How much attention do you pay to your grammar while reading and writing?

Do you pay much attention to your grammar while you read and write?

Is grammar just something teachers — and adults in general — make a big deal about? Should grammar still be taught in schools? Isn’t there an app for that, anyway?

In “This Grammar Guru Will Solve the World’s Problems,” Katherine Rosman writes about Ellen Jovin and her efforts to bring her love of grammar to the sidewalks of New York City:

Ellen Jovin was settling in at a collapsible table she’d set up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan last month when two little boys of around 4 and 5 approached her.

“What’s a gerund?” one of them asked.

Charmed, Ms Jovin explained that a gerund is a verb that has become a noun after an -ing has been added to it. “Run” is a verb but “running” is a gerund, she told them.

“Are you related?” she then asked them.

One boy said “yes.” The other said “no.” Then they started fighting.

“No choking your brother at the Grammar Table!” Ms Jovin shouted. “Oh, and ‘choking’ is a gerund.”

Ms Jovin is a new member of a city subway ecosystem known for its string-instrument musicians, break-dancers and religion preachers. About four times a week, she schleps a foldable table and a chair to locations such as a triangular sidewalk plaza outside a subway entrance off 72nd Street or inside the underground expanses of Grand Central Station or Times Square and sets up the Grammar Table. Its laminated sign reads: “Vent! Comma crisis? Semicolonphobia? Conjunctive adverb addiction! Ask a question! Any language!”

Ms Jovin, 53, knows that a better understanding of the role of conjunctions will not put a stop to political divisions. But in a world of course discourse, why not create a little common ground by parsing past participles? “Language studies is something people can bond over and enjoy without getting into a huge fight,” she said. (Unless you’re 4 or 5, perhaps.)

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

— How good is your grammar? Does grammar still matter in the age of Twitter?

— How were you taught grammar? Was it effective? Should grammar continue to be taught in school? Or should schools simply provide all students with grammar apps on their phones and computers?

— What grammar errors do you make most often? When Ms Jovin sets up her grammar table in public, her poster reads: “Vent! Comma crisis? Semicolonphobia? Conjunctive adverb addiction! Ask a question! Any language!” Which grammar problems would you come to her for? What questions might you ask?

— Do you agree with Ms Jovin that grammar can bring people together? Does this article make you care about grammar more?

— Take a look at Marcelle Rand’s Instagram account, @Copy_Wronged, where she posts photos of grammatical mistakes she spots in public. If inspired, look for examples around you, take a photo and post it to your social media.