English GrammarFOR

DUMmIES‰

by Lesley J. Ward and Geraldine Woods

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English Grammar For Dummies®

Published byJohn Wiley & Sons, LtdThe AtriumSouthern GateChichesterWest SussexPO19 8SQEngland

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About the AuthorsLesley J. Ward has worked in the publishing industry for over thirty years,editing and proofreading books and journals. She is a founder member of theSociety for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), and regularly leads trainingcourses for SfEP, the Irish Book Publishers’ Association and The LondonCollege of Communication. She is also a distance-learning tutor for thePublishing Training Centre. Her favourite course is Brush up your grammar.She lives in Berkshire and is notorious for being a harmless eccentric/dangerous radical who refuses to have e-mail. She doesn’t have a cat.

Geraldine Woods’ career as a grammarian began in her elementary school,which in those days was called ‘grammar school’ for very good reason. Withthe guidance of a series of nuns carrying long rulers (good for pointing at theboard and slapping unruly students), she learned how to diagram every con-ceivable type of sentence. She has been an English teacher for 25 years andhas written 40 books, give or take a few. She loves minor-league baseball,Chinese food, and the novels of Jane Austen.

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DedicationFrom Lesley: This book is dedicated to Oliver and Francesca, who are goingto receive copies from their grammatically obsessed maiden aunt.

From Geraldine: For my husband and son, the hearts of my life.

Authors’ AcknowledgementsFrom Lesley: Most of the people I need to thank will have to remain namelessbecause I can’t remember their names. The primary school teacher who gotme hooked on grammar in the first place isn’t even a nameless face to me anymore, although I can still see the blackboard and remember the weather(rainy) on the day she showed me that language is fascinating. My teachersat grammar school also did a wonderful job. (A special thank-you here to allthe members of successive governments who didn’t decide that I didn’t needto know grammar.) Every author who argued with me, and every publishinghouse that gave me feedback on the work I did for them, helped to hone myskills. And all the experts who have taken the trouble to write grammar booksthat I could understand. Bless them – I now have a much better idea of howmuch effort those books took.

Also, thank you to Alison Yates and Simon Bell at Wiley. They were incrediblypatient when I missed deadlines. And to Tabby Toussaint, the technicalreviewer who saved me from a gaffe or two, and the poor frustrated copy-editor. They tried. Anything that’s still wrong is my fault.

From Geraldine: I offer thanks to my students, whose intelligence and curios-ity never fail to inspire me. I also thank technical editor Tom LaFarge, whosegood sense of humour and knowledge of grammar vastly improved this book.I am grateful to my project editor, Linda Brandon, whose thoughtful com-ments challenged me to clarify my explanations and whose encouragementchanged many a bad day into a good one. I appreciate the hard work of copy editors Billie Williams and Ellen Considine, who constantly remindedme to focus on you, the reader. I am also grateful to acquisitions editorsJoyce Pepple, Roxane Cerda, and Susan Decker, who encouraged me at every opportunity. I owe a debt of gratitude to my agent, Carolyn Krupp, who calmed my nerves and answered my e-mails with unfailing courtesy andvaluable assistance. Lastly, I thank my colleagues in the English Department,whose passion for teaching and love of our subject make my time at work apleasure.

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Publisher’s AcknowledgementsWe’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registrationform located at www.dummies.com/register/.

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Contents at a GlanceIntroduction .................................................................1

Part I: The Parts of Speech and Parts of the Sentence......7Chapter 1: I Already Know How to Talk. Why Should I Study Grammar? ...................9Chapter 2: Verbs: The Heart of the Sentence................................................................17Chapter 3: Relax! Understanding Verb Tense ...............................................................33Chapter 4: Who’s Doing What? Finding the Subject.....................................................51Chapter 5: Having It All: The Complete Sentence ........................................................63Chapter 6: Handling Complements ................................................................................73

Part II: Avoiding Common Errors ..................................83Chapter 7: Getting Hitched: Marrying Sentences.........................................................85Chapter 8: Do You Feel Bad or Badly? The Lowdown on Adjectives

and Adverbs ...................................................................................................................99Chapter 9: Prepositions, Interjections and Articles...................................................115Chapter 10: Everyone Brought Their Homework: Pronouns ....................................125Chapter 11: Just Nod Your Head: About Agreement..................................................137

Part III: No Garage, but Plenty of Mechanics .............153Chapter 12: Apostrophes...............................................................................................155Chapter 13: Quotations: More Rules than Revenue & Customs...............................171Chapter 14: The Pause That Refreshes: Commas ......................................................193Chapter 15: Adding Information: Semicolons, Dashes and Colons..........................203Chapter 16: CAPITAL LETTERS.....................................................................................215

