There’s lots of opportunities to call the grammar police these days
I seem to be among a growing minority of people who pay attention to grammar. I know it’s a sign of the times and my own background. I spent many an early morning on the copy desk at the Atlanta Journal Sports department editing stories,watching out for dangling participles and the like.
My writer friends, of course, are an exception. Mark Burris, who graduated from a good liberal arts school and writes (and thinks) better than most, pays strict attention. As does my colleague Ginny Gaylor, who makes a living as an editor and proofreader.
But in the age of email and Twitter, more and more people are taking greater license with language. One of the most popular misappropriations of language involves the contraction for “there is.” There’s is the shortened form of there is. It is singular. (Or it’s singular, but don’t get me started on its and it’s.) There’s should not be used to connect a plural subject or object, as in “There’s not enough golfers playing the game today.” There are not enough golfers playing the game today is grammatically correct. It’s also a sad fact.
In a survey conducted earlier this year, about 45% of 430 employers said they were increasing employee-training programs to improve employees’ grammar and other skills, according to the Society for Human Resource Management and AARP. Good for them. There are (not, there’s and certainly not they’re) some other interesting facts about the damage being done to language at the link I’ve shared above.
Bill Bryant 
Posted on July 2, 2012
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