Grammar Handbook « Writers Workshop: Writer Resources « The Center for Writing Studies, Illinois

Thank you for using the Grammar Handbook at the Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This Handbook explains and illustrates the basic grammatical rules concerning parts of speech, phrases, clauses, sentences and sentence elements, and common problems of usage. While we have done our best to be comprehensive and accurate, we do not claim to be the final authority on grammatical issues. We appreciate constructive emails with questions, suggestions, or corrections, but please understand we may be unable to respond to all of them. Handbook Sections Parts of Speech Nouns Verbs Adjectives and Adverbs Conjunctions Other Parts of Speech Phrases Clauses Sentences and Sentence Elements Common Usage Problems

Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty is the creator of Grammar Girl and the founder and managing director of Quick and Dirty Tips. A magazine writer, technical writer, and entrepreneur, she has served as a senior editor and producer at a number of health and science web sites. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University. Mignon believes that learning is fun, and the vast rules of grammar are wonderful fodder for lifelong study. Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. To book a lecture event with Mignon Fogarty for your company or organization, contact Macmillan Speakers. Follow Mignon on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Awards Media The Oprah Winfrey Show, Grammar Girl Fixes Common Mistakes, March 2007 "Mignon has come up with clever ideas to help even the most grammatically challenged person remember the rules." New York Times, Book Not Ready for Print? Los Angeles Times

Common Errors in English Usage Go to list of errors. What is an error in English? 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 aim of this site is to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak. But isn’t one person’s mistake another’s standard usage? Why don’t you cover all important points of grammar? I’m learning English as a second language. Aren’t some of these points awfully picky? What gives you the right to say what an error in English is? I found a word you criticized in the dictionary! Why do you discuss mainly American usage? If you write mainly about American English, why do you so often cite the Oxford English Dictionary? But you made a mistake yourself!

English grammar: A complete guide Do you have a question about the correct usage of the semi-colon or how to place relative adverbs in a sentence? If so, you've come to the right place! The edufind.com English grammar guide is a complete reference on the rules of English usage. Comparisons Conditional Future Gerund and Present Participle Infinitive Passive Voice Past Present Functions and classes of determiners Articles Quantifiers Distributives