Action Grammar: Fast, No-Hassle Answers on Everyday Usage and Punctuation

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Overview

If terms like "transitive verb," "objective case," and "dangling participle" make your eyes glaze over, this book is for you. The only grammar guide to recognize that most adults have forgotten all the rules they learned in school, Action Grammar focuses on what you need to know to speak and write correctly in business and in everyday life.

Organized to give you fast, easy answers to the questions that come up most often, Action Grammar features useful exercises to help you ...

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More About This Book

Overview

If terms like "transitive verb," "objective case," and "dangling participle" make your eyes glaze over, this book is for you. The only grammar guide to recognize that most adults have forgotten all the rules they learned in school, Action Grammar focuses on what you need to know to speak and write correctly in business and in everyday life.

Organized to give you fast, easy answers to the questions that come up most often, Action Grammar features useful exercises to help you sort out the more puzzling points of spoken and written English, as well as dozens of up-to-date examples of correct (and incorrect) usage, from where to put a comma to when to use "me" rather than "I." For everyone who wants to use the right word in the right place, punctuate properly, and spell correctly, here's a must-have reference that will do wonders for your command of the language.

For everyone who wants to use the right word in the right place, punctuate properly, and spell correctly, this "plain English" grammar book is designed for those adults who have forgotten all the rules they learned in school, and focuses just on what one needs to know to speak and write correctly in business and in everyday life.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
J. Frederick Reynolds Professor Of English, City College of the City University of New York Action Grammar is a clear and easy-to-understand handbook designed to help work-world writers and students solve the sticky little problems that often frustrate them when they sit down to write letters, memos, reports, and proposals...accurate, easy to use, and fun to read. I highly recommend it.

Richard Lederer Author Of the Write Way Action Grammar accomplishes just what its title promises. It puts grammar into action by concisely presenting the essential rules of usage and punctuation and illustrating these rules with real-life examples, Joanne Feierman approaches the intricacies of our English language with a clarity and humor that will appeal to all.

From Barnes & Noble
The only grammar guide to recognize that most adults have forgotten all the rules they learned in school, this book focuses on what you need to know to speak and write correctly in business and in everyday life.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780684807805
  • Publisher: Touchstone
  • Publication date: 9/7/1995
  • Edition description: Original
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 256
  • Product dimensions: 7.81 (w) x 5.06 (h) x 0.54 (d)

Meet the Author

Joanne Feierman, president of Seminars in Communication, teaches business and technical writing at Fortune 500 companies. She lives in New York City with her husband, two children, and an overweight cat.

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Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

Five Lies Your English Teacher Told You

That sure is a great school. It's practical. They don't teach no goddamn grammar there.

a Kansas Farmer, quoted by Nelson Antrim Crawford, c. 1914

Well, I'm exaggerating. Your English teacher didn't tell you lies. But she or he probably taught you rules of English that are no more.

Were you taught any of the "rules" below? If you were, read this chapter.

1. You may not start a sentence with because.

2. You may not start a sentence with and or but.

3. Sometimes periods and commas go inside the quotation marks and sometimes they go outside; it depends on the sentence.

4. You may not end a sentence with a preposition.

5. You may not split an infinitive.

Here is the most up-to-date information on these issues.

1. You may not start a sentence with because.

You certainly may. This much-believed "rule" has never been found in any book of grammar!

Let's examine:

I made $100,000 on a stock because I got a great tip.

Because I got a great tip, I made $100,000 on a stock.

Both of these sentences are absolutely, positively correct.

If this is true, why do you and I remember being told, in no uncertain terms, that you can't start a sentence with because? The answer is this: Teachers in primary grades wanted to instill in their students the habit of writing and speaking in full sentences, not sentence fragments.

If your teacher asked, "Why did you make $100,000 on a stock?" and you answered, "Because I got a great tip," she would most likely say, "You can't start a sentence with because." What she should have said was, "Please make that a complete sentence." Because I got a great tip is a cliff-hanger; it's a sentence fragment and needs to be finished. But instead, she just said, "You can't start a sentence with because."

Indeed, the teacher told you a white lie. As a result, people write wordy, awkward sentences like this:

Due to the fact that I got a great tip, I made $100,000 on a stock.

[You'll find more about due to and because on page 199.]

2. You may not start a sentence with and or but.

False. Good writers do it all the time. Take a look at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or any other major publication; you'll see many sentences that start with and, but, and even so!

The same thing that happened to because happened to and, but, and so. Your teachers were afraid you would write sentences like these:

I look forward to seeing you next week. And completing the contract by the first of July.

And completing the contract by the first of July is not a sentence and can't stand alone.

However, to write And I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July would be perfectly fine. This starts with and, yet it contains a complete sentence: I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.

