Go Ahead, Break a Few Grammar Rules

English grammar can be strict. But sometimes, you need to break the rules to be a better writer.

Writing is hard. “When we came back to Paris it was clear and cold and lovely,” writes Ernest Hemingway in A Moveable Feast (1964). This sentence flouts a few basic grammar rules for grammatical purists, with its simple adjectives, repetitive “and” and lack of a comma after “Paris.”

But his words sing.

How to write is drilled into us by our culture, upbringing and our teachers. We’re not taught how to let our words sing. And often, we follow grammar rules intuitively (online tools help to make sure we do, no matter what). Take this rule: Adjectives in English shall be written in this order: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose, noun.

Try it. You can have a “lovely little old rectangular green French silver pocket knife.” Better not to mess with that order. And since size comes before color, a “green big car” can’t exist. Or can it?

Yes, you need to break this rule eventually. For example, if you have two big cars and one small one, and one of the big cars is green and the small one is also green, you have to refer to the “green big car,” to be specific, thus breaking the rule.