A Letter from a Reader on English Grammar

A reader asks:

I learned almost all the grammar I still know from Latin, French and German where these constructions had to be more explicitly explained: Declension and conjugation from Latin, subjunctives from German, etc. My question is, am I unusual in this respect or did you gain a better command of English by comparing (it) with other languages? 

Studying Latin and the other languages helps, but I wouldn’t overemphasize this.  English has the subjunctive mood.  We don’t say, “If I was king.” or “Joe wishes he was taller.”  We don’t have conjugations of verbs, but we have more than our share of irregular verbs, which I would argue earns our language what it’s known to be: a beast to learn.

My  point is that one can achieve a solid command of English grammar without any exposure to anything beyond.

The issue is caring. My family cared a great deal, as did the private school my brother and I attended.  When I come across people with poor grammar I realize: no one cared.  That’s sad, especially considering that the average European high school student becomes fluent in at least two languages, and sometimes four or five.

When my kids were young, I told them, “No one can look into your mind and read your thoughts. For that reason, those around you will listen to what you say or read what you write and form their judgements as to your intelligence accordingly.  If you don’t want to be thought to be an idiot, put in a bit of effort and nail down the basics of our language.