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English grammar book recommendations?
Hi fellow Tilder Staters,
I write professionally for my job. I've picked up plenty of tips, tricks, and strategies from mentors and managers over the years.
I also have an English degree focused in literature.
But I've never formally studied grammar or linguistics.
Does anyone have a textbook or theory book that they could recommend in this space? I've tried to look around a bit but nothing has caught my eye, and the subject is dry enough that I don't have the time or energy to invest in one of the boring options.
It's important to know what type of writing you do though. For example, if you do software documentation then I would recommend Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors. If you do website copy then I recommend Microcopy: The Complete Guide by Kinneret Yifrah and Strategic Writing for UX: Drive Engagement, Conversion, and Retention with Every Word by Torrey Podmajersky. If you write longform marketing copy then maybe Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. (I've read all of these and they're all good)
imho there is really only one important rule to follow though, which is not misplacing modifiers. But it's a difficult rule to follow because English doesn't have case endings, so when you're writing for clarity, there's often only one or two allowed word orders, and using a disallowed word order would introduce ambiguity, especially to a non-native speaker. Any time I try to explain this rule to anyone I immediately lose all creativity, so here's an article about it.
The misplaced modifier is such an interesting grammatical problem. Because the modifier is often something I think of later, I add it at the end when speaking without causing any confusion. When writing, it's one of those things I now consistently notice and have to edit for. Especially since I work with many non-native speakers, so I need to be as clear and straightforward as possible.
Yeah 100% agreed, probably 80% of my rewriting is fixing misplaced modifiers and it's always annoying. But also, the revised version invariably sounds so much better with the more important words coming first. So I always do it.
For other languages, grammars give extra depth of understanding even for advanced speakers.
My experience with English - because the grammar is so simple, the rules in many cases so obscure or have so many exceptions - is that a grammar is much less useful.
I always recommend Strunk and White's "Elements of Style" to get into more advanced English.
"The Economist's Style Guide" is also good, with many good rules/ideas in practice.
If you're actually out for advanced grammar, I wouldn't even know where to start anymore. You already implicitly know all the esoteric "rules" about the Third person subjunctive, countables/uncountables etc.
Second vote for Strunk and White. That is what we had in English in my last two years of high school.
If you want the big guns, the Chicago Manual of Style is probably the place to go.
But I don't think you really need it. S&W ought to be enough for everyday things. I go to the CMoS when I want a defensible construction – that is, if someone says, "don't do it that way. It's wrong," I just say, "I got it from the CMoS."
well OP said they write professionally so I assume their workplace has a preferred manual of style, and if it's not Chicago then they should consult that one instead. But hopefully they use Chicago because that's the best one :)
I think this depends a lot on what you're actually looking for. A lot of the recommendations here are assuming you want to get a book to improve your writing, but the way you talk in your initial post is like you're interested in learning more about the science of linguistics instead. If it's the former, I can't help much (though I have a super strong bias against Strunk and White).
If it's the latter, Language Myths is a good introduction to the perspective linguists take on language (and it was used in my first intro to linguistics course). As the title implies, it debunks a lot of misconceptions about language that are important to get out of the way if you're interested in learning about language in a scientific manner. You'll recognize some of these very myths in this comment section once you've read it! Plus, it's a good way to gauge your interest, if nothing else.
As for learning more about English linguistics specifically, Cambridge Grammar of the English Language is a text I cited in my bachelor's thesis, but it's a big reference text, so you'll have to hunt for it at a library (and I don't recommend carrying it around yourself, from personal experience). I don't remember how technical it was, but it was thorough so if you're interested in how a particular part of English grammar works, it's a great book to reference. I'll ponder any other books to suggest and maybe add another comment later if you are actually interested in linguistics from this perspective and not just writing style.
I'm assuming you're native in English, and are looking for texts on English from a linguistics point of view, not guides on its usage.
How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction
The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language