Of course, many other correct sentences could have been written to communicate the same thought. Here are some:

1. I look forward to seeing you next week and completing the contract by the first of July.

2. I look forward to seeing you next week; I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.

3. I look forward to seeing you next week, and I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.

4. I look forward to seeing you next week. I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.

3. Sometimes periods and commas go inside the quotation marks and sometimes they go outside; it depends on the sentence.

No — well, at least not in America. In the United States, periods and commas always go inside quotation marks. That's our rule, and it is followed scrupulously by all professional writers.

Therefore, all of the following are correct:

1. The vice president said, "We will have to review our objectives for the project." (Here the quoted material is a complete sentence.)

2. Although the letter addressed to my supervisor was stamped "Personal and Confidential," I took it to my office and read it. (Here the quoted material is just three words. The comma is required to indicate a pause.)

3. My manager described his assistant's behavior as "inappropriate." (The quoted material is just one word.)

Do I hear an objection? Did you say our rule makes no sense? After all, in example two the letter was stamped "Personal and Confidential" and not "Personal and Confidential," — and therefore, you ask, shouldn't the comma come after the quotation marks? Well, I agree with you, but that is not the rule.

And what about the third example? Only one word is quoted. Does the period still go inside? The answer is yes. This is the American system. The rest of the English-speaking world uses the more logical system, as do publications of international bodies such as the United Nations. The only Americans who do not follow the American style in this matter are lawyers.

For more information on this issue, see Rule 10, page 72.

4. You may not end a sentence with a preposition.

Much has been written on this topic — in fact, too much has been written about it. The story is told that Winston Churchill was once criticized for using a sentence that ended with a preposition. He was angry; he responded: "That is the kind of English up with which I will not put." His meaning is clear: Don't rework a sentence into a totally awkward one to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Not ending a sentence with a preposition is a guideline, not a rule.

Yes, generally speaking, you should not end sentences with prepositions because they are dull, weak words (words like of, with, to, at, in). You should end sentences with powerful words. Notice the difference:

This is the report I want to talk with you about.

I want to talk with you about this report.

The second sentence is clearer and more forceful.

However, don't follow this rule slavishly or you may end up, as the prime minister pointed out, with a sentence that's awkward and confusing:

This is the report about which I want to talk with you.

5. You may not split an infinitive.

An infinitive is the word to plus a verb, for example, to review, to explain, to understand. In the following sentence, the infinitive, to review, is split by the word carefully.

Frowned upon:

Her responsibility was to carefully review the data.

Favored:

Her responsibility was to review the data carefully.

Do not split an infinitive unless not doing so leads to a confusing or awkward sentence. In the following examples, the sentence with the split infinitive is preferable to the unsplit ones because it's the clearest; it puts the emphasis in the right spot.

Clearest and best:

I would like you to personally supervise the clerk.

Awkward:

I would like you personally to supervise the clerk.

Okay:

I would like you to supervise the clerk personally.

Copyright © 1995 by Joanne Feierman

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Table of Contents

Introduction 9
How to Use This Book 10
Who Makes Up the Rules? 11
1 Five Lies Your English Teacher Told You 15
2 Mistakes Your Boss Minds the Most 20
3 The Comma, the Whole Comma, and Nothing but the Comma 31
4 More Punctuation: Semicolons, Colons, Quotation Marks, and Apostrophes 61
5 Still More Punctuation: Parentheses, Dashes, Hyphens, Ellipses, Brackets 80
6 Twelve Rules for Handling Numbers 93
7 Spelling Bee 98
8 Capitalization Questions 107
9 Brief Words on Abbreviations 115
10 Word-Divsion Dilemmas 119
11 Pronoun Problems 125
12 Agreement Issues 134
13 "Did You Get My Memo?" 163
14 Answers to Your Questions on Letter Writing 177
15 Netiquette - E-Mail Etiquette 183
App. Troublesome Words and Phrases 191
App. Words That Are Easy to Mispell (Misspell) 233
App. Simple Business Verbs You Should Know 235
App. Formatting of Letters and Memos 236
Glossary 239
Bibliography 243
Index 245
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First Chapter

Chapter 1

Five Lies Your English Teacher Told You

That sure is a great school. It's practical. They don't teach no goddamn grammar there.
a Kansas Farmer, quoted by Nelson Antrim Crawford, c. 1914

Well, I'm exaggerating. Your English teacher didn't tell you lies. But she or he probably taught you rules of English that are no more.

Were you taught any of the "rules" below? If you were, read this chapter.

1. You may not start a sentence with because.
2. You may not start a sentence with and or but.
3. Sometimes periods and commas go inside the quotation marks and sometimes they go outside; it depends on the sentence.
4. You may not end a sentence with a preposition.
5. You may not split an infinitive.

