Native speakers, do you guys care about other people’s grammar?

If someone's obviously not a native English speaker? No, not unless I can't understand them.

I do care. You seem fine though. The bar is really low. There are native speaker who wouldn't know grammar if it bit them in the ass. Always trying to think about "what the best way is to phrase something" seems normal to me! I do the same.

For non natives, pronunciation is definitely way more important

It can be a bit annoying sometimes to read something with terrible grammar, but it usually gets the point across. (Usually. There have been times where an English learner types out a post and it's incomprehensible to me, but that's typically rare.) Your grammar here is better than a lot of native speakers.

To be honest with you, if the errors aren't GLARING I often don't notice once I get used to speaking with someone. My bf is not a native English speaker, and he has asked me to point out any grammer/pronunciation mistakes he makes to help him learn. The problem? I have talked to him enough that I genuinely don't notice anymore until he says something like "wait I think that was wrong" and then I'll think about it and go "oh yeah that was wrong" 😅 Don't worry about it too much! Most English speakers in multicultural areas are accustomed to communicating with non-native speakers and will be able to figure out what you mean.

I only care if: 1. I can't understand it. I'll ask clarifying questions and maybe rephrase what I think they said to make sure my assumption is correct. 2. They ask if it's correct, like this sub and others, and they're trying to learn. In everyday life, I'm sure very few people use correct grammar all the time, even native speakers. I try to be more careful with what I type in this sub and other "learning English" subs than I do in otherwise. Here, non-native speakers are reading what I post and learning from it, and I don't want to inadvertently teach them the wrong thing. This post, for example; I'm not trying to teach grammar to anyone, I'm just trying to say, "Perfect grammar isn't a big concern for me," but I'm still being much more careful about MY grammar.

grammar is really important. you should never stop trying to improve. (same goes for natives) in conversation, I don't mind imperfect grammar at all. many English speakers we encounter are learners. even though I live in the US where most of us speak English, I encounter people who have different native languages all the time (and I even have some in my own family) certain grammar rules apply more to writing than speaking, especially when it comes to sentence structure. however, certain rules (like basic subject/verb conjunction) really stick out as a mistake a native speaker probably wouldn't make. sometimes an excessive number of those types of mistakes can impede communication.

yes. even with other native speakers. but i'm more forgiving with casual speech as long as comprehension isn't affected.

No Sometimes I make jokes about it with close friends like if they were to say something like “I’ve got many stuffs” but that’s very rarely and 99% of the time I won’t notice or not care

Many of us have family members who are not native speakers. We grow up hearing less than perfect English. So we make a lot of allowances. Many of us also live in cities with large immigrant populations, so we also just get used to hearing English that is non-native, English that will have mistakes.

It depends. Am I paying your salary or do you live across the street and we see each on the neighborhood dogwalk? If you're someone I have to communicate effectively it can be annoying, especially if you don't seem to care and you're assuming that I'll go to the trouble to decipher what you're saying. If you're an acquaintance that I don't interact with a lot, I don't care. In any context, most people are generous is attempting to understand but if it's clear you're not trying, it's not my job to figure out what you're saying.

NGL if English is someone's second language and they have incorrect grammar, it can be endearing.

It matters about as much as someone accidentally having their shirt on inside out. Is it correct? No, but it's harmless and not everyone will even notice. Of those that do notice, most won't mind, especially in a casual setting. That said, there still *are* some situations where being properly dressed is a requirement and so it is with grammar. At a party? Nobody cares whether you say "he gone now" or "But then we see dog and it BIG, man, BIG like I no believe it!" Defending your dissertation? Well all right, if you're getting a degree in English, maybe you should care.

personally as long as your understandable (you are so theres no need to be insecure) and if theres only like one mistake i wont tend to point it out

I don’t mind bad grammar especially if it’s obvious the speaker/poster isn’t a native english speaker. What I do mind is people who express themselves very poorly, don’t proofread what they write, and ESPECIALLY people who don’t use any kind of punctuation so their writing is just a long stream of thoughts that often difficult to parse out.

I've been speaking English for almost 45 years and I still have issues with grammar at times. I'm amazed at anyone who learns English as a second language. I'm amazed at anyone who can communicate in more than one language period, even if your grammar is not the best. Hat's off to you!!!!!

I do but when I'm speaking with a non-native speaker, I'm very understanding that they're not going to get it perfect. Being able to understand you is the main thing.

Writing: I do kind of care. Speaking: not really. My standards are much higher for native speakers in both situations. I wanna claw my eyes out when native speakers mix up amount/number, but I’m not neeeearly that picky with learners’ English. That’s mostly about understanding.

