English Grammar For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

How to Use This Book

What You Are Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Getting Down to Basics: The Parts of the Sentence

Part II: Avoiding Common Errors

Part III: No Garage, but Plenty of Mechanics

Part IV: Polishing Without Wax — The Finer Points of Grammar

Part V: Rules Even Your Great-Aunt’s Grammar Teacher Didn’t Know

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting Down to Basics: The Parts of the Sentence

Chapter 1: I Already Know How to Talk. Why Should I Study Grammar?

Deciding Which Grammar to Learn

Distinguishing between the Three Englishes

Wanna get something to eat? Friendspeak

Do you feel like getting a sandwich? Conversational English

Will you accompany me to the dining room? Formal English

Using the Right English at the Right Time

Thumbing Your Way to Better Grammar

Relying on Computer Grammar Checkers Is Not Enough

What’s Your Problem? Solutions to Your Grammar Gremlins

Chapter 2: Verbs: The Heart of the Sentence

Linking Verbs: The Giant Equal Sign

Being or linking — what’s in a name?

Savoring sensory verbs

Completing Linking Verb Sentences Correctly

Placing the Proper Pronoun in the Proper Place

Lights! Camera! Action Verb!

Getting by with a Little Help from My Verbs

Pop the Question: Locating the Verb

Forget To Be or Not To Be: Infinitives Aren’t Verbs

Chapter 3: Relax! Understanding Verb Tense

Simplifying Matters: The Simple Tenses

Present tense

Past tense

Future tense

Using the Tenses Correctly

Present and present progressive

Past and past progressive

Future and future progressive

Perfecting Verbs: The Perfect Tenses

Present perfect and present perfect progressive

Past perfect and past perfect progressive

Future perfect and future perfect progressive

Using Present Perfect Tense Correctly

Forming Present and Past Participles of Regular Verbs

Just to Make Things More Difficult: Irregular Verbs

“To be or not to be” is a complete pain

Irregular past and past participles

Chapter 4: Who’s Doing What? How to Find the Subject

Who’s Driving the Truck? Why the Subject Is Important

Teaming up: Subject and verb pairs

Compound subjects and verbs: Two for the price of one

Pop the Question: Locating the Subject–Verb Pairs

What’s a Nice Subject Like You Doing in a Place Like This? Unusual Word Order

Find That Subject! Detecting You-Understood

Searching for the Subject in Questions

Don’t Get Faked Out: Avoiding Fake Verbs and Subjects

Finding fake verbs

Watching out for “here” and “there” and other fake subjects

Choosing the correct verb for “here” and “there” sentences

Subjects Aren’t Just a Singular Sensation: Forming the Plural of Nouns

Regular plurals

The -IES and -YS have it

No knifes here: Irregular plurals

The brother-in-law rule: Hyphenated plurals

Chapter 5: Having It All: The Complete Sentence

Completing Sentences: The Essential Subjects and Verbs

Complete Thoughts, Complete Sentences

Combining Sentences

Connecting with coordinate conjunctions

Attaching thoughts: Semicolons

Boss and Employee: Joining Ideas of Unequal Ranks

Choosing subordinate conjunctions

Employing Pronouns to Combine Sentences

Steering Clear of Fragments

Oh, Mama, Could This Really Be the End? Understanding Endmarks

Chapter 6: Handling Complements

Springing into Action Verb Complements

Receiving the action: Direct objects

Rare, but sometimes there: Indirect objects

No bias here: Objective complements

Finishing the Equation: Subject Complements

Pop the Question: Locating the Complement

Pop the Question: Finding the Indirect Object

Pronouns as Objects and Subject Complements

Part II: Avoiding Common Errors

Chapter 7: Do You Feel Bad or Badly? The Lowdown on Adjectives and Adverbs

Clarifying Meaning with Descriptions

Adding Adjectives

Adjectives describing nouns

Adjectives describing pronouns

Attaching adjectives to linking verbs

Articles: Not just for magazines

Pop the question: Identifying adjectives

Stalking the Common Adverb

Pop the question: Finding the adverb

Adverbs describing adjectives and other adverbs

Choosing Between Adjectives and Adverbs

Sorting out “good” and “well”

Dealing with “bad” and “badly”

Adjectives and adverbs that look the same

Avoiding Common Mistakes with Adjectives and Adverbs

Placing “even”

Placing “almost” and “nearly”

Placing “only” and “just”

Chapter 8: Small Words, Big Trouble: Prepositions

Proposing Relationships: Prepositions

The Objects of My Affection: Prepositional Phrases and Their Objects

Pop the question: Questions that identify the objects of the prepositions

Why pay attention to prepositions?

