# How to improve grammar skills - fast!



## siliconpoetry (Apr 2, 2015)

Hi all, I have gotten a few of my longer writings critiqued by friends. The overwhelming consensus is that it is poetical and not all that bad, however, all of them mention my grammar. I have a little trouble understanding this because from my understanding grammar is basically everything from using their and there correctly to sentence structure. The prior is just a small typo however I think they were referring more to the sentence structure I used. I used to justify this in my mind thinking "well, since I do write with a lyrical/poetical scribe then that is how the grammar will turn out". However, I am willing to work on grammar a little more and hopefully hone it so that when I do turn out work it can be judged on content rather than structure. Can anyone suggest some good strategies, resources, links, methods, practices or helpful hints that could help me get up to speed with grammar fast?


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## RhythmOvPain (Apr 2, 2015)

I've actually been thinking about making up a grammar guide and posting it, but I'unno if that's been done or not.

There are certain laws to writing which are ALWAYS true. There are no exceptions.

The starting point of the entire situation is the sentence structure.

I ate a hamburger, and it was really delicious, but then my stomach started feeling queasy, and I threw up.

Does this sentence make sense? Yes. Is it written correctly? No.

Conjunctions combine thoughts and make them a single idea.

I ate a hamburger and it was delicious, but then my stomach started feeling queasy and I threw up.

Kay. Now it might look kind of weird. Instead of worrying about why it looks weird, remember the key elements of the sentence: Hamburger eaten, stomach upset, threw up.

I ate a hamburger that was very delicious, but my stomach started feeling queasy afterwards and I threw up.

Now the sentence, while still linear, is written in a way that makes more sense phonetically.

Writing is like piecing together a puzzle. Some pieces are meant to fit next to each other and some aren't. Sometimes the rules don't have to be fully, strictly enforced. Sometimes they can be bent to a degree, or omitted for the sake of simplicity.

When it comes to commas, it is important to understand what a comma represents. The comma is the same as the period, but rather than separate individual thoughts, it is meant to allow for the author to include MORE information on the subject of the sentence, or in some cases introduce a second subject (although this is definitely something I would avoid).

Contrasting ideas can be separated by a comma, but would require an appropriate conjunction or conjunctive adverb, which would directly correlate to the context of the sentence, what wording is used, and obviously, what you're saying.

Meat is good but I like cheese too.
Meat is good, however I like cheese as well.
I like meat, but I like cheese as well.
I like meat, and furthermore, cheese as well.

Just some examples of the flexibility you get from understanding POS.

NOW.

Rather than continue with that crap, I'll get to the meat of your question, which is, how to improve grammar fast.

This is a difficult subject to put a fork in because everyone has their own individual learning curve. The number one problem with all writers (something I've seen in every writer as they developed, including myself), is that a lack of understanding of the rules of writing tends to lead us down a slippery path of mistakes.

Not that this is a surprise to anyone. It's the same in all aspects of life.

What you first need to do is read. I promise you, if this advice sounds confusing, it won't in a second.

When I was first learning how to make my writing more interesting, I picked out three-four books I liked reading and focused on the way the authors wrote. There were subtle differences in the nuances of their writing, but in all, every one of them would consistently have one or two perplexities that, after re-reading a few times, not only made sense, but literally turned lights on in my head. 

See, if you focus more on what's written than what's being said, you can actually soak up the technique that the author uses to write the story more effectively.

I will give you an example:

           “Paris was a universe whole and entire unto herself, hollowed and  fashioned by history; so she seemed in this age of Napoleon III with her  towering buildings, her massive cathedrals, her grand boulevards and  ancient winding medieval streets--as vast and indestructible as nature  itself. All was embraced by her, by her volatile and enchanted populace  thronging the galleries, the theaters, the cafes, giving birth over and  over to genius and sanctity, philosophy and war, frivolity and the  finest art; so it seemed that if all the world outside her were to sink  into darkness, what was fine, what was beautiful, what was essential  might there still come to its finest flower. Even the majestic trees  that graced and sheltered her streets were attuned to her--and the  waters of the Seine, contained and beautiful as they wound through her  heart; so that the earth on that spot, so shaped by blood and  consciousness, had ceased to be the earth and had become Paris.”   
  ―     Anne Rice,     _ Interview with the Vampire _ 


Ignore everything but what I point out.


