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On a somewhat different note, does anybody have suggestions on books/videos to help learn thoroughly grammar? My PhD advisor sometimes uses words like "past par

by bogtog 3y ago

On a somewhat different note, does anybody have suggestions on books/videos to help learn thoroughly grammar? My PhD advisor sometimes uses words like "past participle", and I just nod along as though I understand what he is referring to. I have an eBook of Strunk & White sitting around, but I figured it was more about general good writing than grammar specifically.

coliveira 3y ago
Take a class on English grammar. This is a solved problem.
- ajkjk 3y ago
  But they asked about books and videos.
mtlynch 3y ago
Strunk & White doesn't really cover grammar if I recall. I like The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker. I had to buy it for a course in college, and I've found it to be a helpful reference for grammar rules. The explanations are clear, and there are helpful examples for each concept.
spondylosaurus 3y ago
Check out Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style. The eponymous Dreyer is chief copyeditor at Random House, so he knows his way around a dependent clause (and isn't afraid to show it), but his writing style is engaging and not at all dry. At times, if you can believe it, he's even pretty funny.
joegahona 3y ago
Readable and fun, but extremely useful: • Lapsing into a Comma, Bill Walsh (RIP) • The 10% Solution, Ken Rand (for editing down wordy text) • Sin and Syntax, Constance Hale • Woe Is I, Patricia T. O'Conner More resource-like and grammar-heavy: • Words Into Type, Marjorie E. Skillin (hard-core grammar rules, great section on redundancies) • Chicago Manual of Style (in general, the core style of book and magazine writing) • Associated Press Stylebook (in general, the core style of newspaper writing) • Garner's Modern English Usage, Bryan A. Garner • Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage • Dictionary of American Idioms, Maxine Tull Makkai Not about writing, but hilarious and snobby and awesome -- great airplane reading: • The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, Charles Harrington Elster

by bogtog 3y ago

coliveira 3y ago

Take a class on English grammar. This is a solved problem.

ajkjk 3y ago
But they asked about books and videos.

mtlynch 3y ago

Strunk & White doesn't really cover grammar if I recall. I like The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker. I had to buy it for a course in college, and I've found it to be a helpful reference for grammar rules. The explanations are clear, and there are helpful examples for each concept.

spondylosaurus 3y ago

Check out Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style. The eponymous Dreyer is chief copyeditor at Random House, so he knows his way around a dependent clause (and isn't afraid to show it), but his writing style is engaging and not at all dry. At times, if you can believe it, he's even pretty funny.

joegahona 3y ago

Readable and fun, but extremely useful: • Lapsing into a Comma, Bill Walsh (RIP) • The 10% Solution, Ken Rand (for editing down wordy text) • Sin and Syntax, Constance Hale • Woe Is I, Patricia T. O'Conner More resource-like and grammar-heavy: • Words Into Type, Marjorie E. Skillin (hard-core grammar rules, great section on redundancies) • Chicago Manual of Style (in general, the core style of book and magazine writing) • Associated Press Stylebook (in general, the core style of newspaper writing) • Garner's Modern English Usage, Bryan A. Garner • Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage • Dictionary of American Idioms, Maxine Tull Makkai Not about writing, but hilarious and snobby and awesome -- great airplane reading: • The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, Charles Harrington Elster