You're telling a friend an amazing story, and you just get to the best part when suddenly he interrupts,
你正给朋友讲一个精彩的故事，刚讲到最精彩的部分时，他突然打断了你说：
"The alien and I," not "Me and the alien."
应该是“外星人和我” 而不是“我和外星人”。
Most of us would probably be annoyed, but aside from the rude interruption, does your friend have a point?
许多人都会对这种行为感到反感，先抛开无礼的打断不谈，想想你朋友说的有道理吗？
Was your sentence actually grammatically incorrect?
你说的这句话从语法上讲真的是错的吗？
And if he still understood it, why does it even matter?
要是他依旧能理解你的意思，那么这样做又有什么意义呢？
From the point of view of linguistics, grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases or clauses, whether spoken or in writing.
从语言学的角度来看，语法就是一系列规则，教你怎样在口语和写作中用单词构成短语和句子。
Different languages have different patterns.
不同的语言有着不同的规则。
In English, the subject normally comes first, followed by the verb, and then the object,
比如在英语中，主语通常放在最前面，谓语动词跟在主语后面，宾语则放在最后，
while in Japanese and many other languages, the order is subject, object, verb.
而在日语和其他许多语言中顺序却变成了主语、宾语和谓语动词。
Some scholars have tried to identify patterns common to all languages, but apart from some basic features,
一些学者尝试找到适用于所有语言的规则，但是除了一些基本的属性，
like having nouns or verbs, few of these so-called linguistic universals have been found.
比如所有语言都有名词和动词，所谓的语言上的共性几乎是不存在的。
And while any language needs consistent patterns to function,
尽管所有语言都得按照一套固定的规则来，
the study of these patterns opens up an ongoing debate between two positions known as prescriptivism and descriptivism.
但有两方观点在这些规则的研究上始终争论不休，即规定主义和描写主义。
Grossly simplified, prescriptivists think a given language should follow consistent rules,
简单来说，规定主义认为一门既定的语言要遵循固定的规则，
while descriptivists see variation and adaptation as a natural and necessary part of language.
而描写主义则认为变化和调整是语言正常且必要的一部分。
For much of history, the vast majority of language was spoken.
绝大多数语言在其大部分历史时期中都是用于口头的交流。
But as people became more interconnected and writing gained importance,
不过随着人们相互之间联系的增多，书写的地位开始提升。
written language was standardized to allow broader communication and ensure that people in different parts of a realm could understand each other.
于是书面语开始规范化，以适用于更为广泛的交流，同时也确保了不同地方的人能够理解这些语言所表达的意思。
In many languages, this standard form came to be considered the only proper one,
对于大多数语言而言，这一标准形式被认为是唯一合适的，
despite being derived from just one of many spoken varieties, usually that of the people in power.
但实际上它却是从众多不同的口语形式中脱颖而出且通常情况下来自掌权的一方。
Language purists worked to establish and propagate this standard by detailing a set of rules that reflected the established grammar of their times.
通过将那个时代已有的一系列语法规则详尽记录下来，语言纯粹主义者们开始建立并传播这一标准。
And rules for written grammar were applied to spoken language, as well.
书面语言所涉及的语法同样也适用于口语。
