Grammar With Yoda

He’s a Master Jedi, he’s wise and sees the future, he’s high on the list of favourite Star Wars characters and makes a great money-box (I want one of those!). He can lift machinery with his control of the Force, but he can’t put together a grammatically-correct sentence to save his life. So what can Yoda teach us about writing?

The great thing about the little green guy (apart from being able to wiggle his ears) is that he’s easy to understand, even though he talks funny. Look at some of the things he says and you’ll see why:

“Always with you what cannot be done.”

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

“Around the survivors, a perimeter create.”

Basically, Yoda turns his sentences on their heads, moves words around and puts them in a different order to normal English. He speaks like someone translating a foreign language literally, without any context.

But – and this is the thing – he doesn’t drop any essential words. He doesn’t make up new words (unlike a certain annoying Gungan). He has something to say. Just about everything the listener needs is there and can be rearranged to form a normal sentence. Importantly, he retains the meaning of the phrase.

So what can we learn from Master Yoda? Two lessons there are, young Padawan.

Firstly, perfect grammar is not essential to understanding. It helps, but unless you’re trying to make a living as a writer, what you have to say may be more important than building a syntactically-correct sentence.

Secondly, your voice can be more important than your grammar. If you’re blogging in a non-native language, you’ll make mistakes – but if you’re consistent and have personality (or green ears that you can wiggle), there’s a good chance you’ll end up with a following.

Don’t be discouraged by the difficulties of language. Don’t be put off by acerbic comments that pick holes in your sentences and ridicule your use of prepositions. Keep writing. As long as you have something to say, people will listen.

And remember Master Yoda’s advice: “Do, or do not. There is no try.”

(With thanks to @speedmouse for the inspiration.)