Portland Public Library

English grammar for dummies, by Geraldine Woods

eng

illustrations

index present

non fiction

English grammar for dummies

986240694

by Geraldine Woods

--For dummies

Grasping the intricacies of the English language doesn't need to be tricky, and this down-to-earth guide breaks everything down in ways that make sense--Revealing rules, tips, and tricks to eliminate confusion and gain clarity, English Grammar For Dummies gives you everything you need to communicate with confidence! Good grammar lays the foundation for speaking and writing clearly. This easy-to-follow book will help you become a more articulate, effective communicator. Covering everything from the building blocks of a sentence to those pesky rules of punctuation, it offers the practical guidance you need to communicate in a way that would make any English teacher proud. Includes how to: Improve your speaking skills; Clearly compose written communications; Get the latest techniques for continuous improvement; Write a winning college entrance exam or compelling business presentation; Stop worrying about the grammar police and become more confident with your words!

Building a firm foundation : the parts of a sentence. Using the right words at the right time ; Verbs: the heart of the sentence ; Who's doing what? How to find the subject ; When all is said and done: complete sentences ; Handling complements -- Clearing up confusing grammar points. Relax! Understanding verb tense ; Nodding your head: all about agreement ; Pronouns and their cases ; Small words, big trouble: prepositions ; Two really good parts of speech: adjectives and adverbs -- Conventional wisdom : punctuation and capitalization. Punctuation law that should be repealed: apostrophes ; Quotations: more rules than the internal revenue service ; The pause that refreshes: commas ; Useful little marks: dashes, hyphens, and colons ; CAPITAL LETTERS ; Rules of thumb: adapting grammar to electronic media -- Polishing without wax : the finer points of grammar and style. Fine-tuning verbs ; No santas but plenty of clauses ; Spicing up sentence patterns ; Staying on track: parallelism ; Meaning what you say: clarity ; Grammar devils -- The part of tens. Ten ways to improve your proofreading ; Relax already! Grammar rules you can stop worrying about

English grammar