Are You Talking to I? Prepositions and Pronouns

A Good Part of Speech to End a Sentence With?

Chapter 9: Everyone Brought Their Homework: Pronoun Errors

Pairing Pronouns with Nouns

Choosing between Singular and Plural Pronouns

Using Singular and Plural Possessive Pronouns

Positioning Pronoun–Antecedent Pairs

Matching Pronouns to Pronoun Antecedents

Everyone, somebody, nothing, and similar pronouns

Each and every

Either and neither

Steering Clear of Sexist Pronouns

Chapter 10: Just Nod Your Head: About Agreement

Writing Singular and Plural Verbs

The unchangeables

The changeables

Easier Than Marriage Counseling: Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

Choosing Verbs for Two Subjects

The Question of Questions

Present tense questions

Past tense questions

Future tense questions

Negative Statements and Subject–Verb Agreement

The Distractions: Prepositional Phrases and Other Irrelevant Words

Can’t We All Just Get Along? Agreement with Difficult Subjects

Five puzzling pronouns as subjects

Here and there you find problems

The ones, the things, and the bodies

Each and every mistake is painful

Either and neither: Alone or with partners

Politics and other irregular subjects

Part III: No Garage, but Plenty of Mechanics

Chapter 11: Punctuation Law That Should Be Repealed: Apostrophes

The Pen of My Aunt or My Aunt’s Pen? Using Apostrophes to Show Possession

Ownership for singles

Sharing the wealth: Plural possessives

Possession with Proper Nouns

Ownership with Hyphenated Words

Possessive Nouns That End in S

Common Apostrophe Errors with Pronouns

Shortened Words for Busy People: Contractions

Common Contraction Mistakes

Chapter 12: Quotations: More Rules Than the Internal Revenue Service

And I Quote

Punctuating Quotations

Quotations with speaker tags

Quotations without speaker tags

Quotations with question marks

Quotations with exclamation points

Quotations with semicolons

Quotations inside quotations

Who Said That? Identifying Speaker Changes

Germ-free Quotations: Using Sanitizing Quotation Marks

Punctuating Titles: When to Use Quotation Marks

Chapter 13: The Pause That Refreshes: Commas

Distinguishing Items: Commas in Series

Using “Comma Sense” to Add Information to Your Sentence

Separating a list of descriptions

Essential or extra? Commas tell the tale

Commas with appositive influence

You Talkin’ to Me? Direct Address

Using Commas in Addresses and Dates

Addressing addresses

Punctuating dates

Flying Solo: Introductory Words

Punctuating Independently

Chapter 14: Useful Little Marks: Dashes, Hyphens, and Colons

Inserting Information with Dashes

Long dashes

Short dashes

H-y-p-h-e-n-a-t-i-n-g Made Easy

Understanding the great divide

Using hyphens for compound words

Placing hyphens in numbers

Utilizing the well-placed hyphen

Creating a Stopping Point: Colons

Addressing a business letter

Introducing lists

Introducing long quotations

Chapter 15: CAPITAL LETTERS

Browsing the Basics of Capital Letters

Capitalizing (or Not) References to People

Sorting out titles

Writing about family relationships

Tackling race and ethnicity

Capitalizing Geography: Directions, Places, and Languages

Directions and areas of a country

Capitalizing geographic features

Marking Seasons and Other Times

Schooling: Courses, Years, and Subjects

Writing Capitals in Titles

Concerning Historic Capitals: Events and Eras

If U Cn Rd Ths, U Cn Abbreviate

Chapter 16: New Media, New Grammar Rules

Thumb Wrestling with Grammar: Text and Instant Messages

Choosing formal or informal language

Being clear but concise

Making a text and checking it twice

E-Mailing Your Way to Good Grammar

The heading

The greeting

The body

The closing

Handling Grammar on the Internet

Blogging for fun and (sometimes) profit

Navigating social networks

PowerPoint to the People

Writing titles

Biting the bulleted list

Part IV: Polishing Without Wax — The Finer Points of Grammar

Chapter 17: Pronouns and Their Cases

Me Like Tarzan: Choosing Subject Pronouns

Compounding interest: Pairs of subjects

Attracting appositives

Picking pronouns for comparisons

Connecting pronouns to linking verbs

Using Pronouns as Direct and Indirect Objects

Choosing objects for prepositions

Attaching objects to verbals

Seeing double causes problems

Pronouns of Possession: No Exorcist Needed

Dealing with Pronouns and “-Ing” Nouns

Chapter 18: Fine-Tuning Verbs

Giving Voice to Verbs

Actively Seeking a Better Voice

Adding Meaning with Strong Verbs

“There is” a problem with boring verbs

Does your writing “have” a problem?

