The Good Grammar Guide

Book excerpt: Does grammar bother you? Does it first inspire boredom, then fear? Since the virtual removal of formal grammar teaching from our schools' standard curriculum forty years ago, such negative responses have increasingly characterised students and professionals alike. As this lively and user-friendly book sets out to prove, that is both unfortunate and unnecessary. Not only is grammar an enabling servant rather than a tyrannical set of absolute rules: it can also be fun. This light-hearted guide offers extensive coverage of Parts of Speech, Syntax, Inflection and Punctuation, along with a detailed look at common errors and misconceptions. Regular exercises are included, as is a baleful survey of Political Correct usage, whose desire to sanitize and control the way we speak is injurious to grammar, language itself and indeed the way we live now. The aim throughout this book is to reassure and entertain as well as instruct. This handy volume puts an amusing light on grammar, and as such it is guaranteed to banish boredom and fear. The Good Grammar Guide can also be read as a companion to one of Richard Palmer's other publications, Write in Style 2nd Edition, also published in Routledge's Study Guides series.