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English Grammar Workbook For Dummies with Online Practice
Author:
Published:
April 3, 2018
Overview
Improve your English grammar
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by using proper English language and grammar. The ability to articulate and communicate effectively is a valuable asset in all aspects of life. From writing a research paper to giving a presentation at work or just holding a casual conversation with friends or family, strong verbal and written skills are necessities in everyday communication.
English Grammar Workbook For Dummies is the perfect solution for sharpening the tools in your grammar kit,
with lessons and plenty of practice opportunities to help reinforce learning. Whether you need to brush up on the finer points of punctuation, need help making sense of those pesky parts of speech—or anything in between—this approachable guide makes it fast and easy.
• Find FREE quizzes for every chapter online
• Handle pronouns with grace
• Master plurals and possessives
• Improve your proofreading skills
Everyone benefits from using proper grammar and speech, and now you can too!
This handy Cheat Sheet will help you grapple with English grammar problems, clear up confusion caused by similar-sounding words, and improve your writing skills, in general.Punctuating sentences correctlyHere are some quick tips and handy hints for when and how to use the grammatical marks that most often trip people up when they’re writing, plus some guidance on improving your writing.
About The Author
Geraldine Woods has taught every level of English from 5th grade through AP. Her more than 50 books include English Grammar For Dummies and many children's books. At www.grammarianinthecity.com, Woods blogs about current language trends and amusing signs she spots around New York City.
Articles From The Book
3 results
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Three little letters — not — turn a positive comment (“I like your boots”) to a negative one (“I do not like your boots”). Apart from the fashion critique, what do you notice about the negative statement? The verb changes from like to do like. You need that extra part because “I not like” isn’t proper English.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
This handy Cheat Sheet will help you grapple with English grammar problems, clear up confusion caused by similar-sounding words, and improve your writing skills, in general.Punctuating sentences correctlyHere are some quick tips and handy hints for when and how to use the grammatical marks that most often trip people up when they’re writing, plus some guidance on improving your writing.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Proper English is important. The only problem with that statement is the definition of “proper.” Language has many levels of formality, all of which are “proper” at times and completely unsuitable at others. Many gradations of formality exist, but to make things easier, divide English into three large categories: “friendspeak” (the most casual), “conversational” (one step up), and “formal” (the equivalent of wearing your best business attire).
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
A few pronouns may trip you up when you form English subject-verb pairs. With a little extra attention, though, you can tame these difficult subjects. Check out these rules:
Pronouns ending in -one, -thing, and -body (everyone, something, and anybody, for example) are singular. So are each and every. Even though they sometimes sound plural, everyone is here and nobody needs more grammar rules.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
When this author was in elementary school, the only spell check was the teacher’s ruler. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to change the y to i and add es?” Miss Hammerhead would inquire just before the ruler landed (Bam!) on a pupil’s head. Hammerhead (not her real name) was teaching spelling, but she also was explaining how to form the plural of some nouns, the grammatical term for words that name people, places, things, or ideas.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Subjects and objects have opposite jobs in a sentence. Briefly, the subject is the doer of the action or whatever is in the state of being talked about in the sentence. When you say, “He and I are going to the mall,” you use the subject pronouns he and I. Objects receive; instead of acting, they are acted upon.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Some sentences are short. Some are long. Joining them is good. Combined sentences make a narrative more interesting. The choppiness of the preceding sentences makes a good case for gluing sentences together. Just be sure to do so legally, so you won’t end up with a run-on sentence.
Test writers sometimes throw improperly joined sentences at you to see whether you recognize this sort of error.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Pronouns take the place of nouns and frequently come in handy. Who can write a paragraph without I, me, ours, them, us, that, and similar words? Unfortunately, pronouns can trip you up in a hundred ways, especially when you’re matching them to their antecedents, the words they replace or refer to. You must follow two basic rules:
Replace a singular noun with a singular pronoun.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
In English, a gerund is a noun made from the -ing form of a verb (swimming, smiling, and similar words). Not every noun that ends in -ing is a gerund; king and pudding, for example, aren’t, because they don’t arise from verbs. When you do run across a gerund, any noun or pronoun in front should be a possessive form if the focus of what you’re writing is the action the gerund expresses.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
When you’re listening or reading, you probably note the difference between formal and informal language constantly — maybe unconsciously. Knowing levels of language, however, isn’t enough. You also need to decide what level of formality to employ when you’re speaking and writing. Before you choose, consider these factors:
Your audience.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Verbs tell time with a quality known as tense. Before you reach for a tranquilizer, here’s the lowdown on the basic tenses. The three basic tenses are past, present, and future, and each has two forms — low-carb and gluten-free. Sorry, plain (its basic time designation — present, past, or future) and progressive (the -ing form of a verb).
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
In addition to has, have, had, and the be verbs (am, is, are, was, were, and so on), you can attach a few other helpers to a main verb, and in doing so, change the meaning of the sentence slightly. Consider hiring the following helpers:
Should and must add a sense of duty. Notice the sense of obligation in these two sentences: “David should put the ice cream away before he eats the whole thing.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
In many languages, you say the equivalent of “Ate the cookie?” to find out whether your friend gobbled up a treat. In English, you nearly always need a helping verb and a subject (the person or thing you’re talking about) to create a question: “Did you eat the cookie?” (The verbs to be and to have are the only exceptions.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
When you’re speaking, the listener knows you’ve arrived at the end of a sentence because the thought is complete and your tone says that you’re done. In writing, the tone part is taken care of by a period, question mark, or exclamation point. In formal English you must have one, and only one, of these marks at the end of a sentence.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Three important elements — direct objects, indirect objects, and subject complements — don’t always show up in a sentence, but when they do, they add information to the idea begun by the subject and the verb. To locate objects and subject complements, keep these points in mind:
After an action verb, you may find a word — or several words — answering the question whom?
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Two irregular verbs, to be and to have, appear more frequently than a movie star with a new film to promote. And like a movie star, they tend to cause trouble. Both change according to time and according to the person with whom they’re paired. (Amazing that the movie-star comparison works on so many levels!) Because they’re common, you need to be sure to master all their forms, as this table shows.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
To make a good match, as every online-dating service knows, you have to pair like with like. So, too, in grammar: With two important exceptions (explained here), singular subjects pair with singular verbs and plural subjects with plural verbs — a principle that grammarians call agreement.
Sentences with mismatched subjects and verbs often appear on standardized tests.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
The perfect tenses tack has, have, or had onto a verb. Each perfect tense — past perfect, present perfect, and future perfect — also has a progressive form, which includes an -ing verb. The difference between plain perfect tense and progressive perfect is subtle. The progressive perfect is a bit more immediate than the plain form and refers to something that’s ongoing or takes place over a span of time.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Lately, some grammarians have given up on whom. In their view, few people use whom and even fewer use it properly. In some circles, the difference between who and whom still matters. If you’re writing or speaking to someone in those circles, you should understand proper usage of these pronouns. Who and whom tend to occur in complicated sentences.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
At the end of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (spoiler alert!) the title characters die. Yet every time you open the book or go to the theater, they live again. Because the events in the book or play are always happening, present tense is generally the best choice when you’re writing about literature.Not always, of course.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Articles
Prepositions, not to be confused with propositions (such as “Are you busy tonight?”) are words that express relationships. (Come to think of it, propositions concern relationships too.) Common prepositions include by, for, from, in, on, of, about, after, and before. Prepositions always have objects, and sometimes those objects are pronouns.