Here is the most up-to-date information on these issues.

1. You may not start a sentence with because.

You certainly may. This much-believed "rule" has never been found in any book of grammar!

Let's examine:

I made $100,000 on a stock because I got a great tip.

Because I got a great tip, I made $100,000 on a stock.

Both of these sentences are absolutely, positively correct.

If this is true, why do you and I remember being told, in no uncertain terms, that you can't start a sentence with because? The answer is this: Teachers in primary grades wanted to instill in their students the habit of writing and speaking in full sentences, not sentence fragments.

If your teacher asked, "Why did you make $100,000 on a stock?" and you answered, "Because I got a great tip," she would most likely say, "You can'tstart a sentence with because." What she should have said was, "Please make that a complete sentence." Because I got a great tip is a cliff-hanger; it's a sentence fragment and needs to be finished. But instead, she just said, "You can't start a sentence with because."

Indeed, the teacher told you a white lie. As a result, people write wordy, awkward sentences like this:

Due to the fact that I got a great tip, I made $100,000 on a stock.

[You'll find more about due to and because on page 199.]

2. You may not start a sentence with and or but.

False. Good writers do it all the time. Take a look at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or any other major publication; you'll see many sentences that start with and, but, and even so!

The same thing that happened to because happened to and, but, and so. Your teachers were afraid you would write sentences like these:

I look forward to seeing you next week. And completing the contract by the first of July.

And completing the contract by the first of July is not a sentence and can't stand alone.

However, to write And I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July would be perfectly fine. This starts with and, yet it contains a complete sentence: I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.

Of course, many other correct sentences could have been written to communicate the same thought. Here are some:

1. I look forward to seeing you next week and completing the contract by the first of July.
2. I look forward to seeing you next week; I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.
3. I look forward to seeing you next week, and I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.
4. I look forward to seeing you next week. I hope we can complete the contract by the first of July.

3. Sometimes periods and commas go inside the quotation marks and sometimes they go outside; it depends on the sentence.

No -- well, at least not in America. In the United States, periods and commas always go inside quotation marks. That's our rule, and it is followed scrupulously by all professional writers.

Therefore, all of the following are correct:

1. The vice president said, "We will have to review our objectives for the project." (Here the quoted material is a complete sentence.)
2. Although the letter addressed to my supervisor was stamped "Personal and Confidential," I took it to my office and read it. (Here the quoted material is just three words. The comma is required to indicate a pause.)
3. My manager described his assistant's behavior as "inappropriate." (The quoted material is just one word.)

Do I hear an objection? Did you say our rule makes no sense? After all, in example two the letter was stamped "Personal and Confidential" and not "Personal and Confidential," -- and therefore, you ask, shouldn't the comma come after the quotation marks? Well, I agree with you, but that is not the rule.

And what about the third example? Only one word is quoted. Does the period still go inside? The answer is yes. This is the American system. The rest of the English-speaking world uses the more logical system, as do publications of international bodies such as the United Nations. The only Americans who do not follow the American style in this matter are lawyers.

For more information on this issue, see Rule 10, page 72.

4. You may not end a sentence with a preposition.

Much has been written on this topic -- in fact, too much has been written about it. The story is told that Winston Churchill was once criticized for using a sentence that ended with a preposition. He was angry; he responded: "That is the kind of English up with which I will not put." His meaning is clear: Don't rework a sentence into a totally awkward one to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Not ending a sentence with a preposition is a guideline, not a rule.

Yes, generally speaking, you should not end sentences with prepositions because they are dull, weak words (words like of, with, to, at, in). You should end sentences with powerful words. Notice the difference:

This is the report I want to talk with you about.
I want to talk with you about this report.

The second sentence is clearer and more forceful.

However, don't follow this rule slavishly or you may end up, as the prime minister pointed out, with a sentence that's awkward and confusing:

This is the report about which I want to talk with you.

5. You may not split an infinitive.

An infinitive is the word to plus a verb, for example, to review, to explain, to understand. In the following sentence, the infinitive, to review, is split by the word carefully.

Frowned upon:
Her responsibility was to carefully review the data.

Favored:
Her responsibility was to review the data carefully.

Do not split an infinitive unless not doing so leads to a confusing or awkward sentence. In the following examples, the sentence with the split infinitive is preferable to the unsplit ones because it's the clearest; it puts the emphasis in the right spot.

Clearest and best:
I would like you to personally supervise the clerk.

Awkward:
I would like you personally to supervise the clerk.

Okay:
I would like you to supervise the clerk personally.

Copyright © 1995 by Joanne Feierman

Read More Show Less

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