Grammar for Grown-ups

by Katherine Fry, Rowena Kirton

A comprehensive but light-hearted guide to grammar for the twenty-first century.Agitated about apostrophes? Struggling with spelling? Dithering over dangling participles? Stumped by the subjunctive? Relax. Help is at hand... For native English speakers who realise that there is more to good English than meets the eye, but don’t know where to start; for parents struggling to explain the finer details to their kids; and for English- language students everywhere . . . this is the only book you need. Grammar for Grown-Ups guides you through the perils, pitfalls and problematic aspects of the English language, with fun test-yourself sections all the way.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

316 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2012

Reviews

[Tanu Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. But TMI alert! It became overwhelming... But there are some things I didn't know before I started this. Plus, it has the best collation of UK vs US English grammar and punctuation rules. So for that, I'm impressed with the author. Bang-up job! :-)

[Tiemu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple. Witty. Fun. And still didactic!

(And if you thought you can't start a sentence with 'And', think again. This book explains- briefly, as always- why you can, notwithstanding what your teacher probably erroneously taught you).

English grammar books I encounter are always far too detailed and heavy in jargon to make any sense of them, stumping me by the first page. I don't notice children's grammar books because I don't visit the children's section of libraries or bookstores, and ESL books seem too exercise-based as though I'm in a classroom.

But this book is the opposite of all of the above. The authores's (in this book we learn that this term is an archaism, but 'actress' is not an archaism for sheer practicality, political correctness notwithstanding) use witty comments throughout the book which keeps it entertaining. There are a several adult allusions and puns too, making it a tad bit naughty (if you didn't notice the tautology, you will after this book).

Explanations are clear and detailed enough to understand the term well, without getting so detailed to lose your focus. It's free of jargon, because you're learning jargon through this book.

The tests at the end of the chapters are quite brief, usually about 10-15 questions- with answers at the back, so you can do them in a few minutes without making your head tired. Yet there's enough to test your understanding of what you've read.

I had almost forgotten about George W. Bush's malapropisms (malapropisms are explained) until I read this book.

I made my own tree diagram of what's included in the book and I can't believe how easy English grammar actually is when seeing it all in a one-page diagram. This book isn't a definitive guide to grammar, but without this start it's too hard to progress further.

I'd recommend it for children, ESL learners and native speakers alike.

[Razan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent grammar refresher, though the sense of humour is questionable.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and amusing grammar refresher, although I wanted it to be a bit more in-depth, to help with the language studies on which I've embarked. I wish all textbooks were this clearly and entertainingly written, though. Delightful AND useful!

[katie]

• Grammar for Grown-Ups, written by Katherine Fry and Rowena Kirton, is a go-to guide for everyday writing. Fry and Kirton, both of strong publishing stock, consolidate their experience in an easy-to-read book that covers everything from the basics to move advance subtleties and regional variations.

The guide is structured around 6 chapters: basic grammar, punctuation, spelling, beyond the basics, to America and beyond, reading and writing. Each chapter is clearly presented in a light-hearted fashion, which makes a potentially dull topic enjoyable to learn about. For each concept examples are presented to help the reader grasp the logic and there are regular quizzes (with answers in the back) to test your understanding.

As a fully certified dyslexic and very slow starter, I particularly appreciated the back to basics approach which assumed zero starting knowledge, something often ignored in more formal grammar guides. As the book progresses more nuances are drawn out, Beyond the Basics, takes a range of similar words to and explains the correct usage: around/round, that/which, since/from…quirks I had never realised existed!

I would recommend this to anyone who is writing regularly, or simply wants to improve their understanding of the English language. I have to caveat this review with the fact that I am (as you can probably tell from the writing and grammar in this blog) at the very basic end of grammar knowledge, experts may find the book more tedious than I did!

http://thingsihavebrought.wordpress.com/

[Navneet Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. I learned handful of new things. But it has way too much extra information that you don't need, unless you're a librarian or someone who collects every piece of information for the sake of it. It blew my mind and ended with me having to skip pages, which I absolutely hate. But the required things that were there were really good. Though, the examples that stated the different rules for US and UK English should have been presented better. The paragraph form made it harder to locate what the rule is. It should have been in a list format, bulleted or numbered.

In conclusion, only read this if you are a master at scoping out useful information hidden amidst a mass of unnecessary jargon.;-)

[Wondra Vanian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative (if dry). It has exercises throughout, to help hone your skills, so it would be an excellent book for the classroom. I can't see me re-reading it, just to read it, but I'll keep it handy to help tighten up my writing.