Prescriptive Vs Descriptive Grammar

Descriptive grammar: the systematic study and description of a language. Descriptive grammar refers to the structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and writers. In syntax, as in modern linguistics more generally, we adopt a resolutely descriptive perspective concerning language. In particular, when linguists say that a sentence is grammatical, we don't mean that it is correct from a prescriptive point of view, but rather that it conforms to descriptive rules. descriptivist approach, on the other hand, examines how people actually use language and reveals the regular patterns that underlie every language and language variety. Descriptivists recognize variation between different groups of speakers. On the subject of double negatives in English, for instance, a descriptivist would say that some groups use them frequently, while other groups use them infrequently or not at all. Descriptivists view language change as inevitable, neither inherently positive nor negative, and they seek to understand what prompts it.


Prescriptive grammar: a set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and word structures of a language, usually intended as an aid to the learning of that language. Prescriptive grammar refers to the structure of a language as certain people think it should be used.
A prescriptivist approach to language holds that some structures and usages are acceptable and others unacceptable, as codified in grammar books and dictionaries. Prescriptivists would say, for instance, that it is wrong to use double negatives (I don’t know nothing). They are concerned with what they consider correct pronunciations, word meanings, and grammatical structures and they consider departures from prescribed rules and changes in the language to represent language decay.