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Grammar or Grammer: What’s the Difference?
Home » Grammar or Grammer: What’s the Difference?
Many words in English have multiple spellings. In some cases, however, a deviation is an error, and nothing else.
Children learning English in school are exposed to formal grammar lessons at an early age, and they learn the language’s complexities as they progress through the educational system. Yet, many writers are unsure of the correct spelling of the word grammar. This uncertainty leads to embarrassing mistakes.
To be fair, however, Grammer is also a word used in English that does have appropriate usage cases. None of them have anything to do with grammar, though.
Read on to find out whether you should be using grammar or Grammer in your writing.
What is the Difference Between Grammar and Grammer?
In this article, I will compare the words grammar vs. Grammer. I will use each in a sentence, and I will show you a helpful trick to use when you can’t decide whether you mean Grammer or grammar.
When to Use Grammar
What does grammar mean? Grammar is defined as a system of rules governing the structure of language. All languages have a system of grammar, even if the rules contained therein are wildly different. Research has shown that even some animals use systems of grammar when they communicate with each other.
The sentences below reflect proper usage of the word grammar.
Open your grammar books to page 12 and complete exercises 1-10.
Children develop the capacity to understand complex grammar before they can produce grammatically complex utterances themselves.
It had already been established that dogs respond to human voices better than their wolf brethren, are able to match hundreds of objects to words and learn elements of grammar, and can be directed by human speech. –The Washington Post
When to Use Grammer
What does Grammer mean? Grammer is a proper noun. It is not to be used in any other context.
Kelsey Grammer, for instance, is an American actor famous for playing Frasier Crane in the TV sitcoms Cheers and its spinoff, Frasier. Grammer is also the name of a small community in Rock Creek, Indiana, USA.
The following sentence illustrates the use of Grammer as a proper noun.
Kelsey Grammer travelled to Grammer, Indiana, to find out if anyone lives there.
Actor Kelsey Grammer will list his 3,076-square-foot condo in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood for $9.75 million. Mr. Grammer purchased the property for $6.4 million in 2010 through a limited-liability company, according to public records. –The Wall Street Journal
The system of rules for modifying the structure of language, however, is always spelled grammar. To use grammer in this context is a misspelling.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Here is a helpful trick to remember Grammer vs. grammar.
You should only use Grammer as a proper noun.
If you are writing about Kelsey Grammer, or, for some reason, the small community of Grammer, Indiana, capitalize the word and spell it with an E. Remember that Kelsey Grammer was an actor on Cheers, which is also spelled with the letter E.
When writing about the system of rules governing the construction of sentences, do not capitalize the word, and spell it with an A.
Summary
Is it grammar or grammer? If you misuse Grammer, you leave yourself open to criticism and weaken your writing. It’s important to get this distinction right the first time.
Grammar is a set of rules about the structure of language.
Grammer is a proper noun that refers to a particular American community, or the name of a person.
You should only use Grammer in the above contexts. Remember that Grammer shares the letter E with Cheers, a show that made actor Kelsey Grammer famous.
If you need help, don’t sacrifice your credibility over a simple mistake. Please come back and reference this article instead.
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