Part IV: Polishing without Wax – The Finer Points of Grammar .....................................229Chapter 17: Pronouns and Their Cases .......................................................................231Chapter 18: Fine-Tuning Verbs......................................................................................243Chapter 19: Saying What You Want to Say: Descriptive Words and Phrases..........259Chapter 20: Good, Better, Best: Comparisons ............................................................265Chapter 21: Keeping Your Balance...............................................................................279

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Part V: Rules Even Your Great-Aunt’s Grammar Teacher Didn’t Know...................................289Chapter 22: The Last Word on Verbs ...........................................................................291Chapter 23: The Last Word on Pronouns ....................................................................301Chapter 24: The Last Word on Sentence Structure....................................................313Chapter 25: The Last Word on Punctuation................................................................327

Part VI: The Part of Tens ...........................................341Chapter 26: Ten Ways Two to Improve Your Proofreading .......................................343Chapter 27: Ten Ways to Learn Better Grammar........................................................347

Index .......................................................................351

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Table of ContentsIntroduction..................................................................1

About This Book...............................................................................................1How to Use This Book .....................................................................................2What You Are Not to Read ..............................................................................2Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2How This Book Is Organised...........................................................................3

Part I: The Parts of Speech and Parts of the Sentence ......................3Part II: Avoiding Common Errors .........................................................3Part III: No Garage, But Plenty of Mechanics ......................................4Part IV: Polishing Without Wax – the Finer Points of Grammar .......4Part V: Rules Even Your Great-Aunt’s Grammar Teacher

Didn’t Know .........................................................................................4Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................................................5

Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................5Where to Go from Here....................................................................................5

Part I: The Parts of Speech and Parts of the Sentence ......7

Chapter 1: I Already Know How to Talk. Why Should I Study Grammar? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Living Better with Better Grammar .............................................................10Deciding Which Grammar to Learn .............................................................11Distinguishing between the Three Englishes .............................................11

Wanna get something to eat? Friendspeak........................................12Do you feel like getting a sandwich? Conversational English.........13Will you accompany me to the dining room? Formal English ........13

Using the Right English at the Right Time ..................................................14

Chapter 2: Verbs: The Heart of the Sentence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Linking Verbs: The Giant Equals Sign ..........................................................17

More linking verbs................................................................................19Savouring sensory verbs.....................................................................20

Completing Linking Verb Sentences Correctly...........................................22Placing the Proper Pronoun in the Proper Place .......................................23Lights! Camera! Action Verb!.........................................................................25Getting by with a Little Help from My Verbs ..............................................26Pop the Question: Locating the Verb...........................................................27To Be or Not to Be: Infinitives.......................................................................28

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Chapter 3: Relax! Understanding Verb Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Simplifying Matters: The Simple Tenses .....................................................34

Present tense ........................................................................................34Past tense ..............................................................................................35Future tense ..........................................................................................36

Using the Tenses Correctly ...........................................................................37Present and present progressive........................................................38Past and past progressive ...................................................................38Future and future progressive ............................................................39

Perfecting Grammar: The Perfect Tenses ...................................................40Present perfect and present perfect progressive.............................41Past perfect and past perfect progressive ........................................41Future perfect and future perfect progressive .................................42

Using the Present Perfect Tense Correctly ................................................43Present Participles.........................................................................................44It’s All Highly Irregular...................................................................................45

To be ......................................................................................................45Irregular past tenses and past participles ........................................47

Chapter 4: Who’s Doing What? Finding the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Who’s Driving? or Why the Subject Is Important.......................................51

Teaming up: subject–verb pairs .........................................................52Two for the price of one ......................................................................52

Pop the Question: Locating the Subject–Verb Pair....................................53What’s a Nice Subject Like You Doing in a Place Like This?

Unusual Word Order ..................................................................................54Find That Subject! Detecting an Implied You..............................................55Striking Out on Their Own: Non-finite Verbs ..............................................56Masquerading as Subjects: Here and There ...............................................57Subjects Aren’t Just a Singular Sensation: Forming

the Plural of Nouns.....................................................................................58Regular plurals......................................................................................58The Ies and Ys have it..........................................................................59No knifes here: irregular plurals.........................................................60The brother-in-law rule: hyphenated plurals....................................61

When the Subject Is a Number .....................................................................61

Chapter 5: Having It All: The Complete Sentence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63Completing Sentences: The Essential Subjects and Verbs .......................63Complete Thoughts, Complete Sentences..................................................65Taking an Incomplete: Fragment Sentences ...............................................67Could This Really Be the End? Understanding Endmarks ........................69

