Geraldine Woods - English Grammar For Dummies

English Grammar For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Geraldine Woods

English Grammar For Dummies, 2nd Edition

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009942323

ISBN: 978-0-470-63559-9

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Geraldine Woods began her education when teachers still supplied ink wells to their students. She credits her 35-year career as an English teacher to a set of ultra-strict nuns armed with thick grammar books. She lives in New York City, where with great difficulty she refrains from correcting signs containing messages such as Bagels for sale. She is the author of more than 40 books, including English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, Research Papers For Dummies, College Admission Essays For Dummies, and The SAT 1 Reasoning Test For Dummies.

Dedication

I dedicated the first edition of English Grammar For Dummies to my husband and son, who were then and remain the hearts of my life. Since the first edition was published, Ive acquired two new hearts: my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. This book is dedicated with great love to all of them.

Authors Acknowledgments

I owe thanks to my colleagues in the English Department of the Horace Mann School, who are always willing to discuss the finer points of grammar with me. Keeping me up to date on technology and language were Gresa Matoshi, Eliza Montgomery, Sam Schalman-Bergen, and. I appreciate the work of Susan Hobbs and Martha Payne, editors whose attention and intelligence guided my writing. Any errors that remain are mine alone. I also appreciate the efforts of Lisa Queen, my agent, and of Stacy Kennedy, Wiley acquisitions editor.

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Introduction

W hen youre a grammarian, people react to you in interesting and sometimes downright strange ways. When the first edition of English Grammar For Dummies came out in 2001, an elderly man asked me about something that had puzzled him for eight decades: Why did his church, St. Pauls, include an apostrophe in its name? (For the answer, turn to Chapter 11.) My nephew called to inquire whether his companys sign in Times Square should include a semicolon. I said no, though the notion of a two-story-tall neon semicolon was tempting. Lots of people became tongue-tied, sure that I was judging their choice of who or whom . They worried needlessly, because I consider myself off-duty when Im not teaching or writing.