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Hi, Friend.
Welcome to your GrammarBook.com E-Newsletter.
Did you know that March 4th is National Grammar Day?
We "word nerds" should celebrate! How about a really challenging tip and quiz on editing? I will also throw in some extra Wordplays and give you a link to another great grammar site where you can learn the official National Grammar Day theme song.
"Thanks for all your good ideas and for being a fun grammarian!"
- Anne P.
"I have been tutoring a 26-year-old woman who was home schooled through eighth grade only. Your book and online quizzes have given her confidence and the joy of succeeding. As a result, her writing has so improved!"
- Mike P.
"I find your newsletter SO HELPFUL! Thank you so much!"
- Sue R.
"I just wanted to thank you for your great website – very thorough and informative.
It really helps people – even professional writers like me!"
- Paul J.
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 English Tip of the Week
Writing Elegantly
Most of us know clumsy sentences when we hear or read them, but we don’t always know exactly why they are clumsy or possess the skills to fix them. An E-Newsletter reader heard the awkwardness of the following sentence but was puzzled by how to reword it.
The network that this computer is able to connect to contains information that is privileged and confidential.
She may have felt uncomfortable about “able to connect to” because it sounds like a dangling modifier. However, this is just a symptom of bigger problems. The clumsiness is caused by several common writing errors:
*Unnecessary dependent clauses
Get rid of that is/which is, that are/which are clauses whenever possible.
*Extraneous verb phrases
Delete verb phrases that don’t add meaning: is able to.
*Subjects too far away from their verbs
Place subjects closer to their verbs: computer connects, network contains.
*Redundancy
Weed out repetitious words: Confidential and privileged mean the same thing in this context.
Finally, tweak the wording so that the sentence flows:
This computer connects to a network containing confidential information.
For more tips on effective writing, including using specific rather than vague language, active vs. passive voice, and parallel form, click here.
Effective Writing Quiz
Click here to take the quiz and get your score and explanations instantly!
Due to the E-Newsletter's large readership, we are unable to respond to individual English usage questions.
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Hot Link
 Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips celebrates National Grammar Day in style, providing:
- free classroom resources for teachers
- an e-card you can send to your language-loving friends
- the official National Grammar Day theme song
I love Grammar Girl and so will you.
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 Wordplay
Let’s celebrate National Grammar Day by tipping our hats to the quirkiness of the English language.
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. Boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. Writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham. Finally, if a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Happy National Grammar Day!
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch. |
