First and Foremost

Book excerpt: First and Foremost: A Grammar Workbook offers students practical and straightforward lessons in the basics of English grammar. Beginning with a helpful primer on commonly confused (and thus misused) words, the book's following chapters help students recognize the building blocks of sentences: prepositions, subjects, and verbs. The next sections focus on verb forms and tenses and subject-verb agreement, with a separate chapter devoted to the common problem of sentence fragments. Finally, students learn about compound and complex sentences, as well as the importance of avoiding run-on sentences and comma splices. An appendix provides useful information on punctuation and capitalization. Written in an easy-to-read style, the book assumes a facility with spoken English and frequently reminds students how much they actually already know about grammar. Exercises at the end of each chapter give students the chance to apply that chapter's lessons while reading about subjects as diverse as Mount Rushmore and comedy clubs. By the end of the workbook, students will be diagramming sentences with ease and confidence.