Cut the Confusing, Complicated Crap!

Untangling Gordian Grammar Knots.

Once upon a time, long long ago, a farmer called Gordias became king. The Phrygians were without a ruler, and an oracle decreed that the next man riding into town on an ox-drawn cart should be their king.

So Gordias became king of Phrygia, simply because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. His son Midas dedicated the ox-cart to the gods and tied it to a post, using an intricate knot that seemed impossible to undo.

Yet another oracle foretold that the one to untie the Gordian Knot would rule Asia. Many ambitious would-be conquerors must have tried, but the cart stood there for centuries until Alexander the Great came to town in 333 BC.

There is some difference of opinion on how Alexander undid the Gordian Knot. Some say he cleverly untangled the knot by exposing the ends of the cord; some say he cut it with his sword. Unravelling the Gordian Knot has been a metaphor for solving seemingly impossible problems ever since. 

I like the sword version of the story, as it perfectly illustrates out-of-the-box thinking. The task of patiently untying such an elaborate knot would probably have been as complex as the knot itself. Alexander cleverly realised that it didn't matter how he undid the knot, so he cut it with his sword.

Explaining grammar can become quite intricate, but it doesn't have to be. Like the Gordian Knot, English grammar and its many rules may seem daunting or even impossible to master, but there are simple shortcuts.

If you present English grammar as an intricate knot, how many students will rise to the challenge? For every Alexander, there will most likely be a thousand others who give up in frustration. 

So forget about the intricacies of English grammar and focus on the basics. Just cut the complicated and confusing crap like Alexander cut the Gordian Knot. Using SvVOPT as your sword, just start by showing students how to deal with essential grammar like word order and verb tenses. All else will follow in due course.

Start with indispensable SvVOPT, and you'll be training little Alexanders, preparing them to conquer the English language world.

SvVOPT rules!

      Turn him to any cause of policy,
      The Gordian Knot of it he will unloose


         — Shakespeare, Henry V (I:1. 45–46)

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GrammarBob's continuing mission: to boldly go where no grammar has gone before and make essential English grammar easy for all.

For those unfamiliar with SvVOPT: it shows the basic word order in English (Subject - Verbs - Object - Place - Time) as well as the basic pattern of English verb constructs.