如何搞定英文语法（一）

How to Master English Grammar (1)

> By Li Xiaolai · 2008-01-08 · [Original (web archive)](https://web.archive.org/web/20110906172108/http://www.lixiaolai.com/archives/260.html) (Chinese)
> Our translation from the Chinese original.

Many people treat English the way they treat elementary mathematics; this is an oversimplified view, or rather an unrealistic way of thinking and doing.

Elementary mathematics is actually not very interesting, because it's too simple. Everything is certain and unassailable. Learn some "axioms" that need no understanding or argument, then deduce—or simply memorize—a pile of "theorems" and "formulas," and after that you can produce "unassailable" proofs or "error-free" results. English grammar (in fact, the grammar of every language is like this) is very complex. Grammar contains few axioms or theorems; there are far more "rules" with numerous exceptions. In this sense, learning grammar well is obviously much harder than learning elementary mathematics well; they are simply not things on the same level.

When I was in high school, following our country's custom, I was put into a so-called "science class." Intuition alone told me that the so-called sense of superiority of most "science students" was nothing but a self-righteous illusion. It's only with calculus and probability and statistics that mathematics becomes truly fascinating. Because at that point, mathematics has begun to deal with complexity and uncertainty—and the key essence of life lies precisely in its complexity and uncertainty. Yet those "science students full of the illusion of superiority" from back then had long since stopped being "interested" in mathematics.

Mathematics and English alike (or any other language, for that matter) are each, in fact, one of the many ways of describing this world. Elementary mathematics (such as arithmetic, algebra, geometry and so on) is used only to describe some part of this world, while language bears the task of "describing the whole world as far as possible," so it is obviously much more complex than elementary mathematics, and can never be "perfect" or even "relatively perfect."

You must understand the essence of grammar. In essence, grammar does not "prescribe how you should say things"; rather, it "as far as possible" and "systematically" explains "why people generally say things this way." So you can't treat grammar rules as mathematical formulas; grammar rules don't guarantee that a sentence pieced together according to them will be meaningful and correct. A sentence like "I saw blue and red snowflakes flying in the river." actually has no error in terms of grammar rules, but would usually be considered obviously absurd and completely meaningless.

The grammar of any natural language is always made up of many rules full of exceptions. This fact is one of the important reasons why many second-language learners hate or loathe grammar. But this hatred and loathing is actually a sign of being "simple-minded," "crude in thinking" and "naive and childish." Think about it: in the world we live in, "rules with exceptions" are everywhere, while, conversely, "rules without any exceptions" are relatively much fewer, almost to the point of rarely existing in reality. [Translator's note: the original writes 很多存在 ("existing in large numbers"), which contradicts the sentence; it is a slip for 很少存在, "rarely existing"; translated by the intended sense] Killing someone is definitely a crime and is punished with a heavy sentence, but if the killer is a minor, the punishment is certainly different; consensual sex is no crime, but if one party is under 14 and the other is over 18, the situation is very different.

Don't be impatient with grammar rules. It is precisely this impatience that makes many people lose one of the most important tools they could otherwise have mastered: English. There are no shortcuts to learning English, or to simply using English directly, but there are certainly tricks. One of the important tricks is to stay patient. That's too general. What matters is: what do you stay patient on the strength of? On understanding, thorough understanding. I just mentioned that the essence of grammar is merely to explain "why people generally say things this way"; seen like this, there's really no reason to "memorize" grammar rules; what you should do is try to "understand" grammar rules—once you understand them, it's the same as having memorized them. People who take the action of "understanding" obviously find it easier to have patience than people who take the action of "memorizing." For another example, once you understand that grammar is nothing more than "a collection of rules with exceptions, systematized as far as possible," it's easier to stay patient. You no longer find those exceptions hateful; you just feel that those exceptions simply exist naturally. You're no longer puzzled by the systems of grammar books; instead you know clearly that being "fairly systematic" like this is already no easy feat.

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