LibGuides: Valencia Writer: Grammar

Grammar

“Grammar, which knows how to control even kings." - Molière
“The past is always tense, the future perfect.” - Zadie Smith

Grammar Guides

Common Errors In English Usage (Washington State University) The concept of language errors is a fuzzy one. I’ll leave to linguists the technical definitions. Here we’re concerned only with deviations from the standard use of English as judged by sophisticated users such as professional writers, editors, teachers, and literate executives and personnel officers.
The Elements of Style (William Strunk Jr. & E. B. White) Asserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious writer. Intended for use in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature, it gives in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.
Eliminating Wordiness Exercises (Purdue OWL) These exercises ask you apply your knowledge of eliminating wordiness by revising the sample sentences. Click the link at the bottom of the page to see the answers.
English Grammar Guide (EF Education First Ltd) These pages are a complete English grammar guide filled with the rules of English usage. Each grammatical rule is explained in plain English with several examples, and when needed, counter-examples. The grammatical rules covered by this guide are categorized below. English grammar is not always easy to understand, but by using this guide you should be able to remind yourself of the rules of English usage and speak or write English with confidence.
General Resources:Grammar & Writing (UCF) UCF University Writing Center provides helpful handouts on grammar and punctuation, including: avoiding sexist language, bare minimum grammar, dashes & parentheses, five uncommonly serious mistakes, five easy comma rules, how to choose articles, the known-new contract, mastering prepositions, the paramedic method, passive voice Q&A, punctuation hierarchies & sentence patterns, and the semi-colon. The site also lists other valuable writing resources and links.
Grammar--Khan Academy on YouTube Khan Academy Grammarian David Rheinstrom welcomes you to his favorite topic: the study of language, its rules, and its conventions. By understanding English – by speaking it, by writing it, by reading this very sentence – you are a grammarian yourself! Grammar on Khan Academy: Grammar is the collection of rules and conventions that make languages go. This section is about Standard American English, but there's something here for everyone.
Grammar Bytes (Robin L. Simmons @ Valencia College) Grammar Instruction with Attitude. Includes detailed terms, interactive exercises, handouts, PowerPoints, videos, and more!
Grammar & Mechanics (Valencia College) West Campus Writing Center's list of Grammar & Mechanics links, handouts, & videos.
Grammar: a Pocket Guide by Susan J. Behrens If you've ever wanted a quick and easy guide to verbs and adverbs, commas and apostrophes, clauses and prepositions, then this is a must-have book for you. With practice exercises, a glossary, and suggestions for further reading, Grammar: A Pocket Guide is the perfect foundation for anyone wanting to improve his or her writing and communication. This resource requires you to log into library databases to access it. If you are prompted for a Borrower ID and PIN, use your VID number as the Borrower ID (include the V and all the numbers after it with no spaces) and the last four numbers of your VID as the PIN.
Guide to Grammar and Style by Jack Lynch (Rutgers) These notes are a miscellany of grammatical rules and explanations, comments on style, and suggestions on usage I put together for my classes. Nothing here is carved in stone, and many comments are matters of personal preference. The entries here are of two types: specific articles on usage, and more general articles on style. The specific articles cover such mechanical things as when to use a semicolon and what a dangling participle is; the general articles discuss ways to make “proper” writing even better. The specific articles can be further divided into two classes: (1) grammatical rules and matters of house style, matters rather of precedent than of taste; and (2) more subjective suggestions for making your writing clearer, more forceful, and more graceful. The specific articles are intended for quick reference, such as when you have to find out whether which or that is appropriate.
HyperGrammar (University of Ottawa) Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.
Modern English Grammar by Daniel Kies (College of DuPage) The contents in this resource cover the following: a review of the structure of Modern English grammar, a study of some of the most common usage errors among first-year university students, links to some of the author's work in linguistic stylistics, links to some of my work in linguistics and English language studies, some tools for text analysis, and some examples of student work prepared for this web site.
OWL: Purdue Writing Lab (Purdue OWL) The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.
PERT Review Guide PDF (Valencia College) Who it’s for This guide is for students preparing to take the PERT assessment, students preparing to retake the PERT, or for students who would like to brush up on their sentence and writing skills. What it is The information in this book is meant to provide a review of major sentence and grammar skills needed to pass the PERT Writing Assessment as well as those skills needed to be a strong college-level writer. It is not a comprehensive course in academic or college-level writing. If you have no previous experience with the subject matter, it is unlikely that this guide will provide enough information for you to be adequately prepared. If that is the case
Sentence Structure (Purdue OWL) These OWL resources offer information and exercises on how to clarify sentences and specifically discuss sentence clauses, sentence fragments, sentence structure, and subject-verb agreement.
Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students (Michael Alley) These writing guidelines are designed to help engineers and scientists write more effectively about their work. To aid that effort, these guidelines contain writing lessons, model documents, professional templates, and exercises. These guidelines also contain resources for technical writing instructors. You are more than welcome to link to these pages, films, and files. In addition, you are welcome to distribute these materials, as long as you credit this website and its main reference: The Craft of Scientific Writing, 4th ed

Valencia Writer: Grammar

Library Access

Grammar

Grammar

Grammar Guides