It is “evolving” because the generations that were deprived of grammar lessons have nothing to guide them. 

Those in the position of making decisions regarding the primary school syllabus in the 1970s obviously were wrong. Their reasoning at the time was that grammar was too difficult and unnecessary, but now we have adults making errors that 11-year-olds would never have made. 

They failed to allow for the generation of children whose parents had arrived from countries without English as their basic language. 

These days children in Europe have a better knowledge of grammar than ours. This I know from having taught English in Austrian schools over a period of six years. They are very fortunate with some students speaking five languages and, of course, their close proximity to other countries helps. 

It won’t be too long now before no one here will understand what anyone means (for example, “he was found in the room with a 21-year-old woman armed with a shotgun”; and “the man was found shot dead by police” – two examples of ABC news items along with the statement that a boat “sunk”). These are just a few recent bloopers among a myriad. 

Adding to the problem is the reduction in verbal communication because of screen communication. I suspect that the current mispronunciations stem from this and I notice an increase in these. 

Fortunately the government plans to reinstate grammar in schools but I am wondering where they will find the teachers now that the chain has been broken. I’m afraid the horse may have already bolted.