Chapter 6: Handling Complements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Being on the Receiving End: Direct Objects ...............................................74One Step Removed: Indirect Objects...........................................................75No Bias Here: Objective Complements .......................................................77Finishing the Equation: Linking-Verb Complements..................................78

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Pop the Question: Locating the Complement ............................................79Pop the Question: Finding the Indirect Object...........................................80Pronouns as Objects and Subject Complements .......................................81

Part II: Avoiding Common Errors...................................83

Chapter 7: Getting Hitched: Marrying Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85Matchmaking: Combining Sentences Legally .............................................85

Connecting with co-ordinate conjunctions.......................................86Pausing to place commas ...................................................................87Attaching thoughts: semicolons.........................................................89

Boss and Employee: Joining Ideas of Unequal Ranks................................91Choosing subordinate conjunctions..................................................92Steering clear of fragments .................................................................94

Employing Pronouns to Combine Sentences..............................................96

Chapter 8: Do You Feel Bad or Badly? The Lowdown on Adjectives and Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Adding Adjectives ........................................................................................100Adjectives describing nouns.............................................................100Adjectives describing pronouns.......................................................101Attaching adjectives to linking verbs ..............................................101Pop the question: identifying adjectives .........................................102

Stalking the Common Adverb.....................................................................103Pop the question: finding the adverb ..............................................104Adverbs describing adjectives and other adverbs ........................105

Distinguishing Between Adjectives and Adverbs ....................................106Sorting adjectives from adverbs: the –ly test .................................106Sorting out adjective/adverb pairs ..................................................107

Avoiding Common Mistakes with Adjectives and Adverbs ....................111Placing even ........................................................................................111Placing almost.....................................................................................112Placing only.........................................................................................113

Chapter 9: Prepositions, Interjections and Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115Proposing Relationships: Prepositions .....................................................115

The objects of my affection: prepositional phrases and their objects.............................................................................116

Are you talking to I? Prepositions and pronouns ...........................118A good part of speech to end a sentence with? .............................120

Interjections Are Easy!.................................................................................121Articles: Not Just for Magazines Any More...............................................121

Chapter 10: Everyone Brought Their Homework: Pronouns . . . . . . .125Pairing Pronouns with Nouns.....................................................................125Deciding between Singular and Plural Pronouns.....................................127Using Possessive Pronouns ........................................................................128

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Positioning Pronoun–Antecedent Pairs ....................................................130More Pronoun Problems .............................................................................132

Using troublesome singular pronouns properly ............................132Sexist language ..................................................................................134

Chapter 11: Just Nod Your Head: About Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137Writing Singular and Plural Verbs ..............................................................137

The unchangeables ............................................................................138The changeables.................................................................................138

Easier Than Marriage Counselling: Making Subjects and Verbs Agree........................................................................................141

Choosing Verbs for Two Subjects ..............................................................142The Question of Questions .........................................................................143

Present tense questions ....................................................................143Past tense questions ..........................................................................144Future tense questions ......................................................................145

Negative Statements and Subject–Verb Agreement.................................145The Distractions: Prepositional Phrases and Other

Irrelevant Words .......................................................................................146Can’t We All Just Get Along? Agreement with Difficult Subjects............147

Five puzzling pronouns as subjects .................................................148Here and there you find problems ...................................................148The Ones, the Things and the Bodies..............................................149Each and every mistake is painful....................................................149I want to be alone: either and neither without their partners......150Politics, statistics and other irregular subjects .............................151

Part III: No Garage, but Plenty of Mechanics ..............153

Chapter 12: Apostrophes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155The Pen of My Aunt or My Aunt’s Pen? Using Apostrophes

to Show Possession..................................................................................155Ownership for singles ........................................................................156Because Bill Gates doesn’t own everything:

plural possessives .........................................................................157Possession with Company Names .............................................................160Ownership with Hyphenated Words..........................................................162Possessives of Nouns that End in s ...........................................................162Common Apostrophe Errors with Pronouns............................................164Shortened Words for Busy People: Contractions ....................................165

Common contraction mistakes.........................................................167Contractions you ne’er use except in poetry and novels .............169

Using Apostrophes with Symbols, Abbreviations and Numbers...........169

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Chapter 13: Quotations: More Rules than Revenue & Customs . . . .171Scare Quotes.................................................................................................171Brackets.........................................................................................................172Quotations ....................................................................................................175

Quotations great and small ...............................................................175Punctuating quotations .....................................................................176

Speech ...........................................................................................................179Indirect speech ...................................................................................179Direct speech ......................................................................................179Who said that? Identifying speaker changes ..................................188

Punctuating Titles: When to Use Quotation Marks .................................190

Chapter 14: The Pause That Refreshes: Commas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193Distinguishing Items: Commas in Lists......................................................193Separating Adjectives ..................................................................................195You Talkin’ to Me? Direct Address .............................................................198Using Commas in Addresses and Dates ....................................................199

