The Energon Pub

Yea long time no post, .....
Well I've run into a problem at school, turns out that I have to be able to explain Grammar rules in detail, meaning that just filling in the spaces based on my own judgement no-longer cuts it.
Which brings me to my main problem which is that I'm utterly useless at memorizing the rules and gettiong them to stick.
So does anybody know of a good way of keeping them in my brain, like a good book, or online service or something?

Thanks in advance!

Hey dude!

Yeah, I had[have?] the same problem myself. What I do, and have been doing, is reading a snot load of books. I've been keeping good grammar in my head that way, and reading an awesome tale of awesomeness.

Though I have been reading Dracula by Brahm Stoker recently and back then, they didn't have that good of a grammar check, so that gets tricky. "Goodbye, all of Mina!" You would understand if you read the book.

How soon do you need to have this down? I could tutor you if you wish me to. FREE OF CHARGE!

The best English reference books I have is called English Simplified by Blanche Ellsworth and John Higgins; you can find it on Amazon. I have the 1997 edition which is only 48 pages long, and the 2009 edition is only 64 pages. You just look up what you have a question about in the index and find it in one or more of the sections in the book.

It also gives rationale for why certain punctuation is used; so you can say on your paper why you used a semicolon instead of a comma...that sort of thing. It's a really great book!

Thank you, the both of you!

Thanks for the great offer Sideways, but I the book 8 bit posted is exactly what I've been looking for.
I'm gonna check it out right away.

That really sucks that they are making you explain that kind of stuff.

Writing is second nature to me so when I proofread and correct, it's hard for to explain why I do it. My brain simply tells me that there is an error and how to fix it. It's hard to explain, but that's how I've always been with grammar.

Hopefully that book will help you. There are also some great sites on the net that can explain how to understand grammar structure. I think Purdue University has some great articles and breakdowns of the grammar world if I remember right.

Whenever you want to write something, post it on the Internet. There, legions of Grammar Nazis will pick your work apart with dizzying speed and efficiency.

Ooops, someone beat me to it with book recs. There's another nice one published by Barron's--lots of exercises, etc.

If you want online resources, I direct my Linguistics students to google 'ESL grammar'--TONS of websites like englishclub.com that often have interactive quizzes.

HK, more like a grammar french maid than a grammar nazi

No clue about memorizing rules, but try The Chicago Manual of Style. It's full of American standards, though. It lays everything out so much your head will reel from rules and exceptions.

And then you'll shoot me for the suggestion.