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The Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation offers accessible and coherent explanations across a broad range of topics, and is an excellent first port of call for any reader seeking clear, authoritative help with grammar and punctuation. Incorporating hundreds of examples of real usage taken from the Oxford English Corpus, this handy volume contains more than 300 alphabetically-arranged entries, including standard grammatical terms such as active voice, conjunction, pronoun, synonym, and transitive verb. It also discusses related questions of usage, including how to distinguish between 'may or might', 'that or which', and 'it's or its'. Over 30 feature entries on major headwords like adverb, clause, and spelling include diagrams listing related terms.
The A-Z has been fully revised and updated, and the structure and approach has been revisited to improve its accessibility, including clearer typographical conventions, and the reintroduction of the easy-to-use two-colour format found in early editions. Major headwords have been made (where possible) shorter and easier to navigate, and all sample sentences have been revised, replacing those that are out of date and adding new ones where needed. Readers of all levels will find this volume to be an essential tool for writing at home, in the office, at school, and at college.
List of contents
- Acknowledgements
- How this book is arranged
- Introduction to grammar
- Further reading
- A-Z entries
About the author
John Seely has been a freelance author and editor for almost 40 years, specializing in language and communication skills. He is the author of several language reference books, including The Oxford Guide to Effective Writing & Speaking, Everyday Grammar, and Grammar for Teachers. He provides grammar training and consultancy to schools and colleges in England.
Summary
This handy guide provides the basic information about grammar and punctuation that people need on a daily basis. Arranged in an easy-to-use two-colour A-Z format, the book contains entries for standard grammatical terms and deals with specific questions of usage such as the difference between 'may' and 'might' or 'that' and 'which'.
Report
The amount of information packed into these 192 pages is astonishing. ... This is the ideal pocket grammar book for the non-linguist who needs clear advice unclouded by grammar gobbledygook. Susanne Geercken and Alistair Reeves, Medical Writing