Addressing addresses........................................................................199Punctuating dates...............................................................................200

Flying Solo: Introductory Words ................................................................201

Chapter 15: Adding Information: Semicolons, Dashes and Colons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203

Gluing Complete Thoughts Together: Semicolons ..................................203Using semicolons with false joiners.................................................204Separating items in a list with semicolons......................................206

Creating a Stopping Point: Colons .............................................................208Introducing lists..................................................................................208Joining explanations ..........................................................................210

Giving Additional Information – Dashes....................................................211

Chapter 16: CAPITAL LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215Capitalising (or Not) References to People ..............................................216

Addressing the chief dogcatcher and other officials ....................216Writing about family relationships...................................................217Capitalising the deity .........................................................................218

Capitalising Geography: Directions, Places and Languages ...................219Directions and areas of a country ....................................................219Capitalising geographic features ......................................................219Tackling race and ethnicity ...............................................................220

Marking Seasons and Other Times ............................................................221Schooling: Courses, Years and Subjects....................................................221Writing Capitals in Book and Other Titles ................................................222Concerning Historical Capitals: Events and Eras.....................................224If U Cn Rd Ths, U Cn Abbreviate ................................................................225Giving the Last Word to the Poet ...............................................................227

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Part IV: Polishing without Wax – The Finer Points of Grammar ......................................229

Chapter 17: Pronouns and Their Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231Me Like Tarzan: Choosing Subject Pronouns ...........................................231

Compounding interest: pairs of subjects ........................................232Attracting appositives ......................................................................233Picking pronouns for comparisons ..................................................235Connecting pronouns to linking verbs ............................................236

Using Pronouns as Direct and Indirect Objects .......................................237Choosing objects for prepositions...................................................238Seeing double causes problems .......................................................239

Pronouns of Possession: No Exorcist Needed..........................................240Dealing with Pronouns and –ing Nouns ....................................................241

Chapter 18: Fine-Tuning Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243Giving Voice to Verbs...................................................................................243Making the Better Choice? Active or Passive Voice ................................244Putting It in Order: Sequence of Tenses ....................................................247

Case 1 – Simultaneous events: main verbs .....................................247Case 2 – Simultaneous events: –ing participles..............................247Case 3 – Events at two different times in the past .........................248Case 4 – More than two past events, all at different times ...........250Case 5 – Two events in the future ....................................................251Case 6 – Different times, different verb forms ................................252

Mix and Match: Combining the Past and Present ....................................254Habits: Using the present tense .......................................................255Eternal truths: Statements that are always in

the present tense ............................................................................255News from the front ...........................................................................256

Chapter 19: Saying What You Want to Say: Descriptive Words and Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

Ruining a Perfectly Good Sentence: Misplaced Descriptions.................259Keeping Your Audience Hanging: Danglers...............................................261Avoiding Confusing Descriptions ..............................................................263

Chapter 20: Good, Better, Best: Comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265Ending It with –er or Giving It More...........................................................265Breaking the Rules: Irregular Comparisons ..............................................270Never More Perfect: Using Words That You Can’t Compare ..................271Leaving Your Audience in Suspense: Incomplete Comparisons ............273Spock was Better than any First Officer in Star Fleet:

Illogical Comparisons ..............................................................................275Two for the Price of One: Double Comparisons.......................................277

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Chapter 21: Keeping Your Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279Constructing Balanced Sentences ............................................................279Shifting Grammar into Gear: Avoiding Stalled Sentences .......................282

Steering clear of a tense situation....................................................282Knowing the right person..................................................................283

Seeing Double: Conjunction Pairs..............................................................285

Part V: Rules Even Your Great-Aunt’s Grammar Teacher Didn’t Know ...................................289

Chapter 22: The Last Word on Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291Getting a Feel for Everyday Verbs: The Indicative Mood........................291Commanding Your Verbs: The Imperative Mood.....................................292Discovering the Possibilities: The Subjunctive Mood.............................293

Using subjunctives with ‘were’ .........................................................293Using subjunctives with ‘had’...........................................................294Using subjunctives with commands, wishes and requests ..........296

I Can’t Help But Think This Rule Is Crazy: Deleting Double Negatives......................................................................................298

Can’t Hardly Understand This Rule: Yet Another Double Negative.......299

Chapter 23: The Last Word on Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301Knowing the Difference Between Who/Whoever

and Whom/Whomever ............................................................................301Trick 1: Horse and carriage...............................................................302Trick 2: Getting rhythm......................................................................303

