Why Should I Care About this Stuff?

I've had three or four emails from people who've asked about a grammar point and then tagged the question with, "And why should I care?" or "Why should I know this stuff?" I thought about flipping a because-you-asked response back into their court, but it's a good question, and I wanted to give it some thought before responding.

First, perhaps you're one of the people who shouldn't care. If you're convinced that you're going to get through life quite well without having to impress anyone with the clarity of your writing or speech, then, to hell with it. After all, there are myriads of things I don't know, and somehow life is bearable all the same. I can't fix my car if it breaks down, unless it's something obvious like a loose spark plug or a stolen battery; I don't know how to rewire my house or find out where my cesspool is located (wait, yes I do) or speak Swahili or at least 5000 other languages; and I'm not sure what a logarithm is or how Einstein came up with E=MC² or if Sting is a person or a group.

But, knowing about language, its structures, rules, and idiosyncrasies is different from knowing about cars, cesspools, Swahili, and energy, because not everyone needs that knowledge more than once or twice in a lifetime. However, you use language every day. And if you don't know how language is structured, if you don't understand its components, you can't manipulate it with assurance and authority. Yes, you might be able to play a little ditty once in a while, but the results will be hit-and-miss at best.

Would I succeed in building a wood-frame house without knowing what a stud is? I guess I could do it by trial, error, and lots of luck, but I certainly wouldn't be aware of the all-important 16-inch-on-center rule. Can you write a letter without knowing what is meant by subject-verb or tense agreement? Of course you can. But, you might not realize that your subject is supposed to agree with your verb or that you're expressing very different ideas when you use a past imperfect verb rather than a present perfect. You'll get it right much of the time through instinct or luck, but you'll never be sure.

It's okay; the reader will probably understand it anyway, just as my house built without studs placed 16-inches on center will probably stand for a while, at least until the wind picks up. But, you won't get it right some of the time, which could prove disastrous if you're communicating via a business letter, cover letter, or love letter. "Darling, I was thinking about breaking up with you" conveys a different message from, "Darling, I thought about breaking up with you." In the first case, I'm poised for the break-up speech and trying to remember where I keep my plastic bags so I can pack your stuff up and throw it out the window. In the second case, I'm ready to forgive you since it's clear that your lapse was only temporary and you've decided you can't live without me.

Learning about grammar and the structure of language isn't about being able to recite the definition of a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrase, just as building a house isn't about reciting the definition of a stud, header, foundation, or Phillips screwdriver. In learning the parts, your aim is to understand the whole. Learning about grammar will give you the tools necessary to wield power over your chief means of communication—speech and writing.

That's why you should care.