Not even the tiniest bit.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Would I expect my lawyer to have good grammar? Yes. He's supposed to be really good at writing and oral argument. Would I expect a person who is speaking English as a second language to be perfect? No. Just understandable.

I work for a large multinational company, and I interact with many non-native English speakers from many different countries every single day. Honestly, at this point, I often don't even notice grammatical errors, let alone care. As long as we can communicate and understand each other, that's what matters most. I speak a couple of languages myself, so I understand the difficulty and appreciate the fact that they're communicating with me in my language. Yes, sure, it's ideal if you use good grammar, but being able to communicate ideas and have a conversation is more important.

Technically not a native speaker, but fluent: if I know English is your second language, no. I might point out some mistakes here or there if I know you want to make efforts to improve your grammar, though. However, if English is your first language, I very much do care about grammar. If I had to learn English as a second language, my grammar shouldn’t be better than yours.

Care emotionally? No. For simple things, like "where is the bathroom?" Does grammar matter? Usually no. If someone is trying to say something with any amount of nuance, yes, correct grammar is necessary, or at least something close to it.

It irks me to see certain mistakes, but at the end of the day, communication is the point, and what's important is that I understand. Never stop learning and trying, though.

I tend to care more when it's written down. People take all sorts of shortcuts and so on, out loud, it's acceptable so long as I can understand them at all.

Depending on the specific grammar error, we native speakers might ask for clarification. Other than that, any person worth knowing will make allowances for someone trying to learn and practice. We can be more demanding of other native speakers, but the social consequences are based on context.

As a native speaker, I would never judge a non-native speaker for their grammar. However, I do judge my fellow native speakers all the time, particularly with who vs whom and good vs well.

If you wanted help with your grammar, as "grammar" is considered a single "entity" or "thing", you would say "I feel like my grammar isn't 100% accurate" instead of "grammarS aren't". Still, you would have got it corrected if there was a plural to grammar.

I care about improvement. It doesn't matter if the person's grammar is poor, what matters is if they're working on making it better. If you've lived in an English-speaking country for 10 years and you still have terrible English grammar... that irks me. You can replace "English" with *any* language in that sentence.

I care A LOT!

It really depends on the situation and how basic the mistake is. If a high school teacher who sounds like a native speaker says "you was" or something like that, I would definitely find that odd. If the person is clearly learning the language, I would let it pass as a mistake. The best thing to do is to practice and focus on the content of your sentences. The reat will come with time.

Eh, there will always be a few grammar mistakes that are like nails on a chalkboard to native speakers. But second-languagers can be extraordinarily eloquent even with imperfect grammar. It depends more on the person than on their fluency.

Not particularly, especially if I know someone is learning English as their second (or third, fourth…) language. As long as I know what they mean it’s all good, and if I don’t then we can just clarify. The most important thing about any language is whether it can be understood. If someone asks me “eat today - have?” then it’ll take me a little bit of time, but eventually I’ll figure out they probably meant “have you eaten today? I only get annoyed when it’s a native speaker making very obvious mistakes while trying to act as an authority on something.

I give much greater leeway to those who have learned English as a second language than I do to native speakers.

It really depends on the situation.  Imagine this situation: a person walks into a sandwich restaurant, and another person is behind the counter. When they speak to each other, it's obvious that the customer wants a sandwich, and the employee is going to put ingredients on it. If they make grammar errors, it's not a problem.  Imagine another situation: a surgeon and a nurse are preparing a patient for surgery. They all need to explain what they are doing very clearly and precisely. If one of them makes a grammar mistake that changes the meaning, the patient could die. It's very important that they all communicate clearly.  So if you make grammar mistakes in simple situations, it's not much of a problem and people will forgive you. But if you learn more grammar, you will understand better in serious situations, and you can also engage in more interesting and complex conversations. 

personally as long as the word order is right, especially when speaking, then it’s fine. i can understand what people mean even if their grammar isn’t perfect because nobody has perfect grammar. a lot of people don’t even know certain grammatical structures exist in english. word order is important though because of course english doesn’t have a free word order and since there’s nothing in a word itself that tells you whether it’s a direct object or subject you need to use the right order (SVO).

I'd like to say no, but the honest answer is "Yes, in some cases." My work brings me into contact with a lot of people who speak English as a second language and when I hear people who've been studying and regularly using English for decades make really basic mistakes like "I going" instead of "I'm going", I must admit it does hurt my ears a bit. (FWIW, I learned a second language as an adult (the language of the country I now live in) and I understand that it's hard. I make mistakes, too. But making super basic mistakes after decades of using a language does indicate a lack of effort IMO.)

it can be a bit confusing but i don't particularly mind unless you're a native speaker

I do if it makes it hard to understand them.

