A few years ago, a magazine sponsored a contest for the comment most likely to end a conversation. The winning entry? "I teach English grammar." Just throw that line out at a party; everyone around you will clam up or start saying "whom."
Why does grammar make everyone so nervous? Probably because English teachers, for decades - no, for centuries - have been making a big deal out of grammar in classrooms, diagramming sentences and drilling the parts of speech, clauses, and verbals into students until they beg for mercy. Happily, you don't have to learn all those technical terms of English grammar - and you certainly don't have to diagram sentences - in order to speak and write correct English.
So rest assured - English Grammar For Dummies will probably never make your English teacher's top-ten list of must-read books, because you won't have to diagram a single sentence. What you will discover are fun and easy strategies that can help you when you're faced with such grammatical dilemmas as the choice between "I" and "me," "had gone" and "went," and "who" and "whom." With English Grammar For Dummies, you won't have to memorize a long list of meaningless rules (well, maybe a couple in the punctuation chapter!), because when you understand the reason for a particular word choice, you'll pick the correct word automatically.
English Grammar For Dummies covers many other topics as well, such as the following:
Verbs, adjectives, and adverbs - oh my!
Preposition propositions and pronoun pronouncements
Punctuation: The lowdown on periods, commas, colons, and all those other squiggly marks
Possession: It's nine-tenths of grammatical law
Avoiding those double negative vibes
How to spice up really boring sentences (like this one)
Top Ten lists on improving your proofreading skills and ways to learn better grammar
Just think how improving your speaking and writing skills will help you in everyday situations, such as writing a paper for school, giving a presentation to your company's big wigs, or communicating effectively with your family. You will not only gain the confidence in knowing you're speaking or writing well, but you'll also make a good impression on those around you!
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
You may need more than this ifyouREALLy careaboutgrammar:
The book is funny which is a plus. I dont think its for beginners though ifyoudo notalready have a strong grammar backbone itwonthelpthat much especially withthe really hard stuff like types of clauses andparticiples. Its a wonderful refresher of the basics but its not really for dummies or forthosewhowant to makesure that thebook willteach them the annoying harder parts. suchas chapters22 to the end I need a whole book onthose chapters.
Best Grammar Book I Ever Read:
This book is awesome for an English book!!! I find "Geraldine Woods" writing super. It's the only time in my life I've ever read a grammar book and smiled! I even laughed out loud a couple times at her humorous style of teaching! This book is must read for aspiring writers, and it's direct and to the point. I especially love the DEMONS; those sections are extremely useful!!! Thanks and Take Care Mikey/PA (Reclusive Knight)
Grammar help:
This was very helpful. I have been out of school a long time and this refreshed my memory. Thank you
Very helpful:
good layout and helpful to young and old so if a student and you need help get this book and the dummies grammar workbook and not expensive either to get you to do well in school or as for me just a refresh from 30+ yrs ago since I am not writing so much in my older age.
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