The way we speak in informal settings is different from the way we talk or write in formal settings and there are some times I say something and someone corrects me saying that I am not observing the rules of grammar. Sometimes I start a sentence using a conjunction and other times I use contractions like ain’t in speech. In informal settings people are not keen on observing the rules of grammar and you will find a person using sentence fragments, ending sentences with a linking verb or a preposition, using dangling participles, splitting infinitives and using plural pronouns to refer back to singular nouns. Is this usage of grammar wrong? I do not believe it is wrong to use grammar in the aforementioned ways because the contrasting variables of prescriptive and descriptive grammar creates some quasi-paradoxical consequences and the rules used in descriptive grammar may not apply wholly to descriptive grammar.
Prescriptive grammar prescribes rules for writing and speaking language while descriptive grammar explains how language is used in ordinary settings. Prescriptive grammar works on the notion that there is only one way of doing things and tends to view other alternatives as wrong. However, these alternatives are not wrong because language, being part of a social system can not operate at the level of prescriptive rules. Components of social systems are flexible and if all speakers speak in a way that is acceptable socially, then there is no need for laying out rules to prescribe linguistic behaviour. If everyone is breaking the same linguistic convention consistently, then there is no need of putting prescriptive rules to govern the way people use language. There is no need of telling people that they are grammatically wrong when they bend the rules of grammar for their own convenience. These rules cannot work in settings that do not have linguistic variations. There is a difference between grammar and language though grammar is part of language. People need language and not grammar to communicate and this means that grammar is not a prerequisite for communication. As long as people can understand each other in informal settings, they should not be preoccupied with the rules that govern the language they speak. In some settings, you will find people using phrases like me : Me I went to school, Me and my mother went out on Saturday, Us guys will not tolerate nonsense, that is a lesson learnt by we and many more ungrammatical phrases. From a prescriptive point of view, these phrases are wrong because they flout the basic rules of grammar. However, the fact that they defy the basic rules of grammar does not make them universally wrong. The people using the statements still communicate their intended message in English language. The speakers are using English to communicate and the most important thing in social context is the message to be understood by the recipient meaning that observance of prescriptive rules may not affect delivery of the message. While prescriptive rules are very important in keeping the language pure, it is the descriptive rules of grammar that matter in flexible social contexts where people are unconscious of the principles of grammar. Therefore, it is not wrong to defy the rules of grammar in informal settings as many linguistic purists tend to postulate. It is important to note that prescriptive rules can only be used in regulated contexts.