If I can understand them, I do not care.

I definitely don't care about a non-native speaker's grammar and am always willing to help. Conversely, I get irritated as fuck with native speakers who make ridiculous mistakes and will correct them because they should know better.

So long as it's clear enough to understand, then no one cares because we generally are more understanding when it's you're 2nd or 3rd language. Now... when English is someone's 1st language and they have really bad grammar... that's a whole different story 🤣🤣

English native speakers don't care about your grammar. They just care whether they can understnad you or not. English learners tend to care more about you their own grammar and try to perfect their English to sound native and this often makes them feel judged and affects their confidence. Hope this helps!

If it’s someone I know personally then it gets irritating when they make grammatical imperfections, but if you can tell that it’s not their first language I’m really nice about it

I care in the sense that I find it interesting, not in the sense that I judge someone's intelligence or character for having grammar that's different from mine.

If they're non-native, no

Please stop worrying about this. Your English is fine as is, no need to think it needs to be "perfect". This is likely just in your own head. Many native speakers don't have perfect grammar either, so don't dwell on this. Think of it this way (as I often tell my students): whatever your native language is, would you care if a non-native doesn't have "perfect" grammar while trying to speak your language? Probably not.

Your first priority should be understood. If you make a grammar mistake, it doesn't mean that you're bad at the language. But also, keep trying to improve it over time, and grow from any corrections people give. For example: I completely understand what you mean by "my grammars aren't 100% accurate". But "grammar" is an uncountable noun, so the correct phrasing would be "Sometimes I feel like my grammar isn't 100% accurate." And yet, reading "grammars aren't" did not make my reading more difficult at all; it just stood out to me as different from what a native speaker would write. So yes, I'd say try to improve your grammar when you can, but don't sweat it if you slip up here and there. That's what learning is about!

I think most English speakers care about whether you can be understood, not so much actually following grammar rules by the letter. And you can get away with screwing up a lot and still be understood.

If you typing online it doesn’t matter as much, I’m terribly lazy typing online and won’t capitalize or just apostrophes etc.

it always bothers me in spoken english, in text i care less

I’m pretty happy with bad grammar as long as i can understand the message. What bothers me is people using simple present form of the verb and not using a time stamp to make it clearer. I phone her, I go there, we try it. When!? Soon? Yesterday? Already? Now? If you don’t know your tenses, please add timestamps more liberally.

It depends on context. If I'm talking casually with someone it doesn't matter if their grammar is nonsense as long as I understand them. If I'm looking at a book at the book store and the grammar is noticeably bad I'm probably not buying that book.

you'll get a different response depending on what region you're in.  if you're in a place that is multilingual or very international, it won't matter much unless your grammar is very bad, but English grammar is more flexible than many languages if you're in a rural area with little exposure to other languages, expect more push back i say that both as a native English speaker and as someone who lived in a country where English isn't the native language for over a decade

Not if someone's not a native English speaker. If they are then definitely I care about how well they know their language and how effectively they use it. I'm an unbrearable snob about it really.

Nobody's grammar is going to be 100% correct, even native speakers. What I care about is your desire to be understood. If I say "sorry I didn't understand that", I'd like the person I'm talking to to repeat what they said in a DIFFERENT way. Not just repeat it. Communication is a two way street, with the listener needing to use context clues to fill in gaps, and the speaker to modify what and how they speak to reach the listener.

The primary function of language is to communicate. If grammar errors don't impair this goal, i don't care. If they add ambiguity or confusion, then i do. This is why i am unbothered by things like "i seen" or "you was" because the information is still clear, but i was put off by the common adoption of "literally" as an accentuator, because it diminishes the value of the literal meaning of "literally" which doesn't have a succinct and equal alternative. The explanation being that it makes it ambiguous at times to determine if someone is using literally for emphasis or to actually express the statement is supposed to have a literal interpretation. All of that aside though, if you're a learner, i find that a large amount of people are pretty patient with trying to understand you, if they sought the encounter on their own terms that is. There are a lot of people who have problems with it when they have to call into a call center or work over the phone with someone they can't understand.