           “Paris was a universe whole and entire unto herself, hollowed  and  fashioned by history; so she seemed in this age of Napoleon III  with her  towering buildings, her massive cathedrals, her grand  boulevards and  ancient winding medieval streets--as vast and  indestructible as nature  itself."

Look at how long this sentence is. It's ridiculous. OR IS IT?!

"Paris was a universe whole and entire unto herself," 

at this point, the comma is used to include information pertaining to Paris. 

"... hallowed and fashioned by history;"

The semicolon's job is to combine the two thoughts before it and appose them to the thought afterwards.

"... so she seemed in this age of Napolean III with her towering buildings,"

This is written correctly because "with" is used as a pronoun which connects everything into an individual thought. The towering buildings are a byproduct of (in a sense "owned" by) the age of Napolean III.

"... her massive cathedrals, her grand  boulevards and  ancient winding medieval streets--as vast and  indestructible as nature  itself."

Note the dashes. They effectively do the same thing as a semicolon, but rather than use two semicolons in one sentence, the dashes are used to add EXTRA emphasis.

When these three ideas are combined with the proper punctuation, they make just as much sense as ONE sentence than if they were three.

BAM.


 "... All was embraced by her, by her  volatile and enchanted populace  thronging the galleries, the theaters,  the cafes, giving birth over and  over to genius and sanctity,  philosophy and war, frivolity and the  finest art; so it seemed that if  all the world outside her were to sink  into darkness, what was fine,  what was beautiful, what was essential  might there still come to its  finest flower."

Everything that is being explained in the first half of the sentence, from comma to comma, pertains to Paris. The semicolon is used to juxtapose additional information which, while it pertains TO Paris, does not quite follow the same thought process as the first half.

 "... Even the majestic trees  that graced and sheltered her  streets were attuned to her--and the  waters of the Seine, contained and  beautiful as they wound through her  heart; so that the earth on that  spot, so shaped by blood and  consciousness, had ceased to be the earth  and had become Paris.”

Same story, different words.

See? In one paragraph, you just learned how to use three of the most horrifying punctuation markers in the English language.

FAST!


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## shadowwalker (Apr 2, 2015)

Go to your local high school (or used book store) and get a copy of their grammar text, and/or take a remedial class through the local school district. Study.


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## Terry D (Apr 2, 2015)

RhythmOvPain said:


> I ate a hamburger that was very delicious, but my stomach started feeling queasy afterwards and I threw up.
> 
> Now the sentence, while still linear, is written in a way that makes more sense phonetically.



But still grammatically incorrect. "I ate a hamburger_ which_ was very delicious..." 'That' is used with a restrictive clause.

Not trying to pedantic, just trying to show the OP that the best course is to find reliable resources not internet advice. As Shadow suggested, a class from a local community college, or good written resources like grammar text books, or _The Elements of Style_ by Strunk and White. One very good internet resource is Grammar Girl. Just Google that and you'll find her site easily. For a very, in depth resource you could find _Hart's Rules _which is a very definitive grammar guide. Hart's Rules is available from Amazon, as is _The Elements of Style_.


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## Sam (Apr 2, 2015)

Terry D said:


> But still grammatically incorrect. "I ate a hamburger_ which_ was very delicious..." 'That' is used with a restrictive clause.



That sentence is a restrictive relative clause, Terry.

Non-restrictive clauses are offset by commas: "I ate a hamburger, which was delicious, while watching an episode of _The Simpsons_." 

"I ate a hamburger that was delicious." 

'That' is the correct wording.

You can't use 'which' unless you use a comma. "I bought a new suit, which I will be wearing to Joe's wedding." As opposed to: "I picked up the new suit that I'm wearing to Joe's wedding." 

A comma is not required in that sentence about the hamburger. Therefore it is a restrictive clause, and 'that' is the word required.


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## RhythmOvPain (Apr 2, 2015)

0_o

I thought that I was correct.

