Grammar Enthusiast June Casagrande on 'The Joy of Syntax'

What follows is a lightly edited transcript of a Stitcher Premium bonus podcast.

Today, I talked with June Casagrande. She writes a grammar column for Tronc and she has a new book out called “The Joy of Syntax.” Her previous books include “Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies” and “The Best Punctuation Book, Period.” And although I've only met her in person a couple of times, we're Twitter friends, and I've known June for many years. By the time we're finished, I hope you'll love her as much as I do. Let's get started.

Grammar Girl: Hi, June! Thanks so much for being here with me today.

June Casagrande: Thanks for having me!

GG: So you've got this great new book out, “The Joy of Syntax.” Why don't we get started. You can just tell me a little bit about what inspired you to write this book.

JC: Well, as a grammar and usage expert, you know there is sort of a big divide between the average person who has a strong sense of grammar and the academic world where linguistics and syntax are the basis of grammar, and you know how this results in clashes, like between descriptivists (which are people who say this is how the language is used) and prescriptivists (which are people who say this is how the language should be used). And a lot of that divide is based on this knowledge gap that otherwise word-savvy people have.

Word-savvy people often don't have a basic foundation in English syntax, and so I wanted to help bridge that gap for people, sort of bring the two worlds together and helping people who know that they're good with grammar, but feel like they're missing something in their basic knowledge level. Sort of help them get that foundation underneath what is already a very strong skill set.

GG: Yeah, and you've really succeeded with that. I mean, you have this great section on sentences that start with "it is" or "there are," and I learned terms I had never heard before! You broke it down in such a way that even though I've been doing this for twelve years, I learned things I...

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