Oftentimes, as native speakers, we have a sense for what sounds right but can’t explain why a particular phrasing does or doesn’t work.
Linguist David Crystal opens a guest post on Grammar Girl with two examples, inviting readers to choose which version of a sentence sounds better.
In his experience, it’s not a tough choice — and that’s because one version of each sentence aligns with the way we prefer to weigh or balance our sentences as English speakers.
See the principle in action here.