How to Brush up on Grammar

If it's been a long time since you reviewed your grammar basics, it may be time to brush up on your grammar skills. Using grammatically correct sentence structure is important if you want to appear professional and impress the people you deal with. Even if you have a solid understanding of grammatical concepts, there are always finer points to learn. Although knowing formal grammar is not as important in speaking as it is in writing, the more sophisticated sentences you are able to use, the better you can communicate. And communication is the key to success.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Books Magazines

1. Read as much as you can, and not the stuff you usually read. Go to the bookstore or library and pick out books or magazines that you normally wouldn't choose. Pick volumes that use language differently from your usual pleasure reading. So, if your usual fare is Redbook Magazine or Mademoiselle, pick out The Atlantic Monthly or The New Yorker. If you normally read USA Today, try the Wall Street Journal or the Christian Science Monitor. Read with an eye for studying sentence construction, otherwise known as syntax.

2. Visit grammar websites online. There are a number of websites for this. A great one listed in the Resources section is The Slot, which was put together by a copy editor. This does not focus exclusively on grammar but broadly on English usage. Search the Web for sites where you can quiz yourself on your grammar skills online.

3. Keep a book on English grammar in places where you may read for a few minutes--in your reading-during-your-commute reading pile, on a coffee table, even in the bathroom. Grammar books are best looked at in small bits, as reading one for long might put you to sleep. (Speaking of which, keep a grammar book on the bedside table.)

4. Write a document trying out some new grammatical techniques. Then ask somebody you know who is a grammar expert to look at it and correct it for errors or questionable sections.

Tips & Warnings

• Many grammatical "rules" are actually points of contention between grammar experts. Not everybody agrees on proper English usage. The big question to ask yourself when you are figuring out if a certain construction is correct is, "Does the sentence say what I want it to say, clearly and without any possible misinterpretations?" That is far more important than sticking to "by the book" grammatical rules.

Resources

• The Online Grammar Guide
• The Slot
• Directory of Grammar Resources

Who Can Help Sponsored

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[sunnyglitter]

on 4/16/2009 Nice job, 5*