English Grammar (Professional Writers) Rant!

Surely, professional writers should know basic rules of grammar? For example: 'should of' should be 'should have' of course, most people are aware of this but I've found the wrong use in a few novels. If it's spoken by a character, then it's a character trait and acceptable. Otherwise, no.

There are many gripes but today's annoyance is the unnecessary use of 'up' at the end of sentences. Here are some examples: 

• Pick the rubbish up should be Pick up the rubbish;
• Pick my parents up probably doesn't mean Pick up my parents but Collect my parents;

The same rule can apply with 'drop...off'. So, instead of drop the package off, try drop off the package or even 'deliver the package' which eliminates the need to think about the sentence structure. To me, 'Drop the package off' is an invitation to complete the sentence in the absence of the writer doing so, e.g. Drop the package off the top of a tall building.

Sometimes, the 'up' isn't required at all, such as: 

• Clean this mess up should be Clean up this mess or just Clean this mess;
  
• Please fill the box up is the same as Please fill the box;
• Hurry up is the same as Hurry!
  

I'm sure that you can think of many, many more.

Add these to my other grammar gripes,of which there are quite a few! For example, take a look at the following examples of incorrect grammar from those who should know better:

From the FT, 26 Jan 2024: "In Poland last year, almost half of men aged 18-21 backed the hard-right Confederation party, compared to just a sixth of young women of the same age."
This, of course, should be compared with.

From Mrs Downie A Level Media blog: "The news agenda of this paper [The Daily Mail] is different to The Guardian."
Tsk! Mrs Downie, it should be different from.

Most likely, this post isn't going to make a huge (or even small) difference to journalism grammar standards, nor will it improve teaching in schools, as A-levels are presumably gained at current standards. However, optimism is one of my characteristics :) 

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By the way, I'm not ranting at everyone because they may not have had the best English tutors or English grammar may not be their thing (doesn't matter how many times people have tried to teach me certain other things, like electronics or history dates, sometimes your brain just can't take it in).