Lol. This just goes to show how hard it is to make everyone happy with grammar, I guess.

EDIT - Randomly, here's something.

I ate a hamburger which, while delicious, later made me throw up.

I BELIEVE this is one case where the comma goes after which. I dunno if I'm right about this one.


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## Terry D (Apr 2, 2015)

You are correct. If you remove the 'while delicious' you would still want the 'which'.

I ate a hamburger, which made me throw up.


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## siliconpoetry (Apr 2, 2015)

Thanks for the answers, it is food for thought. I still remember my remedial English classes where we filled in a good sized workbook of grammar rules, however, practically none of it stuck with me. It's not one of those learning mechanisms like playing a musical instrument or riding a bike that you never forget. Grammar is more "Use it or loose it". I think I will pick up a book on the subject or see if I have one of my old textbooks then practice, practice,practice. Also, I am going to re-read three or four of my favorite books that I haven't read in a while after reading the grammar book.


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## InstituteMan (Apr 2, 2015)

I am sure that I will be a target of thrown rotten vegetables and other nasty items for saying this, but [ducks] diagramming sentences really helped me improve my grammar [ducks again].


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## joshybo (Apr 2, 2015)

InstituteMan said:


> I am sure that I will be a target of thrown rotten vegetables and other nasty items for saying this, but [ducks] diagramming sentences really helped me improve my grammar [ducks again].



You're lucky that I missed twice, IM!

Kidding.  Diagramming actually can help new writers out, although it can be a bit confusing to some, I'm sure.  Reading is also a very good resource when learning how to write and it's one that sometimes gets overlooked, probably because of how obvious it seems.  I try to pay attention to how an author structures his or her sentences as I read.  I've picked up quite a bit this way.


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## TKent (Apr 2, 2015)

I am constantly looking stuff up that I learned and forgot the first time around. Now that I'm looking it up for specific reasons, it seems to be sticking


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## Gamer_2k4 (Apr 3, 2015)

RhythmOvPain said:


> I ate a hamburger, and it was really delicious, but then my stomach started feeling queasy, and I threw up.
> 
> Does this sentence make sense? Yes. Is it written correctly? No.



It's wordy, but it's grammatically correct.  When you join two or more complete sentences with a conjunction, a comma is required.  Note here that each of the four clauses are complete sentences containing a subject and a predicate ("I ate," "it was," "stomach started," "I threw").  Writers can break the comma rule if they're trying to engineer a certain flow to a sentence, but beginners should always use the commas.



RhythmOvPain said:


> “Paris was a universe whole and entire unto herself, hollowed  and  fashioned by history; so she seemed in this age of Napoleon III  with her  towering buildings, her massive cathedrals, her grand  boulevards and  ancient winding medieval streets--as vast and  indestructible as nature  itself."
> 
> Look at how long this sentence is. It's ridiculous. OR IS IT?!
> 
> ...



A lot of this is wrong.  For example, a dash and a semicolon have two completely different uses, and using a semicolon instead of the dash would be incorrect.  Semicolons have two uses (that I'm aware of): They can be used in place of a comma and conjunction when the two complete sentences are closely related (your use of "appose" is perfect here, and it taught me a new word!), or they can be used to separate lists of other lists.  For example:

_The three color options are red, yellow, and blue; orange, green, and purple; or black, grey, and white._



InstituteMan said:


> I am sure that I will be a target of thrown rotten vegetables and other nasty items for saying this, but [ducks] diagramming sentences really helped me improve my grammar [ducks again].



I completely agree.  I haven't diagrammed a sentence in years, but it's my understanding that if you can't diagram a sentence, it's not grammatically correct.


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## RhythmOvPain (Apr 3, 2015)

Errboddeh has something legitimately beneficial to add. I like this topic. A lot.


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## ppsage (Apr 4, 2015)

> When you join two or more complete sentences with a conjunction, a comma is required.


YAY!!


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## Monaque (Apr 6, 2015)

I read a lot and that helps enormously. Most large publishers work very hard on making sure everything is correct, so that works well. 
Also there are a lot of resources online these days, including writing forums. 
:scratch:
:smile2:


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