I missed the good grammar genes when they were being handed out. Sometimes I get excited when I'm writing and switch from past to present tense. Sometimes I even write sentence fragments. And I never ever can remember when to use lie or lay.
When I'm really corn-fused (as we like to say at the Larson house), I turn to this trusty tome by Martha Brockenbrough, the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG).
I have also recently discovered Grammarly, an equally awesome resource because you can paste in chunks of text and, voila!, get a report highlighting your shameful mixing of metaphors or failure to use different from (I don't know why, but different than sounds better to my ear) or dangling participles. There's a free 7-day trial, so give it a whirl!
Those of you who are not Martha Brockenbrough: what grammar tools do you use to keep those copy-editors from breathing down your neck?
Now that book looks terrific.
ReplyDeleteI did get grammar genes, but sometimes they fail me. ( I think some of it is from hearing "conversationally" in my head, instead of always the precise, correct grammar.) Luckily I have a friend who's a fanatic so I just email Leslie...
Augusta, can I please have Leslie's email address?
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