Yes, we want. No, we don't! Or do we?

Look at these sentences: "Yes, we can." "Yes, we must." "Yes, we should." Are they correct English? Yes, they are. The three are fine because "can", "must" and "should" are modal verbs and their use in answering questions about one's ability to do something, such as "Can David Cameron win the election?" or "Should we buy dollars?", is perfect English.

Here's another question: "Do you want to keep reading this blog post?" If the answer is "Yes, I want", most grammar teachers would say it's incorrect. Why? Well, because we need the helping verb "do" in the answer, which could be "Yes, I do" or "No, I don't".

Let's now move to Spain, where an advertising campaign costing almost €2 million is being used to promote Madrid's new Spanish-English public schools. That's a lot of money, but it's the campaign slogan, "Yes, we want", that's making the news. Angry grammarians are writing letters to El Pais saying that it's wrong. Thanks to the internet, the story has spread around the world.

Dennis Baron, professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois, says that the grammarians are overreacting. In his blog, The Web of Language, he wrote:

"To anglophones, 'Yes, we want' may seem funny, and Spanish authorities may even find it embarrassing, but whatever happens to the slogan, its very existence is one more sign that English, now that it's global, is no longer the exclusive property of English-speaking nations."

Global English, like the English used in advertising, has its own personality, and we must accept that fact. Besides, it sometimes produces language that's much more charming than the original. Have you seen those signs in English-speaking countries that warn people to Keep Off the Grass? I recently read about a Chinese version that said "The Little Grass Is Sleeping. Please Don't Disturb It." No, we won't.