Don’t just “say” and “walk” away

Putting It in Order: Sequence of Tenses

Case 1: Simultaneous events — main verbs

Case 2: Simultaneous events — verbals

Case 3: Events at two different times in the past

Case 4: More than two past events, all at different times

Case 5: Two events in the future

Case 6: Different times, different verb forms

Reporting Information: The Verb Tells the Story

Recognizing Eternal Truths: Statements That Are Always in Present Tense

Chapter 19: Saying What You Want to Say: Descriptive Words and Phrases

Ruining a Perfectly Good Sentence: Misplaced Descriptions

Keeping Your Audience Hanging: Danglers

Dangling participles

Dangling infinitives

Avoiding Confusing Descriptions

Finding the Subject When Words Are Missing from the Sentence

Chapter 20: Good, Better, Best: Comparisons

Ending It with -Er or Giving It More

Breaking the Rules: Irregular Comparisons

Good, bad, well

Little, many, much

Never More Perfect: Using Words That You Can’t Compare

Leaving Your Audience in Suspense: Incomplete Comparisons

Joe DiMaggio Played Better Than Any Baseball Player: Illogical Comparisons

Getting Two for the Price of One: Double Comparisons

Chapter 21: Parallels Without the Lines

Constructing Balanced Sentences

Shifting Grammar into Gear: Avoiding Stalled Sentences

Steering clear of a tense situation

Keeping your voice steady

Knowing the right person

Seeing Double: Conjunction Pairs

Avoiding Improper Comparisons

Chapter 22: The Last Word on Verbs

Getting a Feel for Everyday Verbs: The Indicative Mood

Commanding Your Verbs: The Imperative Mood

Discovering the Possibilities: The Subjunctive Mood

Using subjunctives with “were”

Creating subjunctives with “had”

Using subjunctives with commands, wishes, and requests

When “If” Isn’t Subjunctive

Deleting Double Negatives

I cannot help but think this rule is dumb

I can’t hardly understand this rule

I hadn’t but one rule on double-negatives

Chapter 23: The Last Word on Pronouns

Knowing the Difference Between Who and Whom

Trick #1: Horse and carriage

Trick #2: Getting rhythm

Replacing Improper Antecedents

Matching Verbs to Pronouns in Complicated Sentences

This, That, and the Other: Clarifying Vague Pronoun References

Its or Their? Selecting Pronouns for Collective Nouns

Chapter 24: The Last Word on Sentence Structure

Understanding the Basics of Clause and Effect

Getting the goods on subordinate and independent clauses

Knowing the three legal jobs for subordinate clauses

Untangling subordinate and independent clauses

Deciding when to untangle clauses

Putting your subordinate clauses in the right place

Choosing content for your subordinate clauses

Getting Verbal

Appreciating gerunds

Working with infinitives

Participating with a participle

Spicing Up Boring Sentences with Clauses and Verbals

The clause that refreshes

Verbally speaking

Extra! Extra! Deleting All That’s Extra From Your Sentences

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Chapter 25: Ten Ways Two to Improve Your Proofreading

Read Backward

Wait a While

Read It Aloud

Delete Half the Commas

Swap with a Friend

Let the Computer Program Help

Check the Verbs

Check the Pronouns

Know Your Typing Style

The Usual Suspects

Chapter 26: Ten Ways to Learn Better Grammar

Read Good Books

Watch Good TV Shows

Peruse the News

Read the Newspaper

Flip through Magazines

Download Podcasts

Check Out Strunk and White

Listening to Authorities

Reviewing Manuals of Style

Surfing the Internet

End User License Agreement

English Grammar For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

by Geraldine Woods

English Grammar For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Published by
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Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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About the Author

Geraldine Woods began her education when teachers still supplied ink wells to their students. She credits her 35-year career as an English teacher to a set of ultra-strict nuns armed with thick grammar books. She lives in New York City, where with great difficulty she refrains from correcting signs containing messages such as “Bagel’s for sale.” She is the author of more than 40 books, including English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, Research Papers For Dummies, College Admission Essays For Dummies, and The SAT 1 Reasoning Test For Dummies.

