By contrast, prescriptive grammarians would argue that 'go slowly' is the only correct grammatical form on the grounds that it is useful to distinguish the forms of adverbs and adjectives, and 'slow' is the only adjective form (a slow train), so 'slowly' should serve as the sole adverb form. Investigating 'slow' and 'slowly', they would find that both forms function as adverbs, and they might uncover situational or social-group correlates for them. In order to write accurate descriptions, grammarians must identify which expressions are actually in use. Dictionary makers also strive for descriptive accuracy in reporting which words are in use and which senses they carry. Modern grammarians aim to describe rather than prescribe linguistic forms and their uses. Prescriptive Grammarĭescriptive grammarians ask the question, 'What is English (or another language) like-what are its forms and how do they function in various situations?' By contrast, prescriptive grammarians ask 'What should English be like-what forms should people use and what functions should they serve?' Prescriptivists follow the tradition of the classical grammars of Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, which aimed to preserve earlier forms of those languages so that readers in subsequent generations could understand sacred texts and historical documents. Increasingly, though, scholarly grammars and dictionaries are exclusively descriptive. Instead, entrepreneurs like Noah Webster have earned their living by writing dictionaries and grammars, usually with a mix of description and prescription.

But given diverse forms, meanings, and uses, dictionary makers and grammarians must choose what to include in their works-whose language to represent and for use in which kinds of situations? In some nations, language academies have been established to settle such matters, as with the French Academy, formed nearly four hundred years ago, but to date English speakers have repudiated suggestions of a regulating body for their language. Because languages naturally adapt to their situations of use and also reflect the social identities of their speakers, linguistic variation is inevitable and natural.

'savings bank') or function as different parts of speech ('to steal'-verb 'a steal'-noun). Languages often have alternative expressions for the same thing ('car' and 'auto'), and a given word can carry different senses ('river bank' vs. Should road signs read 'Drive Slow' or 'Drive Slowly'? Which is grammatically correct: They don't have none or They don't have any? Given 'books' as the plural of 'book' and 'they' as the plural for 'she' and 'he', what's wrong with 'y'all' and 'yous' as plurals for 'you'? Are 'between you and I' and 'between you and me' both right, and who decides what's right and wrong in language, anyway? And who put 'ain't' in the dictionary? Is English going to the dogs, and is that what the fuss is all about?

Using correct grammar when speaking