![202750507_448f2d6ca0[1] (2)](http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/files/2013/11/202750507_448f2d6ca01-2-300x210.jpg)
A long time ago in a university far, far away (which I will not name), the English Literature department added to its undergraduate handbook a page of grammar and usage advice. That page, still reprinted every year, contains a well-known list of “common errors” stated as self-violating maxims (with droll intent). I will not repeat all of these tongue-in-cheek ukases, but here are a dozen samples:
| 1 | Verbs has to agree with their subjects. | |
| 2 | Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. | |
| 3 | And do not start a sentence with a conjunction. | |
| 4 | It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. | |
| 5 | Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary. | |
| 6 | No sentence fragments. | |
| 7 | Contractions aren’t necessary and shouldn’t be used. | |
| 8 | Don’t use no double negatives. | |
| 9 | One should never generalize. | |
| 10 | Use the… |