DR. WALLACE: Your column is, for me, a pleasure to read not only because it is interesting, but also because it is the opinion of an educated man concerning the problems of today's teenagers.

My father had an educational background similar to yours, and as a teacher he corrected the grammar of my sisters and me all through our teenage years. Although I now appreciate the fact that he did so, it was often quite irritating.

Today I find that it is almost a burden to know the many mistakes I hear on TV, the radio, and among the people I know. I have one or two friends with whom I can discuss mistakes in grammar that are heard made by politicians, journalists, writers, and others. And this brings me to the reason I am writing to you.

In your advice to a young girl whose friend had gotten pregnant you said: "She needs all the advice she can get to pull her life together, for her own sake, and even more importantly, for the baby's." Important is an adjective, and in the comparative sense things are important, more important, or most important. Can an adjective become an adverb? I cannot find the answer in "A dictionary of Modern English Usage" by H.W. Fowler. Will you please tell me? — Nameless, Gary, Ind.

NAMELESS: My parents were born in Ireland and both left school and went to work when they were 12 years old, so when they immigrated to this great country, they did not speak the "Queen's English."

Once at Emerson High School in your and my hometown, Gary, Indiana, and with the help of several superb and patient teachers, I learned to speak and write correctly. However, I do slip occasionally, but not this time.

The adjective "important" can become the adverb "importantly," which means "in an important manner." You will find this in "Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary." A local library should have a copy.

P.S.: Thanks for the kind words.

DON'T ARGUE WITH A MOM OF SIX CHILDREN

DR. WALLACE: I'm the mother of six children. Two teens are still at home. The other four are in or have graduated from college. You might say that I have some experience with teens of dating age. I am a loyal reader of your column, and I'm amazed at the number of teens who must be home and in the house at 10 o'clock even when they have been on a date. What are these parents thinking of?

My husband and I try to go to a movie every other Friday evening. If we catch the 9 p.m. performance and then have a snack afterward, we rarely get home before midnight.

When teens earn good grades and are exemplary citizens, they should be allowed to enjoy their date and not break any speed limits trying to make a deadline. Why make a teen nervous because the pizza that was ordered arrived at the table a few minutes late?

Maybe I have strong feelings about this because as a young college student who had to have a job to help pay for my education, I was locked out of my own home if I came home a few minutes after curfew - even in the dead of a Philadelphia winter! My parents wouldn't trust me with a house key, so I had to sleep in the car! - Mom, Little Rock, Ark.

MOM: Who can argue with the mother of six successful children? One of the best attributes of a wise parent is the use of good old common sense!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.