Dedication

I dedicated the first edition of English Grammar For Dummies to my husband and son, who were then — and remain — the hearts of my life. Since the first edition was published, I’ve acquired two new hearts: my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. This book is dedicated with great love to all of them.

Author’s Acknowledgments

I owe thanks to my colleagues in the English Department of the Horace Mann School, who are always willing to discuss the finer points of grammar with me. Keeping me up to date on technology and language were Gresa Matoshi, Eliza Montgomery, Sam Schalman-Bergen, and. I appreciate the work of Susan Hobbs and Martha Payne, editors whose attention and intelligence guided my writing. Any errors that remain are mine alone. I also appreciate the efforts of Lisa Queen, my agent, and of Stacy Kennedy, Wiley acquisitions editor.

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Introduction

When you’re a grammarian, people react to you in interesting — and sometimes downright strange — ways. When the first edition of English Grammar For Dummies came out in 2001, an elderly man asked me about something that had puzzled him for eight decades: Why did his church, St. Paul’s, include an apostrophe in its name? (For the answer, turn to Chapter 11.) My nephew called to inquire whether his company’s sign in Times Square should include a semicolon. I said no, though the notion of a two-story-tall neon semicolon was tempting. Lots of people became tongue-tied, sure that I was judging their choice of who or whom. They worried needlessly, because I consider myself off-duty when I’m not teaching or writing.

In this second edition of English Grammar For Dummies, I explain modern, up-to-the-minute usage. Grammar does change, though usually an elderly snail moves faster than a grammarian pondering whether to drop a comma. As the world is now texting, tweeting, and PowerPointing all over the place, this edition of English Grammar For Dummies shows you how to handle all sorts of electronic communications, with special attention to business situations. In the current fragile economy, you need every possible edge, and proper grammar is always an advantage. Besides, you don’t want to sit around deciding how to create a grammatically correct bullet point when you could be lobbying the boss for a raise.

If you’re at a desk and not getting paid, you still need good grammar. No matter what subject you’re studying, teachers favor proper English. Also, the SAT — that loveable exam facing college applicants — added a writing section recently. It’s heavy on grammar and, ironically, light on writing. This book covers all the material likely to be tested on the SAT and the ACT (another fun hurdle of the college-admissions process) and alerts you to exam favorites with a special new icon. If you’re aiming for higher education, English Grammar For Dummies, 2nd Edition, will raise your standardized-test scores.

As in the first edition, in this book, I tell you the tricks of the grammar trade, the strategies that help you make the right decision when you’re facing such grammatical dilemmas as the choice between I and me, had gone and went, and so forth. I explain what you’re supposed to do, but I also tell you why a particular word is correct or incorrect. You won’t have to memorize a list of meaningless rules (well, maybe a couple from the punctuation chapter!) because when you understand the reason for a particular choice, you’ll pick the correct word automatically.

About This Book

In English Grammar For Dummies, 2nd Edition, I concentrate on what English teachers call the common errors. You don’t have to read this book in order, though you can, and you don’t have to read the whole thing. Just browse through the table of contents and look for things that you often get wrong. Or, turn to Chapter 1 where you’ll find a list of the usage issues voted “most likely to succeed” — in giving you a headache.

How to Use This Book

Each chapter introduces some basic ideas and then shows you how to choose the correct sentence when faced with two or three alternatives. If I define a term — linking verbs, for example — I show you a practical situation in which identifying a linking verb matters — in choosing the right pronoun, perhaps. I center the examples in the text so that you can find them easily. One good way to determine whether or not you’ve mastered a particular section is to try the pop quizzes sprinkled around every chapter. If you get the right answer, move on. If you’re puzzled, however, backtrack through the relevant section. Also, watch for Demon icons. They identify the little things — the difference between two similar words, commonly misused words, and so on — that may sabotage your writing.

