Good Grammar for Students (SAGE Essential Study Skills)

✍ Scribed by Howard Jackson

• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 166
• Series: SAGE Essential Study Skills
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Many students set out in further and higher education with little grounding in the skills required for academic writing. This practical guide will give students a command of grammar, spelling and punctuation, enabling them to improve the quality and accuracy of their writing. The book includes: - the basics of English grammar - how sentences are structured; - help with spelling and punctuation; - tips on avoiding the most common mistakes and pitfalls; - advice on how students can improve their writing in essays, reports and projects. The book is packed with examples to illustrate points and highlight good and bad practice, and contains handy tips and student exercises. An indispensable companion for undergraduate students on any Social Science, Humanities or Arts degree course, Good Grammar for Students is also an ideal text for Study Skills modules at first year undergraduate level across the social sciences.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 8
Introduction......Page 13
1 What Do We Mean by ‘Grammar’ — Good and Bad?......Page 15
Some Misconceptions Examined......Page 16
‘Bad’ Grammar......Page 22
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar......Page 24
Summary: What Is Grammar, Then?......Page 25
Word......Page 27
Word Classes......Page 29
Sentence......Page 31
Clause......Page 33
Phrase......Page 34
Text and Discourse......Page 39
Summary......Page 40
Solutions to Exercises......Page 41
3 Matching the Bits......Page 42
What Do We Talk About?......Page 44
Choosing Your Verb......Page 45
Circumstances......Page 48
Collocation......Page 50
Summary......Page 53
Simple Sentence......Page 55
Compound Sentence......Page 61
Complex Sentence......Page 62
NOUN CLAUSES......Page 63
ADJECTIVAL CLAUSES......Page 65
ADVERBIAL CLAUSES......Page 68
Why Use Compound and Complex Sentences?......Page 69
Summary......Page 70
Solutions to Exercises......Page 71
Rearrangement......Page 73
Fronting......Page 76
Postponement......Page 77
An Example......Page 80
Summary......Page 82
Paragraph......Page 83
Sentence Connections......Page 86
Paragraph and Text......Page 92
Summary......Page 96
Solutions to Exercises......Page 97
7 Getting Your Point Across......Page 98
INCOMPLETE SENTENCES......Page 99
RUN-ON SENTENCES......Page 100
LONG SUBJECTS......Page 101
DANGLING CLAUSES AND PHRASES......Page 102
COMPLEXITY......Page 103
THE WRONG KIND OF RELATIVE......Page 104
TOO MUCH NOMINALISATION......Page 105
THE WRONG PREPOSITION......Page 106
ARCHAISMS AND OTHER STRANGE WORDS......Page 107
Language Change......Page 108
Finding the Grammar Checker......Page 113
Using the Grammar Checker......Page 115
Is the Spellchecker Any Better?......Page 119
Some Practical Tips......Page 120
Spelling......Page 122
Punctuation......Page 127
WITHIN SENTENCES......Page 129
WITHIN WORDS......Page 132
PARENTHESIS......Page 134
QUOTATION......Page 135
CAPITAL LETTERS......Page 136
Grammars......Page 139
Dictionaries......Page 141
Usage Guides......Page 143
Style Guides......Page 146
Punctuation......Page 147
Glossary......Page 149
Index......Page 162