[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 595 KB, 1346x1005, 39278323-06E4-48FB-9B25-5186298968B4.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18499638 No.18499638 [Reply] [Original]

What are the best study books you know for advanced English grammar and mechanical/technical rules?

>> No.18499710

>>18499638
Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Be sure to get the Second Edition, which is still in print. The later editions are not good at all.

>> No.18499743
File: 35 KB, 462x695, Eats Shoots & Leaves.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18499743

>>18499638
I found this pretty good, it's easy reading as well as quite entertaining.

>> No.18499880

me on the right

>> No.18499901

>>18499880
gib panties

>> No.18499938

>>18499710
>>18499743
Thanks, anons. I'll definitely check these out

>> No.18500829

>>18499901
just buy used panties on reddit like normal people

>> No.18500934
File: 23 KB, 300x400, Bryan-A-Garner-300x400.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18500934

>>18499710
>fowler
>mfw

>> No.18500971

Why would you care to read about that nonsense? Literally just intuit it, nerd. Do you consult the rulebook when you are writing?

>> No.18501397

>>18500971
How is learning to write correctly nonsense?

>> No.18502799

>>18499638
Advanced english grammar rules are that there are no rules
>>18501397
Linguistics is descriptive, not proscriptive. There is no writing "correctly" there is only writing that most native speakers would consider natural. there is some writing that some would consider natural and others wouldn't, so is it "wrong"? No.

>> No.18502807

>>18502799
let me elaborate further, if you truly master english you will be able to bend the rules because rules are only a shadow of the reason the rule exists. If you truly have mastery you do not need the rule because you understand the reason the rule exists and can break the rule when it still complies with the reasoning behind the rule. This goes for everything. You wouldn't drive the speed limit on a straight kansas road that's empty for 150 miles, would you?

>> No.18502848

>>18499638
Oxfords Modern English Grammar

>> No.18502891

>>18502807
You should study grammar more, while you are not wrong, you are not exactly correct either, seem to have one foot stuck in prescriptivise grammar and the other flailing about in descriptive grammar. It is not rule bending or breaking, we dont have rules, just conventions and they can not really be broken, they still exist. Understanding grammar allows you to define new conventions in a sane way, you can define an entire personal grammar for characters or even books, in a way which makes sense and seems natural to the reader.

>> No.18504658

linguistics is more interesting desu

>> No.18504678

>>18504658
Unless your primary interests are reading, writing or communication. Linguistics is overkill for most.

>> No.18505318

>>18499638
Mind the Gaffe by RL Trask is a dictionary of common (and uncommon) misuses.