Good grammar for students

Nhiều sinh viên đặt ra trong giáo dục và cao hơn với ít nền tảng trong những kỹ năng cần thiết cho Viết luận. Sách hướng dẫn này thực tế sẽ cung cấp cho sinh viên một chỉ huy của ngữ pháp, chính tả và cho phép họ nâng cao chất lượng và tính chính xác của văn bản của họ. Cuốn sách bao gồm: - Những điều cơ bản của ngữ pháp tiếng Anh, làm thế nào câu được cấu trúc; - Giúp đỡ về chính tả và dấu chấm câu; - Lời khuyên về việc tránh những sai lầm phổ biến nhất và cạm bẫy; - Lời khuyên về cách sinh viên có thể cải thiện bài viết của mình trong các bài tiểu luận, báo cáo, dự án. Cuốn sách được đóng gói với các ví dụ để minh họa điểm và làm nổi bật thực hành tốt và xấu, và có lời khuyên hữu ích và bài tập của sinh viên.

Good Grammer for Students Howard Jackson eBook covers_pj orange.indd 92 26/4/08 15:44:42 Good Grammar For Students Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page i SAGE Essential Study Skills E ssential Study Skills is a series of books designed to help students and newly qualified professionals to develop their skills, capabilities, attitudes and qualities so that they can apply them intelligently and in ways which will benefit them on their courses and careers. The series includes accessible and user-friendly guides to improving a range of essential life-long skills and abilities in a variety of areas, including: ♦♦ writing essays and reports ♦♦ numeracy ♦♦ presenting information ♦♦ and communicating your ideas. Essential Study Skills will be an invaluable aid to all students on a range of higher education courses and to professionals who need to make presen- tations, write effective reports or search for relevant information. Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page ii Good Grammar For Students Howard Jackson ●● SAGE Publications London Thousand Oaks New Delhi Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page iii © Howard Jackson, 2005 First published 2005 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42, Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 110 017 BBrriittiisshh LLiibbrraarryy CCaattaalloogguuiinngg iinn PPuubblliiccaattiioonn ddaattaa A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1-4129-0202-9 ISBN 1-4129-0203-7 (pbk) LLiibbrraarryy ooff CCoonnggrreessss CCoonnttrrooll NNuummbbeerr:: 22000055990022114466 Typeset by C&M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed on paper from sustainable resources Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge, Wiltshire Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page iv for Marley, a representative of the next generation Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page v Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page vi Contents Introduction 1 1 What Do We Mean by ‘Grammar’ — Good and Bad? 3 Some Misconceptions Examined 4 ‘Bad’ Grammar 10 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar 12 Summary: What Is Grammar, Then? 13 2 Some Basic Terminology 15 Word 15 Word Classes 17 Sentence 19 Clause 21 Phrase 22 Text and Discourse 27 Summary 28 Solutions to Exercises 29 3 Matching the Bits 30 What Do We Talk About? 32 Choosing Your Verb 33 Circumstances 36 Collocation 38 Summary 41 4 Clauses — Main and Subordinate 43 Simple Sentence 43 Compound Sentence 49 Complex Sentence 50 Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page vii Subordinate Clauses 51 Why Use Compound and Complex Sentences? 57 Summary 58 Solutions to Exercises 59 5 Sentence Arrangements 61 Rearrangement 61 Fronting 64 Postponement 65 An Example 68 Summary 70 6 Sentences into Texts 71 Paragraph 71 Sentence Connections 74 Paragraph and Text 80 Summary 84 Solutions to Exercises 85 7 Getting Your Point Across 86 Grammar: Ten Things To Avoid 87 Language Change 96 8 Why Can’t I Rely on My Computer’s Grammar Checker? 101 Finding the Grammar Checker 101 Using the Grammar Checker 103 Is the Spellchecker Any Better? 107 Some Practical Tips 108 9 Spelling and Punctuation 110 Spelling 110 Punctuation 115 viii / CONTENTS Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page viii 10 Where To Go for Further Information 127 Grammars 127 Dictionaries 129 Usage Guides 131 Style Guides 134 Spelling 135 Punctuation 135 Glossary 137 Index 150 CONTENTS / ix Jackson-prelims.qxd 6/20/2005 8:16 PM Page ix [...]... only for foreign language learners If English is your first language, or indeed if it is a second language acquired in childhood, then you will not have been taught grammar Linguists talk of ‘language acquisition’, and the rules (including the grammar) for speaking English will have been ‘internalised’ 3268-Jackson-01.qxd 8 / 6/20/2005 4:53 PM Page 8 GOOD GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS with little conscious effort... language, and yet grammar is an essential component of both spoken and written language Language would not be language without grammar Some Misconceptions Examined 1 Grammar is the set of rules for speaking and writing English properly; for example, you should say we were and not we was 2 Some languages have more grammar than others; English doesn’t have much grammar 3 Foreigners need to learn grammar when... kinds of documents, including students assignments If you don’t get it right, you’ll make it harder for your reader to understand what you are trying to say Getting it right involves understanding the grammar of relative clauses So, grammar is for you as well, native speaker! Let’s move on to the fourth misconception: that grammar is only in grammar books and it’s only for nerds First, I hope that... 3268-Jackson-01.qxd 10 / 6/20/2005 4:53 PM Page 10 GOOD GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS programs that will make this possible not only have to account for the fact that every individual has a different ‘voice’ but also have to consider that the sentence structures used for a particular instruction will not always be identical They, therefore, need a means of analysing the grammar of sentences, so that the machine will... Is Grammar, Then? Grammar is a number of things: 1 Grammar is the means by which we structure the language that we speak and write 2 Grammar is the set of rules, conventions and principles, together with their exceptions, that we have stored in our heads (‘internalised’) as a consequence of acquiring or learning the language 3268-Jackson-01.qxd 14 / 6/20/2005 4:53 PM Page 14 GOOD GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS. .. Page 16 GOOD GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS As you have thought about these questions, it may have dawned on you that we use the term ‘word’ in a number of ways, to refer to different but related concepts For example, you will find only one of the words in 1 entered in a dictionary: talk This is the base form of the word; the others are ‘inflected’ forms The inflections are -s, -ing, -ed, added to the base form... demonstrated that, especially in the more complex forms of writing, for example relative clauses, a more explicit knowledge of grammar can help in constructing sentences that are clear in the meaning that you wish to convey Making it difficult for your reader to understand your message may detract from the message itself So, grammar is not just for nerds; it’s for anyone who wants to be a successful communicator,... analysis in English lessons at school For younger generations it is perhaps 3268-Jackson-01.qxd 4 / 6/20/2005 4:53 PM Page 4 GOOD GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS fear of the unknown and an apprehension that it is something that must be avoided While the primary purpose of this book is not to rehabilitate grammar, I hope that you will come to appreciate that a knowledge of the grammar of the language that you speak... ‘present’ or ‘past’ tense All the verb phrases listed above are finite: are, is, have, has are present tense forms; was, had, did, might are past tense forms The simple forms decide, decides (present) and decided (past) may also be 3268-Jackson-02.qxd 24 / 6/20/2005 4:53 PM Page 24 GOOD GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS finite, depending on context The following are sentences/clauses with finite verb phrases: The government... for assessment in your course, then this book is designed for you Its aim is to enable you to improve the quality and accuracy of your writing It does this by: • teaching you something about the basics of the grammar of English — how sentences and texts are structured • giving you some useful tips on things to look out for and pitfalls to avoid • pointing out to you where you can go for further information