Studying Improper Antecedents ................................................................304Matching Verbs to Pronouns in Complicated Sentences ........................305This, That and the Other: Clarifying Vague Pronoun References ..........307Its or Their? Selecting Pronouns for Collective Nouns ..........................309Pronouns, Inc.: Using Pronouns with Company Names ..........................311

Chapter 24: The Last Word on Sentence Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313Understanding the Basics of Clause and Effect........................................313

Getting the goods on main and subordinate clauses ....................315Knowing the three legal jobs for subordinate clauses ..................317Untangling main clauses and subordinate clauses ........................318Deciding when to untangle clauses .................................................320Putting your subordinate clauses in the right place .....................321Choosing the content for your subordinate clauses .....................321

Playing Truant ..............................................................................................322Appreciating gerunds ........................................................................322Working with infinitives.....................................................................323Participating with a participle ..........................................................324

Spicing Up Boring Sentences ......................................................................325

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Chapter 25: The Last Word on Punctuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327Making Your Point Clear with Commas.....................................................327

Essential or extra? Your commas tell the tale ................................328Do your commas have appositive influence? .................................330Punctuating independently...............................................................332

Saving Time with Ellipsis.............................................................................333Indicating missing words in quotations ..........................................334Showing hesitation.............................................................................335

H-y-p-h-e-n-a-t-i-n-g Made Easy....................................................................335Understanding the great divide........................................................336Using hyphens for compound words...............................................337Placing hyphens in numbers.............................................................337The well-placed hyphen ....................................................................338

Slashing Your Sentences ............................................................................339

Part VI: The Part of Tens............................................341

Chapter 26: Ten Ways Two to Improve Your Proofreading . . . . . . . . .343Read Like a Professional Proofreader .......................................................343Read Backwards ...........................................................................................344Wait a While ..................................................................................................344Read It Aloud ................................................................................................344Delete Half the Commas ..............................................................................345Swap with a Friend.......................................................................................345Let the Computer Help ................................................................................345Check the Sentence Length.........................................................................346The Usual Suspects......................................................................................346Draw up a Checklist .....................................................................................346

Chapter 27: Ten Ways to Learn Better Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347Read Good Books .........................................................................................347Watch Good Television................................................................................348Read the Newspaper....................................................................................348Flip through Magazines ...............................................................................348Visit Nerd Hangouts .....................................................................................349Check Out Strunk and White ......................................................................349Listen to Authorities....................................................................................349Review Manuals of Style..............................................................................350Surf the Internet ...........................................................................................350Build Your Own Reference Library ............................................................350

Index........................................................................351

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Introduction

Why does grammar make so many people nervous? Many of us weren’ttaught any at school. (A really great government idea that put us all

out of our depth the minute we stepped out of the classroom and into thereal world!) Some of us found all the terminology boring. Others have forgot-ten what they learned because they haven’t had much chance to practise.And we can find ourselves in circumstances where our language skills aren’tas good as they need to be – in a job interview, writing our first report in anew job, or just trying to please a teacher. This can be stressful and make usvery self-conscious. And it’s worse if everyone around us seems to be betterat it, or if we find to our horror that the boss is one of those people who evenseems to speak proper grammar. (Were some people born knowing this stuff?)

Happily, English grammar is a lot easier than you’ve been led to believe. Youdon’t have to learn all those technical terms, and if you ignore the terminol-ogy you’ll find that you already know a lot of it anyway. In this book we tellyou the tricks of the trade, the strategies that help you make the right deci-sion when you’re facing such grammatical dilemmas as the choice between Iand me, had gone and went, and so forth. We explain what you’re supposed todo, but also tell you why a particular word is correct or incorrect. You won’thave to memorise a list of meaningless rules (well, maybe a couple from thepunctuation chapter!) because when you understand the reason for a particu-lar choice you’ll pick the correct word automatically.

About This BookIn this book, we concentrate on the common errors. We tell you what’s what in the sentence, in logical, everyday (pardon the term) English, not inobscure terminology. You don’t have to read this book in order, though youcan, and you don’t have to read the whole thing. Just browse through thetable of contents and look for things that you often get wrong. For example, if you know that verbs are your downfall, check out Chapters 2 and 3 for thebasics. Chapters 11 and 18 show you how to pick the correct verb in a varietyof situations, and Chapter 22 gives you the equivalent of a doctorate in ver-bology. You decide how picky you want to be.

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How to Use This BookEach chapter in this book introduces some basic ideas and then shows you how to choose the correct sentence when faced with two or threechoices. If we define a term–linking verbs, for example–we show you a practical situation in which identifying a linking verb helps you pick the right pronoun. The examples are clearly displayed in the text so that you can find them easily. One good way to determine whether or not you need to read a particular section is to check the pop quizzes that are sprinkledaround every chapter. If you get the right answer, you probably don’t need toread that section. If you’re puzzled, however, backtrack and read the chapter.Also, watch for Demon icons. They identify the little things–the differencebetween two similar words, commonly misused words and so on–that maysabotage your writing.

