Grammar Essentials For Dummies - English Grammar Guide for Beginners & Students | Improve Writing Skills for School, Work & Daily Communication

20 August 2021Grammar Essentials by Geraldine Woods*Reviewed by Dr.C.J.Singh.Wallia (Berkeley, CA)*Lucid Expository Prose Laced with Witty Usage Examples*The great draw of Geraldine Woods' books on English Grammar is engaginghumor in her writing. In teaching Copyediting, I have used her basic books withgood results. In the advanced course I require students to bring "GrammarEssentials" to every meeting for ready reference along with The Copyeditor'sHandbook and Workbook, the Complete Set, published by the University ofCalifornia Berkeley Press (My detailed review of the 912-page Handbook Set iseasily accessible on amazon.com as it's the topmost review.)*Four examples from the 180-page Woods' "Grammar Essentials"1. The first paragraph (page 1) opens: "When you're a grammarian, people reactto you in interesting -- and sometimes downright strange -- ways. An elderlyman once asked me about something that had puzzled him for eight decades: Why did his church, St. Paul's, include an apostrophe in its name? My nephewrecently called to inquire whether his company's sign should include asemicolon. (I said no, though the notion of a two-story-tall neon semicolon wastempting.)*2. In "Grammar Essentials" (page 9), Woods writes, "In this book, I commit aparticular sin that wouldn't be acceptable in a more formal type of writing:I write fragments, which are incomplete sentences. Like this one. And this one.The opposite of a fragment is a run-on sentence: one that keeps going longafter it should have stopped. For example, I create a run-on if I use a comma totry to join two complete sentences, I should use a semicolon or a conjunctioninstead. That was intentional, mind you. I do have my certified grammarian'slicense."*3. "Grammar Essentials" page 46: "Often to achieve a complete thought, asentence requires one or more complements (no, I don't mean you must praisethe sentence for its lovely verbs. That would be a 'compliment' "*4. "Grammar Essentials" (page 129)"Here are two rules you must commit to memory to avoid mistakes with theseword pairs: No possessive pronoun ever has an apostrophe. Ever. A contractionalways has an apostrophe. Always.Its/it's. This word pair may win the prize for causing the most confusion. I see'it's' mistakenly used to show possession on storefronts, on billboards, and evenin newspaper articles. (The horror!) ... So here's what you need to know: 'Its'shows possession, and 'it's' means "it is":The computer has exploded, and 'its' screen is now decorating the ceiling.'It's' raining cats and dogs, but I don't see any alligators." (Yes, I've become a fanof Geraldine Woods' witty books.)*The 180-page "Grammar Essentials" comprises 12 well-organized chapters:Table of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1: Grasping Grammar Nitty-GrittyChapter 2: Making Peace between Subjects and VerbsChapter 3: Perfecting Your Pronoun UsageChapter 4: Constructing a Complete SentenceChapter 5: Drawing Parallels (Without the Lines)Chapter 6: Adjectives, Adverbs, and ComparisonsChapter 7: Polishing Your PunctuationChapter 8: Capitalizing CorrectlyChapter 9: Choosing the Right WordsChapter 10: Tackling Other Trouble MakersChapter 11: Improving Your WritingChapter 12: Ten Ways to Improve Your Grammar Every Day.*The print of the first edition of "Grammar Essential" (copyright, 2010) openswith a page titled "Contents at a Glance." Unfortunately, Chapter 1 is listed asGrasping 'Grammer' Nitty-Gritty. The wrong spelling of Grammar amusedmany students. I used to explain that the "Contents at a Glance" page wasmost likely prepared by a novice copyeditor, not the author. It's virtually certainthat the author's permission to add the page "Contents at a Glance" was neversought. The new print of the first edition of the book (copyright, 2019) showscorrect spelling.*Geraldine Woods' numerous witty examples in this 180-page book merit her fiveshining gold-stars.