What You Are Not to Read

I tried to resist, but here and there throughout this book I threw in some advanced grammatical terminology. No human being in the history of the world has ever needed to know those terms for any purpose connected with speaking and writing correct English. In fact, I recommend that you skip them and go skateboarding instead. For those of you who actually enjoy obscure terminology for the purpose of, say, clearing a room within ten seconds, feel free to revel in such exciting grammatical terms as subjective complement and participial phrase. Everyone else, fear not: These terms are clearly labeled and completely skippable.

Foolish Assumptions

I wrote the second edition of English Grammar For Dummies with a specific person in mind. I assume that you, the reader, already speak English to some extent and that you want to speak it better. I also assume that you’re a busy person with better things to do than worry about pronouns. You want to speak and write well, but you don’t want to get a doctorate in English Grammar. (Smart move. Doctorates in English probably move you up on the salary scale less than any other advanced degree, except maybe Doctorates in Philosophy.)

This book is for you if you want

Better grades

Skill in communicating exactly what you mean

A higher-paying or higher-status job

Speech and writing that presents you as an educated, intelligent person

A good score on the SAT I Writing or the ACT exam

Polished skills in English as a second language

How This Book Is Organized

The first two parts of this book cover the basics, the minimum for reasonably correct English. Part III addresses what English teachers call mechanics — not the people in overalls who aim grease guns at your car, but the nuts and bolts of writing: punctuation and capital letters. A number of punctuation and capitalization rules have changed in recent year, but rest assured. English Grammar For Dummies, 2nd Edition contains all the new-and-improved standards. Parts IV and V — considerably longer in the second edition than the first — hit the points of grammar that separate regular people from Official Grammarians. In those parts, you find the stuff that appears in a starring role on standardized tests or in executive memos. If you understand the information in Parts IV and V, you’ll have a fine time finding mistakes in the daily paper, score big on the SAT and ACT, and impress the authority figures in your life — your boss, English teacher, badminton coach, whatever.

Here’s a more specific guide to navigating English Grammar For Dummies.

Part I: Getting Down to Basics: The Parts of the Sentence

This part explains how to distinguish between the three Englishes — the breezy slang of friend-to-friend chat, the slightly more proper conversational language, and the I’m-on-my-best-behavior English. I pay special attention to the intersection between these “languages” and the technology transmitting them — texting, for example. I explain the building blocks of a sentence, subjects and verbs, and show you how to put them together properly. In this part, I also provide a guide to the complete sentence, telling you what’s grammatically legal and what’s not (a favorite topic on standardized tests). I also define objects and linking-verb complements and show you how to use each effectively.

Part II: Avoiding Common Errors

In this part, I describe other members of Team Grammar — the two types of descriptive words (adjectives and adverbs) and prepositions — the bane of many speakers of English as a second language. Of course, I give tips for correct usage and explain how to avoid tiny missteps that wreck your writing. In this part I tell you how to avoid mismatches between singular and plural words, by far the most common mistake in ordinary speech and writing. Part II also contains an explanation of pronoun gender. Reading this section will help you avoid sexist pronoun usage.

Part III: No Garage, but Plenty of Mechanics

If you’ve ever asked yourself whether you need a capital letter or if you’ve sometimes gotten lost in quotation marks and semicolons, Part III is for you. I explain all the rules that govern the use of the worst invention in the history of human communication: the apostrophe. I also show you how to quote speech or written material and where to place the most common (and the most commonly misused) punctuation mark, the comma. I outline the ins and outs of capital letters: when you need them, when you don’t, and when they’re optional. I also devote an entire section to the newest punctuation mark — the bullet point — and show you how to create proper presentation slides. Lastly, I tackle texting and e-mail, especially as they’re used in the business world.

Part IV: Polishing Without Wax — The Finer Points of Grammar

Part IV inches up on the pickiness scale — not all the way to Grammar Heaven, but at least as far as the gate. In this part, I tell you the difference between subject and object pronouns and pronouns of possession. (You need an exorcist.) I also go into detail on verb tenses, explaining which words to use for all sorts of situations. I show you how to distinguish between active and passive verbs and how to use each type properly. I illustrate some common errors of sentence structure and tackle comparisons — both how to form them and how to ensure that your comparisons are logical and complete. Finally, I explain parallelism, an English teacher’s term for balance and order in the sentence.

