Since the study of writing is closely linked to the study of grammar, the book Understanding English Grammar should be a good supplemental text in any writing class.

In grade school, students acquire some understanding of grammatical terms. Most study parts of speech and classification of sentences—such as simple, compound, complex and compound-complex. Many also learn to recognize declarative, interrogative and exclamatory sentences. In junior high, they often study clauses—adverb, adjective, etc.—and may study phrases: such as prepositional and verbal—infinitive, participle and gerund.

In senior high, students also often diagram sentences. While diagramming is helpful in understanding grammatical relationships, it often seems, to the student, to fragment the sentence and serves more to confuse that to enlighten. Understanding English Grammar uses a new approach that clearly explains how every word or word group relates to all elements in every sentence. Understanding the grammar of sentences can help students become better readers and writers.

Get ready for an adventure in the deep, dark jungle of language! 

In that jungle lurk some mighty strange creatures.  Gerunds and adverbs and nouns, oh, my!  But few, if any, are as remarkable as the wild verb ‘get.’  In spoken American English, this tiny, three-letter word is the magic key to another enormous language.  ‘Get’ is a colloquial code to express an awesome range of actions, attitudes, emotions, intentions, and implications.

Now come along on a most unusual safari into the jungle of how Americans actually talk. You’ll hear the way we talk in casual situations, not that formal stuff for public speaking, business, or writing.  You’ll marvel at the agility and expressiveness of ‘get’ and soon start noticing how everybody uses it all the time.  And believe you me, it really does take a whole book to define this little bitty word. 

Be sure and wear sensible shoes and bring something to eat and drink because it’s going to be quite a hike!  Always keep a sharp eye out for treacherous ambiguities and that beastly old context!  Do try to keep up with the group and stay on the trail—It’s real easy to get lost!