A Brief English Grammar With Illustrations And Diagrams

Grammar by Diagram is a book designed for anyone who wishes to improve grammatical understanding and skill. Using traditional sentence diagraming as a visual tool, the book explains how to expand ten basic patterns for simple sentences into compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences, and how to employ verbals (infinitives, gerunds, and participles), other specialized structures, and even punctuation for additional versatility. The third edition includes more exercises at the foundational level and more focus on how to arrange and combine sentences for maximum effect. It also includes a new initial CHAPTER on “preliminaries” to define a few basic but overarching concepts, a separate CHAPTER on pronouns, and a CHAPTER devoted to the connection between understanding grammar and writing effective sentences.

The easy way to brush up on your English skills Is it good or well? There, their, or they're? Some people don't have to think twice about using proper English, but for the rest of us it can get tricky and confusing. Whether you're writing or speaking, it's all too easy to fall prey to simple mistakes that will represent you in a less-than-desirable light—which can potentially cost you a job or put you in an embarrassing social situation. Avoiding complicated grammar rules, Basic English For Dummies sticks to the basics and makes it easy to get up and running on what you need to know to partake in successful everyday communication, no matter your audience or medium. Inside, you'll find plenty of examples and exercises, guidance on how to structure sentences to make yourself easily understood, and so much more. In no time, you'll leave the 'me or I?' debate at the door and speak and write confidently and correctly. Plus, you'll expand your vocabulary, find the right tone and style you want to convey in your communication, and avoid common English language pitfalls. Includes quizzes and self-tests Provides guidance on composing letters, emails, texts, and phone calls Explains in plain English how to improve your English skills Gives you instruction and exercises on putting your skills to practice right away If English is your first language, but you missed or have forgotten the nuances that were taught in school, Basic English For Dummies is your go-to guide. It is also ideal for those learning English as a second language.

Grammar by Diagram, second edition is a book designed for anyone who wishes to improve grammatical understanding and skill. Using traditional sentence diagraming as a visual tool, the book explains how to expand simple sentences into compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences, and how to employ verbals (infinitives, gerunds, and participles) and other structures for additional variety. The text addresses the most frequent usage errors by explaining how to distinguish between adjectives and adverbs; how to avoid problems of pronoun case, agreement, and consistency; how to ensure that verbs will agree with their subjects and will be appropriate in terms of tense, aspect, voice, and mood; and how to phrase sentences to avoid errors in parallelism or placement of modifiers. Six appendices incorporate further exercises, a summary of key basics from the text, and supplemental material not included in the body of the text but useful for quick reference. This new edition includes additional exercises and has been revised and updated throughout.