Bell - Clean, well-lighted sentences: a guide to avoiding the most common errors in grammar and punctuation

Another grammar book? Why?

Youve seen grammar books beforeyou may even own one that you pull out now and again, when youre uncertain about a sentence you wrote. Chances are, however, that you close that book pretty soon after you open it because you dont find the answer to your question. In fact, you cant figure out even how to look for the answer to your question because the text is comprehensive and filled with terms youve long forgotten.

English is your native tongue. Or its not, but you know it well enough to be dreaming in it. You dont need a book that teaches grammar from the ground up. All you need is a guide that answers the questions you have from time to time, an explanation of the problems that typically crop up when youre writing sentences. Some relate to grammar ( Is it who or whom , will or would , its or its ? ); some relate to usage ( Is it lie or lay , affect or effect , everyday or every day ?); some relate to punctuation ( What belongs herea comma or semicolon? Dash or hyphen? Single quotes or double? ). Whatever the question, this book answers it in a way that will make sense to you.

How can I make that claim when I dont know you and Ive never seen your sentences? Unless youre very different from the thousands of people Ive taught over the last three decades in both academic and business classrooms, I do know you and I have seen your sentences. I know where your grammar and usage errors hang out. I know where your punctuation gaffes live. I can tell you exactly what these characters look like and the fragrances they wear. After reading this text, youll be able to spot a mistake from around the corner. You may even be able to smell it.

Of necessity, this book contains grammar terminology, but it defines all terms in an introductory section and defines them again when they appear in a chapter. It discusses each issue, rather than just listing rules. It presents many sample sentences, incorrect and correct, so that you can see the concepts in action. It asksand answersthe questions youre likely to have. It gives you a quiz to take at the end of each chapter, as well as answers to the quizzes, so that you can see what youve learned and what you still need to work on. It turns on the floodlights and even makes you laugh.

Finally, this book increases your confidence, which is key to writing well. I wish I could just sprinkle some self-assurance on your cereal in the morning and watch your sentences transform by the afternoon. But, alas, theres no such product on the market. We all have to make it from scratch by strengthening our skills. Thats what youll be doing as you work your way through this text.

Once you can produce clean, well-lighted sentences, youll approach every writing project with a can-do attitude. Im not promising that youll ever like to write (few people do); Im saying that youll be able to write in a way that commands respectfrom you and from your readers.

Cmon now, turn the page, scan the terminology, and jump into a chapter, any chapter. When you encounter one of your own sentences there, youll wonder how many others slipped into this book when you werent looking. Its time to keep an eye on them, dont you think?

Janis Bell

Parts of Speech

Sentence Roles