What You Are Not to ReadHere and there throughout this book, you see some items marked with theBlack Belt icon. No human being in the history of the world has ever neededto know those terms for any purpose connected with speaking and writingcorrect English. In fact, we recommend that you skip them and do somethinginteresting instead. For those of you who actually enjoy obscure terminologyfor the purpose of, say, clearing a room within ten seconds, the Black Belticons define such exciting grammatical terms as subject complement and participial phrase. Everyone else, fear not: these sections are clearly labelledand completely skippable. Look for the Black Belt icons and avoid those para-graphs like the plague.

Foolish AssumptionsWe wrote English Grammar For Dummies with a specific person in mind. Weassume that you, the reader, already speak English (although you may havelearned it as a foreign language) and that you want to speak and write itbetter. We also assume that you’re a busy person with better things to dothan worry about who and whom. You want to speak and write well, but youdon’t want to get a doctorate in English Grammar. (Smart move. Doctoratesin English probably move you up on the salary scale less than any otheradvanced degree, except maybe Doctorates in Philosophy.)

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This book is for you if

� You want to get better marks for your schoolwork.

� You aspire to a better-paid or higher-status job.

� You want your speech and writing to present you as an educated, intelligent person.

� You want your writing and your speech to be clear and to say exactlywhat you mean.

� You want to polish your skills in English as a second language.

� You simply want to use better grammar.

How This Book Is OrganisedThe first two parts of this book cover the basics: the minimum for reasonablycorrect English. Part III addresses the nuts and bolts of writing: punctuationand capital letters. Parts IV and V hit the finer (OK, pickier) points of gram-mar, the ones that separate regular people from Official Grammarians. If youunderstand the information in this section, you’ll have fun finding mistakes inthe daily paper.

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

Part I: The Parts of Speech and Parts of the SentenceThis part explains how to distinguish between the three Englishes: the breezyslang of friend-to-friend chat, the slightly more proper conversational language,and I’m-on-my-best-behaviour English. We explain the building blocks of a sen-tence (subjects and verbs) – and show you how to put them together properly.In this part, we also provide a guide to the complete sentence, telling youwhat’s grammatically legal and what’s not. We also define objects and comple-ments and show you how to use each effectively.

Part II: Avoiding Common ErrorsIn this part, we describe the remaining members of Team Grammar – theother parts of speech that can make or break your writing. We show you howto join short, choppy sentences into longer, more fluent ones without incur-ring a visit from the grammar police. We also explain descriptive word and

3Introduction

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show you how the location of a description may alter the meaning of the sentence. Prepositions – the bane of many speakers of English as a secondlanguage – are in this part, too, as well as some tips for correct usage. Finally,in this part we tell you how to avoid mismatches between singular and pluralwords, by far the most common mistake in ordinary speech and writing. PartII also contains an explanation of pronoun gender. In addition, reading thissection may help you to avoid sexist pronoun usage.

Part III: No Garage, But Plenty of MechanicsIf you’ve ever asked yourself whether you need a comma or if you’ve ever gotlost in quotation marks and semicolons, Part III is for you. We explain all therules that govern the use of the apostrophe. We also show you how to quotespeech or written material and where to place the most common punctuationmark, the comma. Lastly, we outline the ins and outs of capital letters: whenyou need them, when you don’t, and when they’re optional.

Part IV: Polishing Without Wax – the Finer Points of GrammarPart 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, we tell you the difference betweensubject and object pronouns and pronouns of possession. (No, you don’t needan exorcist.) We also go into detail on verb tenses, explaining which words touse for all sorts of purposes. We show you how to distinguish between activeand passive verbs and how to use each properly. We illustrate some commonerrors of sentence structure and tackle comparisons – both how to form themand how to ensure that your comparisons are logical and complete. Finally, weshow you how to achieve balance and order in the sentence.

Part V: Rules Even Your Great-Aunt’sGrammar Teacher Didn’t KnowAnyone who masters the material in Part V has the right to wear a bun and tut-tut a lot. This part covers the moods of verbs (ranging from grouchy to justplain irritable) and explains how to avoid double negatives. Part V also givesyou the last word on pronouns, those little parts of speech that make every-one’s life miserable. The dreaded who/whom section is in this part, as well asthe explanation for all sorts of errors with pronouns. We explain subordinateclauses and give you the lowdown on the most obscure punctuation rules.

