Common English usage misconceptions

Grammar

The idea that a sentence should never end with a preposition is a persistent myth. This notion likely started in the 1600s with an essay by the poet John Dryden, and it continues to be taught in some schools today. But English speakers had been ending sentences with prepositions long before anyone thought it was wrong, and every major grammarian for over a hundred years has worked to correct this misunderstanding. You can find many examples of this natural construction in classic literature, including Shakespeare’s plays. The famous joke “This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put” mocks the awkwardness that comes from trying to avoid it. Both the Associated Press and Chicago style guides accept this usage.

Another common myth is that you must never split an infinitive. There is no actual rule against it, and it has never been grammatically incorrect. In fact, sometimes splitting an infinitive makes a sentence clearer. The idea that it was wrong came from Henry Alford’s 1864 grammar book, which claimed that because “to” is part of the infinitive, the two parts cannot be separated. This was part of a 19th-century trend to force Latin grammar rules onto English. In Latin, infinitives are single words, so splitting them is impossible.

A third misconception is that you cannot start a sentence with a conjunction like “and” or “but.” This supposed rule is a modern invention with no historical or grammatical basis. It has never been consistently followed in professional writing. The Chicago Manual of Style points out that a large number of sentences in excellent writing begin with conjunctions, and even the most conservative grammarians have done so for centuries.

Usage

A common misconception is that paragraphs must be at least three sentences long. No rule exists regarding the number of sentences that make up a paragraph; professional writers use paragraphs as short as a single word. The Oxford Guide to Plain English states that if you can say what you want in a single sentence lacking a direct connection with any other sentence, you may stop there and start a new paragraph. In some styles of writing, particularly journalistic styles, a paragraph can be just one sentence long.

Another misconception is that contractions are not appropriate in proper English. Writers such as Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson have been 'shrinking English' since Anglo-Saxon days. Some opinion makers in the 17th and 18th centuries eschewed contractions, but beginning in the 1920s, usage guides have mostly allowed them. Most writing handbooks now recommend using contractions to create more readable writing, though many schools continue to teach that contractions are prohibited in academic and formal writing.

Semantics

People sometimes claim that words like "funnest," "impactful," and "mentee" aren't real. But these terms are widely used, show up in multiple dictionaries, and are built from standard English word parts. Many linguists take a descriptive view, calling such usages nonstandard rather than wrong.

The word "inflammable" is an auto-antonym: it can mean either "able to be inflamed" or "not flammable," depending on how you break it down. Adding -able to "inflame" gives the first meaning, while adding the prefix in- to "flammable" gives the second. Because this can cause confusion, style guides often suggest using "flammable" and "not flammable" instead.

Some argue that "nauseous" should only mean "causing nausea," not "feeling nauseated." But actual English usage overwhelmingly contradicts this rule, which seems to have no known source before a 1949 letter from a physician. Likewise, the idea that "healthy" shouldn't describe things good for your health is a recent invention. Before the 19th century, "healthy" and "healthful" were used interchangeably, with examples going back to the 1500s. Today, using "healthful" instead of "healthy" can sound like hypercorrection.