Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we're saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I'm Lauren Smyth, and it's a Tuesday, so I think we should talk about something controversial. I mean, there's nothing really controversial about a Tuesday, but it's early in the week so I think our brains can handle it. The question is: Is English strictly a rules-based language, or is there room for imagination in grammar?

The fact that I'm running this podcast suggests that I'm advocating a rules-based system, where the comma goes here and not there all the time, and every semicolon must be followed by such-and-such a structure. Don't use semicolons, by the way, it's just not worth it. But actually, there's plenty of room for imagination and even deliberate transgression of widely held rules. That's often what takes writing from good to great - flexibility within established structures.

But before you can break the rules, you have to know what they are. And that's where Grammar Minute comes in. Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks, and to receive your official authorization to put that comma in the wrong place.