Part V: Rules Even Your Great-Aunt’s Grammar Teacher Didn’t Know

Anyone who masters the material in Part V has the right to wear a bun and tsk-tsk a lot. This part covers the moods of verbs (ranging from grouchy to just plain irritable) and explains how to avoid double-negative errors. Part V also gives you the last word on pronouns, those little parts of speech that make everyone’s life miserable. The dreaded who/whom section is in this part, as well as the explanation for all sorts of errors of pronoun reference. I explain subordinate clauses and verbals, which aren’t exactly a hot stock tip, but a way to bring more variety and interest to your writing. (The SAT and ACT are big fans of these topics.) I also give you some other pointers on writing with style, even in a 140-character tweet.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Part VI is the Part of Tens, which offers some quick tips for better grammar. Here I show you ten methods for fine-tuning your proofreading skills. I also suggest ways (apart from English Grammar For Dummies) to improve your ear for proper English.

Icons Used in This Book

Wherever you see this icon, you’ll find helpful strategies for understanding the structure of the sentence or for choosing the correct word form.

Not every grammar trick has a built-in trap, but some do. This icon tells you how to avoid common mistakes as you construct a sentence.

Think you know how to find the subject in a sentence or choose the correct verb tense? Take the pop quizzes located throughout this book to find out what you know and what you may want to learn.

Keep your eye out for these little devils; they point out the difference between easily confused words and show you how to make your sentence say what you want it to say.

Are you hoping to spend some time behind ivy-covered walls? To put it another way: Are you aiming for college? Then you should pay special attention to the information next to this icon because college-admissions testers love this material.

Where to Go from Here

Now that you know what’s what and where it is, get started. Before you do, however, one last word. Actually, two last words: Trust yourself. You already know a lot. If you’re a native speaker, you’ve communicated in English all of your life, including the years before you set foot in school and saw your first textbook. If English is an acquired language for you, you’ve probably already learned a fair amount of vocabulary and grammar, even if you don’t know the technical terms. For example, you already understand the difference between

The dog bit Agnes.

and

Agnes bit the dog.

You don’t need me to tell you which sentence puts the dog in the doghouse and which sentence puts Agnes in a padded room. So take heart. Browse the table of contents, check out Chapter 1, and dip a toe into the Sea of Grammar. The water is fine.

Part I

Getting Down to Basics: The Parts of the Sentence

In this part . . .

So it’s like, communication, y’know?

Can you make a statement like that without bringing the grammar police to your door? Maybe. Read Chapter 1 for a discussion of formal and informal language and a guide to when each is appropriate, whether you’re speaking, texting, or writing with a quill pen. The rest of this part explains the building blocks of the sentence. Chapter 2 shows you how to find the verb, and Chapter 3 tells you what to do with it once you’ve got it. Chapter 4 provides a road map to the subject of the sentence and explains the basics of matching subjects and verbs properly. Chapter 5 is all about completeness — why the sentence needs it and how to make sure that the sentence gets it. In Chapter 6, I explore the last building block of a sentence — the complement.

Chapter 1

I Already Know How to Talk. Why Should I Study Grammar?

In This Chapter

Distinguishing between the three Englishes

Choosing language according to audience, message, and medium

Using computer grammar checkers properly

In the Middle Ages, grammar meant the study of Latin, the language of choice for educated people. In fact, grammar was so closely associated with Latin that the word referred to any kind of learning. This meaning of grammar shows up when people of grandparent-age and older talk about their grammar school, not their elementary school. The term grammar school is a leftover from the old days. The very old days.

These days grammar is the study of language, specifically, how words are put together. Because of obsessive English teachers and their rules, grammar also means a set of standards that you have to follow in order to speak and write better. However, the definition of better changes according to situation, purpose, and audience. In this chapter, I show you the difference between formal and informal English and explain when each is called for. I also tell you what your computer can and can’t do to help you write proper English and give you some pointers about appropriate language for texting, tweeting, instant messaging, and similar technology.

Deciding Which Grammar to Learn

I can hear the groan already. Which grammar? You mean there’s more than one? Yes, there are actually several different types of grammar, including historical (how language has changed through the centuries) and comparative (how languages differ from or resemble each other). Don’t despair; in English Grammar For Dummies, I deal with only two — the two you have to know in order to improve your speech and writing.

Descriptive grammar gives names to things — the parts of speech and parts of a sentence. When you learn descriptive grammar, you understand what every word is (its part of speech) and what every word does (its function in the sentence). If you’re not careful, a study of descriptive grammar can go overboard fast, and you end up saying things like

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!