Improve Your Grammar

The Essential Guide to Accurate Writing

Vanessa Jakeman, Ken Paterson, Mark Harrison

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781350933637
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350933651
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Study Guides

Packed with clear guidance on the nuts and bolts of grammar and plenty of examples, this text will help students master the fundamentals of English grammar and tackle written assignments with confidence. 60+ bite-sized units help students overcome common areas of difficulty, such as forming different tenses, using connectives to link ideas and build an argument, punctuating sentences and choosing the right words. Each unit is presented on a double-page spread, making it easy for students to flick through the book and quickly find the unit they need. Short, focused exercises at the end of each unit - with answers provided at the back of the book - make this text ideal for both self-study and classroom use. This 3rd edition contains four new units on hedging, being critical and collocation. Improve Your Grammar is an essential resource for students of all disciplines and levels wanting to excel at writing, and can be used as a self-study workbook or on tutor-led grammar modules.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• How to use this book
• 1 Parts of speech
• 2 Parts of a sentence
• 3 Singular or plural subjects and verbs
• 4 Correct tense formation
• 5 Using more than one verb tense
• 6 Modal verbs
• 7 Using the passive
• 8 Direct and indirect questions
• 9 Conditionals (If …)
• 10 Using adverbs
• 11 Emphasising
• 12 Negative words and phrases
• 13 Gerunds and infinitives
• 14 Articles: a/an, the
• 15 Relative clauses: who, which, that, etc.
• 16 Comparing and contrasting
• 17 Describing similarities and differences
• 18 Using noun phrases
• 19 Commas (1): correct uses
• 20 Commas (2): incorrect uses
• 21 Colons and semicolons
• 22 Hyphens, dashes and brackets
• 23 Apostrophes
• 24 Inverted commas
• 25 Capital letters
• 26 Linking: contrasting
• 27 Linking: adding
• 28 Linking: causes
• 29 Linking: results
• 30 Signposting
• 31 Using pronouns correctly
• 32 Avoiding repetition of words
• 33 Parallel structures
• 34 Participles
• 35 Incomplete sentences
• 36 Avoiding long and disorganised sentences
• 37 Avoiding too many short sentences
• 38 Building successful long sentences
• 39 Hedging (1): with verbs and adverbs
• 40 Hedging (2): with adjectives and phrases
• 41 Giving a definition
• 42 Introducing an example
• 43 Citing
• 44 Paraphrasing
• 45 Incorporating data
• 46 Formal language (1)
• 47 Formal language (2)
• 48 The language of argument
• 49 The language of critique
• 50 Using prepositions (1)
• 51 Using prepositions (2)
• 52 Creating longer words
• 53 Using single words for impact
• 54 Using phrasal verbs
• 55 Collocations (1)
• 56 Collocations (2)
• 57 Commonly misused words
• 58 Commonly confused words – homonyms
• 59 Key spelling rules
• 60 Common spelling mistakes
• 61 Writing an email to your tutor
• 62 Covering letters and CVs
• Key
• Index