Regardless of how well we know our own language, we still commit errors that, for strange reasons, become habits. Irregardless is one word (we’ll question that classification soon) that often arises in speech and, therefore, in writing.

Ex. Dylan said he’d be unavailable until noon. Irregardless, I need to speak with him now.

It sounds quite normal. Indeed, many words beginning with re- take on an ir- as a negation of their original form. Examples include irrelevant, irresponsible, irresolute, and irreverent. But irregardless, quite simply, is not a proper word.

The word regardless, as it is, does not need a negation. It means "despite everything" (www.m-w.com). Regardless is often followed by of.  Regardless of means "not taking into account" (www.m-w.com).

Ex. Regardless how tired Gregory felt, he’d have to finish the paper by midnight.

We can substitute the definition now to interpret the sentence as “despite how tired” Gregory was, he still had to meet a deadline.

We’ll stop short of saying that irregardless is not a word, since it is commonly used in speech, but it is non-standard and we recommend avoiding it in both speech and writing.

This week, we recommend reading the paragraph about this word at http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregardless. This is the Merriam Webster Dictionary’s online discussion of whether or not irregardless is a word and whether it is acceptable.

This week's grammar tip doesn't need a "test your knowledge" section because it recommends not using the word irregardless in formal writing.

In its place, we thought we'd provide some synonyms for regardless. So, when you're looking for an alternative to regardless, why not try one of the following words or phrases?

 “Despite the fact that…”

“Despite”

“Anyway”

“Anyhow”

“Nevertheless”

“In any case”

“No matter”

Grammatically Correct is a grammar tip of the week created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors at the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas.

Comments about this newsletter should be directed to Summer Leibensperger, leibenspergers@uhv.edu.

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