infinitives are one word, so they cannot be split. English infinitives are two words. Different language, different rules. Sometimes splitting actually makes the sentence clearer and more punchy.

Using singular “they.”
This one gets people surprisingly heated. But singular “they” is not new. It has been used for centuries. Writers have been doing it long before grammar purists started clutching their pearls. Okrent points out that “you” used to be plural only too, until it quietly replaced “thou.” Language evolves. It always has.

So why do these rules stick around?

Part of it comes down to what Okrent calls the “peeve factor.” If someone influential dislikes how something sounds, it can get baked into textbooks and taught like gospel. Even if it has nothing to do with how people actually speak or understand each other.

That said, context still matters. If you’re writing something formal or academic, you might want to play by more traditional expectations. Not because the rules are sacred, but because your audience expects it.

At the end of the day, grammar is supposed to serve communication, not strangle it. If breaking a rule makes your sentence clearer, more natural, or just sound like a real human wrote it, you’re probably doing it right.