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Part VI: The Part of TensPart VI is the Part of Tens, which offers some quick tips for better grammar.Here we show you ten ways to fine-tune your proofreading skills. Finally, wesuggest ways (apart from reading English Grammar For Dummies) to improveyour ear for proper English.

Icons Used in This BookWherever you see this icon, you’ll find helpful strategies for understandingthe 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 youhow to avoid common mistakes as you unravel a sentence.

Think you know how to find the subject in a sentence or identify a pronoun?Take the pop quizzes located throughout this book to find out what you knowand what you may want to learn.

Keep your eye out for these little devils: they point out the differencebetween easily confused words and show you how to make your sentencesay what you want it to say.

Here’s where we get a little technical. If you master this information, you’reguaranteed to impress your oldest relations and bore all of your friends.

Where to Go from HereNow that you know what’s what and where it is, it’s time to get started.Before you do, however, one last word. Actually, two last words. Trust your-self. You already know a lot. If you’re a native speaker, you’ve communicatedin English all of your life, including the years before you set foot in school andsaw your first textbook. If English is an acquired language for you, you’ve

5Introduction

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probably already learned a fair amount of vocabulary and grammar, even ifyou don’t know the technical terms. For example, you already understand thedifference between

The dog bit Agnes.

and

Agnes bit the dog.

You don’t need us to tell you which sentence puts the dog in the doghouseand which sentence puts Agnes in a padded room. So take heart. Browsethrough the table of contents, take a few pop quizzes and dip a toe into theSea of Grammar. The water’s fine.

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‘I’d like you to seriously considermy offer of marriage.’

Part IThe Parts of

Speech and Partsof the Sentence

In this part . . .So it’s, like, communication, y’know?

Can you make a statement like that without bringingthe grammar police to your door? Maybe. Read

Chapter 1 for a discussion of formal and informal languageand a guide to when each is appropriate. The rest of thispart of the book explains the building blocks of the sen-tence. Chapter 2 shows you how to find the verb, andChapter 3 tells you what to do with it once you’ve got it.Chapter 4 provides a road map to the subject of the sen-tence and explains the basics of matching subjects andverbs properly. Chapter 5 is all about completeness – whythe sentence needs it and how to make sure that the sen-tence gets it. In Chapter 6, we explore the last buildingblock of a sentence – the complement.

Chapter 1

I Already Know How to Talk. WhyShould I Study Grammar?

In This Chapter� Distinguishing between formal and informal English

� Understanding when following the rules is necessary

� Deciding when slang is appropriate

� Using computer grammar checkers properly

You may be reading this book for a number of reasons. Perhaps you’rehoping to impress your English teacher (if so, it’s a good idea to let her

accidentally catch you reading it). Or maybe you’re hoping to become so elo-quent that when you pluck up the courage to ask the most beautiful girl inyour class out on a date she’ll say yes. Or perhaps you want to improve theletters you write at work so that your boss will give you a promotion.

What is grammar anyway?In the Middle Ages, grammar meant the study ofLatin, because Latin was the language of choicefor educated people. In fact, knowing Latin gram-mar was so closely associated with being aneducated person that the word grammar wasalso used to refer to any kind of learning. That’swhy grammar schools were called grammarschools; they were places of learning – and notjust learning about how Latin and English work.

These days, grammar is the study of language –specifically, how words are put together tocreate meaning. Because of all those obsessiveEnglish teachers and their rules, grammar also

means a set of standards that you have to followin order to speak and write correctly. This set ofstandards is also called usage, as in standardand non-standard usage. Standard usage is theone that earns an A grade. It consists of the com-monly accepted correct patterns of speech andwriting that mark an educated person in our soci-ety. You’ll find standard usage in governmentdocuments, in newspapers and magazines, andin textbooks. Non-standard usage draws red inkfrom a teacher’s pen faster than a bullet cutsthrough butter. Non-standard usage includesslang, dialect and just plain bad grammar.

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Whatever your ultimate goal is, you have probably decided that learning bettergrammar is a good strategy. In this chapter we’ll look at how the definition ofbetter grammar changes according to your situation, purpose and audience.We’ll also tell you what your computer can and can’t do to help you writeproper English.

Living Better with Better GrammarThe curtain goes up and you step on stage. One deep breath and you’reready. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s an honour to be speaking . . . to speak . . . tohave spoken . . . to you this evening. You clear your throat. I offer my bestefforts to whomever . . . whoever the committee decides . . . will decide shouldreceive the nomination. You begin to sweat, but you go on. Now if everyonewill rise to his . . . to his or her . . . to their . . . to your feet . . . Does this soundlike you? Do your words twist around themselves until you don’t know whyyou ever thought to open your mouth (or turn on your computer)? If so, youhave lots of company. Nearly everyone in your class or office (or book clubor squadron or whatever) has the same worries.

