|
Welcome to your GrammarBook.com e-newsletter.
|
I want to thank you for The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. It is a great reference book. I used it to study for the writing portion of a teaching certificate exam and passed the first time. What a relief!
—Charles F.
I am very happy that I subscribed to GrammarBook.com. The teacher's account can see which students are doing the work and which are not. It is very convenient for the students as they are allowed to take quizzes any time before the due date.
—John A.
As someone who routinely bemoans the death of proper English, I would like to thank and commend you for your e-newsletter.
—Barry S.
|
|
|
Media Watch
These articles used to be a lot more fun to write, but that was before
newspapers and magazines went on life support. Mainly, we do “Media
Watch” for the copy editors, those unsung word nerds who make
journalists watch what they say and how they say it.
When companies struggle, they downsize, so we shudder to think of all the
fine copy editors who have been cast aside as expendable. If we’ve
hired capable writers, the corporate thinking might go, they’ll do OK
without some finicky scold looking over their shoulders. Fine, but as that
old song says, you don’t know what you’ve lost till it’s
gone …
• “Schmidt described her as ‘very
calm—nonplussed’ after the senator met with her.”
No doubt Schmidt meant that the woman was unruffled, but nonplussed means confused.
• “There was nothing longer then this” (should be
“than”).
This blunder would be embarrassing anywhere, but it cropped up in the daily
word puzzle known as Jumble, a game whose very existence depends upon its
spelling accuracy.
• “A unusual twist in Senate process.”
• “An very unfortunately named document.”
One of the principles of English that Americans once learned in first grade
was when to use the article a (before consonants: a man)
and when to use an (before vowels and vowel sounds: an owl, an honor). But this basic rule has become a
mystery to many of us, including otherwise intelligent public figures who
say things like “a international effort.”
This thing has become an epidemic. But here’s one that may deserve
the benefit of the doubt: “Her friends plan to use an Ouija
board.” The author is probably too young to know that even though Ouija starts with a vowel, it’s pronounced
“wee-ja,” so it takes a, not an.
• “The dirty little secret about being an artist is that
you’re still a human being. That means he or she has the same
emotions as everyone else.”
That’s not pretty. The writer wanted to avoid using they
with the singular “an artist,” a laudable goal, but he lost
control of his sentence. Why did he go from “you” to “he
or she”? Just change the second sentence to, “That means you
have the same emotions as everyone else.” Better yet, making
“artist” plural avoids the whole mess: “The dirty little
secret about artists is that they’re still human beings. That means
they have the same emotions as everyone else.”
We suspect that the laying off of gifted copy editors at newspapers and
magazines is behind most if not all of these blunders. Even good writers
falter under the pressure of deadlines—a venerable critic recently
wrote, “We live in a time where every musical genre can be labeled
world music.” On such occasions, writers need someone they can depend
on to change that ill-advised “where” to “when.”
Because of the e-newsletter’s large readership, please submit your comments or questions regarding today's (or any past) article through GrammarBook.com’s Grammar Blog
|
|
Free BONUS Quiz for You!
[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscribers-Only Quizzes. Click here to take a Than vs. Then Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!
More Good News for Quiz Subscribers
We are pleased to announce that we have added even more quizzes to help you challenge yourself, your students, and your staff. We added quizzes to existing categories and created some new categories such as “Vocabulary,” “Spelling,” “Confusing Verbs,” “Subjunctive Mood,” “Comprise,” and “Sit vs. Set vs. Sat.”
We reviewed and strengthened every quiz on our website to ensure consistency with the rules and guidelines contained in our eleventh edition of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation.
If you think you have found an error in a quiz, please email us at help@grammarbook.com.
“GrammarBook's subscription quizzes opened a new door for me, a way to see exactly who is doing the work and who isn’t, and it is very convenient for the students.”
“So convenient … hundreds of quizzes in one click.”
[[firstname]], Subscribe to receive hundreds of English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
- Take the quizzes online or download and copy them.
- Get scored instantly.
- Find explanations for every quiz answer.
- Reproduce the quizzes to your heart’s content.
- EASY to use.
- No software to download.
- No setup time.
- A real person to help you if you have any questions!
Instructors and Employers: we make your life easier!
- Assign quizzes to your students or employees.
- Students log in from anywhere.
- Scores are tallied and compiled for you.
- You decide whether to let students see their own scores and quiz explanations.
- Let GrammarBook.com take the hassle out of teaching English!
“Fun to test my skills!”
“The explanations really help … thanks!”
Your choice: Subscribe at the $29.95 or $99.95 level ($30 off - previously $129.95).
“I download the quizzes for my students who don’t have computer access.”
Subscribe today to receive hundreds of English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
“Makes learning English FUN!”
 |
Don’t need all the quizzes at once?
You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each. Purchase yours here. |
Get Yours Today!
Get Amazon’s No. 1 Best-seller in Four Categories!
No. 1 in Grammar
No. 1 in Reading
No. 1 in Lesson Planning
No. 1 in Vocabulary |
The Blue Book of Grammar
and Punctuation
by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern
The Authority on English Grammar!
Eleventh Edition Now Available
Have You Ordered Your Copy Yet?
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.
Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!
Order Your Copy Today!
- Hundreds of Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization, and Usage Rules
- Real-World Examples
- Spelling / Vocabulary / Confusing Words
- Quizzes with Answers
The publisher of The Blue Book, Jossey-Bass, A Wiley brand, is offering a 35 percent discount for those of you who order the book through Wiley.com. Shipping and tax are not included. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA and use discount code E9X4A.
*Offer expires December 31, 2017.
|
Wordplay
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch. |
