Mackenzie Lee

Mrs. Hawkins
English 8
12 October 2015
Grammar in the Real World
In the article, Does Grammar Matter in the Real World?, Maeve Maddox
addresses the topic of grammar and the way people speak while representing their
business. She believes that depending on the job, people should have a certain standard
of English. The senior vice president of a marketing and crisis-communication company
in Florida corrects an employee for failing at making the subject and verb agree in the
employees sentence. Even though the senior vice president is correct, Maddox proposes
that the error is so common in spoken English, people have given up trying to correct it.
The vice-president of a software company in Seattle values sincerity and clarity more
than grammar, and Tammy Erickson, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, adds that
younger speakers dont necessarily think correct spoken English matters as much as
sincerity in communication. Maddox states that it is not a problem for some jobs, but
others may affect their position as an employee. Ultimately, what Maddox is trying to
convey through her article is that people should master a standard form of English for
professional purposes, for it would be a disadvantage on themselves.