Stuck in English class, you probably thought that grammar was invented justto give teachers something to test. But in fact grammar – or, to be more pre-cise, formal grammar teaching – exists to help you express yourself clearly.Without a thorough knowledge of grammar, you’ll get by just fine chattingwith your friends and family. But you may find yourself at a disadvantagewhen you’re interviewed for a job or a place at university, or when you’retrying to convince someone to publish your novel, or when you find yourselfhaving a slight disagreement with a customs officer at the airport on your wayhome from your holiday . . . and heaven help you if your boss turns out to bea stickler – one of those people who knows every grammar rule that was everinvented (and thinks that you should know them too) and insists that theEnglish language must never be allowed to change.

Rightly or wrongly, your audience or readers will judge you by the words youuse and the way you put them together. Ten minutes at the cinema will showyou the truth of this statement. Listen to the speech of the people on thescreen. An uneducated character sounds different from someone with fivediplomas on the wall. The dialogue reflects reality: educated people followcertain rules when they speak and write. If you want to present yourself as an educated person, you have to follow those rules too.

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Deciding Which Grammar to LearnI 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 (compar-ing languages). Don’t despair. In English Grammar For Dummies, we deal withonly two – the two you have to know in order to improve your speech and writ-ing: descriptive grammar and functional grammar.

Descriptive grammar gives names to things – the parts of speech and parts of a sentence. When you learn descriptive grammar, you understand whatevery word is (its part of speech) and what every word does (its function inthe sentence). There is one important reason to learn some grammar terms –to understand why a particular word or phrase is correct or incorrect (andsometimes to be able to explain to someone else why it’s wrong).

Functional grammar makes up the bulk of English Grammar For Dummies.Functional grammar tells you how words behave when they’re doing theirjobs properly. It guides you to the right expression – the one that fits whatyou’re trying to say – by ensuring that the sentence is put together correctly.When you’re agonising over whether to say I or me, you’re actually solving aproblem of functional grammar.

So here’s the formula for success: a little descriptive grammar plus a lot offunctional grammar equals better grammar overall.

Distinguishing between the Three Englishes

Better grammar sounds like a great idea, but better is tough to pin down.Why? Because the language of choice depends on your situation. Here’s what I mean. Imagine that you’re hungry. What do you say?

Wanna get something to eat?

Do you feel like getting a sandwich?

Will you accompany me to the dining room?

These three statements illustrate the three Englishes of everyday life. We’llcall them friendspeak, conversational English and formal English.

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Before you choose, you need to know where you are and what’s going on.Most important, you need to know your audience.

Wanna get something to eat? FriendspeakFriendspeak is informal and filled with slang. Its sentence structure breaks allthe rules that English teachers love. It’s the language of I know you and youknow me and we can relax together. In friendspeak the speakers are on thesame level. They have nothing to prove to each other, and they’re comfort-able with each other’s mistakes. In fact, they make some mistakes on pur-pose, just to distinguish their personal conversation from what they say onother occasions. Here’s a conversation in friendspeak:

We’re gonna go to the gym. Wanna come?

He’s, like, I did 60 push-ups, and I go, like, no way.

I mean, what’s he think? We’re stupid or something? Sixty? More like one.

Yeah, I know. In his dreams he did 60.

I doubt that the preceding conversation makes perfect sense to many people,but the participants understand it quite well. Because they both know thewhole situation (the guy they’re talking about gets muscle cramps after fourseconds of exercise), they can talk in shorthand. It helps, of course, thatthey’re speaking to each other (not just reading the words). The way they say the words helps to communicate their meaning, and if that fails they can wave their hands about or shake their heads in significant ways.

12 Part I: The Parts of Speech and Parts of the Sentence

SlangPsst! Want to be in the in-crowd? Easy. Justcreate an out-crowd and you’re all set. How doyou create an out-crowd? Manufacture a speciallanguage (slang) with your friends that no oneelse understands, at least until the media pick itup. You and your pals are on the inside, talkingabout a wicked song that everyone likes (wickedmeans good). Everyone else is on the outside,wondering what you’re talking about. Should youuse slang in your writing? Probably not, unlessyou’re sending an e-mail or a personal note to agood friend. The goal of writing and speaking iscommunication (usually with as many people as

possible, or your book won’t become a best-seller). Also, because slang changes so quickly,the meaning may become obscure even a shorttime after you’ve written something. Instead ofcutting-edge, you sound dated.

When you talk or write in slang, you also risksounding uneducated. In fact, sometimes break-ing the usual rules is the point of slang. In general,you should make sure that your readers knowthat you understand the rules before you startbreaking them (the rules, not the readers) safely.

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