If I can't understand them, yes, that can be a bit frustrating. Otherwise, I have more important things to worry about than whether you're stringing words together correctly. I'm not an elementary school teacher. I don't care about how far along you are at learning a language. You're just one guy outta 8 billion I'm sharing the earth with lol

As an Anglophone growing up in Quebec (Franco) moving to Texas and living there for years, Coming back to Canada in Ontario to join the army, I have heard so many accents, so many ways of saying things, and so many languages. Plus my accent must have so weird to everyone,,, Always searching for the right word in the right lanquage.. Those folks that are fluent.. Gawd Bless ya.. As a cable installer for years, I have gone into so many homes and businesses, East Indos, French, German, Greek, African (never new what exact language, french some) What have you.. Did we understand each other, Job done?? We good.. . .. I'll never correct a non native speaker. I can barely speak, French, Spanish and to a Brit, My HInglish is horrible, no doubt.. Did I understand U? Did u understand me ? We good.. A friend once told me he improved his English (From Russian) by watching English TV with the ENGLISH captions on.. Just, try..

No

In encourage shit grammar

Source: native English speaker, multilingual, English as a second/other language tutor, English grammar specialist for IELTS. If you still make sense, I don't care about your grammar as a non-native speaker. I don't care if you use a word that's close but not exact. You get points for trying. You learn by practicing and making mistakes and getting it right eventually. You also get to point out that many native English speakers only speak English, so shouldn't be criticizing. HOWEVER : If you're a native speaker and your grammar is bad or you misuse words, I want to throw you off a boat.

Pretty much no one cares about anyone's grammar. There are some words that grate on my ears (e.g. "softwares" as in, "I installed a few softwares."), but if we're having a conversation, I figure that you speak English better than I speak your language, and that's good enough for me.

It really depends on the level of interaction. Messing up grammer probably means I will never be able to discuss nuances or complex ideas, unless it's someone with clear knowledge in a specialized field. But in everyday casual conversation it isn't a huge deal. Just wouldn't be close friends.

Only if they're being an asshole.

No. I don’t care if your grammar is bad as a learner or as a native speaker. There are negative stereotypes that are placed on native speakers with poor grammar but that’s classism.

As long as I can understand the meaning, I don’t care. I honestly just feel guilty having to ask non native speakers to repeat what they mean if I really can’t tell. Unfortunately some people might be rude, but I’d like to think most people won’t mind all that much

It depends. Do I care if they end a sentence with a preposition? No. Do I care if they use the right you're/your? Yes. Also depends if it's over text. Examples of acceptable bad grammar (to me): ey wanna grab some food? Whatcha lookin at me like that for? How's you? Examples of grammar that bothers me: whose there? Your being stupid. That's they're fault

Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn't. All you can do is practice and not be too hard on yourself.

If it’s clear, it’s good enough. If it’s not clear, it’s good enough after it’s clarified. The systems that most posters here use to learn English are based on tests – many tests – and objective standards of correctness. But that’s only for teaching. The discipline is in the learning, not in the language. English itself is accepting and forgiving. It’s widely spoken, so we are used to hearing different accents and ways of speaking. Many of us English speakers pity languages like French that have official authorities to keep them pure. That’s a terrible way to live. All the good things in English are about its flexibility and diversity.

Honestly, I don’t care about your grammar, as long as I can understand what time you are talking about. If I understand you are talking about the past, present or future, then I can understand the rest of your meaning from the context. I will understand immediately when you open your mouth if you are a native speaker or not. From then, I decide if I have the time and cognitive resources to listen and try to understand what you are saying. If I do, I’ll listen, work out what you want to say and then respond. When it comes to grammar or structure and syntax - articles, prepositions, verbal complements etc, once I have understood you are not a native, I don’t care. My purpose has changed from communicating with you to understanding you. Depending on your level, the problem for you is that you miss out on all the functions of language. You are not going to be able to use language to argue, influence, persuade, describe etc because that relies on subtle shades of meaning, how you put together words, how you subvert the rules of structure and syntax, intonation and stress - while I am just focused on understanding the basics.

> **S**ometimes ~~i~~ **I** feel ~~like~~ **that** my grammar~~s~~ ~~are~~ isn’t 100% accurate It's important if I can't understand someone, or if it makes it difficult to read. I don't complain about people's grammar, generally. I might just choose to ignore what they've written, and/or I may think they're rather stupid. (When teaching or helping ESL students, it's different. I almost always correct grammar mistakes here, on this forum.) Sometimes, I can guess what they really meant, even if they've used the wrong word. But sometimes I guess wrong, and sometimes, I genuinely cannot understand what someone means at all. When people use poor grammar, it makes them look dumb. If someone writes, "LOL DOOD I IZ SURE I RIGHT!!!" I will not pay them as much attention as if they'd written, "Haha, mate, I'm sure I'm right". Please read this - I often think about it when people (frequently) write "alot": https://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

Ngl, there are certain mistakes that drive me up a wall (affect vs effect, lose vs loose) but if you’re not a native speaker I don’t mind then.