Theoretical grammar

I confine myself to the statement of facts, without attempting to settle the relative correctness of divergent usages. If an ‘ungrammatical’ expression such as it is ‘me’ is in general use among educated people, I accept it as such, simply adding that it is avoided in the literary language.”

Non-Structural Descriptive Grammar in Summary

• Unlike prescriptivists, descriptivists focus their attention on actual usage without trying “to settle the relative correctness of divergent usages.”
• Similar to prescriptivists, descriptivists use meaning and function in their definition of parts of speech.