My grammer are awful...

[DorisShutt]

Oh good, now I have your attention, can I point out that I know my title is wrong - on so many different levels!

Now, can anyone recommend a book - something like "xxxx for dummies", which I can read to learn about things like tenses, punctuation and similar things. The sort of important rules and guidance that I should have been taught at school, but which they singularly failed to provide.

I don't mind how basic a level it starts at; although probably something a bit more advanced than, "this is a full stop" would be appropriate.

Thanks!!!

[StuntNun]

I need this too, yesterday my DS1 asked me what an adverb was and I had to say I had no idea. All we learned at school were noun, verb and adjective.

[NotTreadingGrapes]

With exercises, check out Raymond Murphy.

Michael Swan is a bit of a grammar guru.

(these are both EFL bods so might not be what you are looking for, but pretty good) The Murphys come in different levels as well.

(If you PM me your email I can send you electronic versions)

[Mrsrobertduvall]

There's a great book called the First Aid in English my dad used in school in the sixties.

[Svrider]

I remember our French teacher having to teach us nouns and verbs etc.. Before he moved onto French

We were 12yo

[InNeedOfBrandy]

I need this to.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

I went to a Grammar school and never learned any of this. A supposedly "good" education was really a bit shit when I look back!

Plenty of time to read Romeo and Juliet from cover to cover analysing every line, but nothing about how to construct a sentence.

[tribpot]

You need this to what, Brandy? (Sorry but this is Pedants' Corner, I felt obliged).

I agree with Svrider, we had to learn stuff about grammar when studying Spanish at uni that I'd never been taught in English. The lecturer insisted on teaching us it in Spanish so it was even harder to figure out what the hell he was going on about and apply it to something you already knew.

StuntNun, adverb is a way of describing doing something, so you 'posted quickly' or you 'typed slowly'.

[StuntNun]

Thanks Tribpot that's a succinct explanation. My 10yo DS1 tried to explain it to me but he was confused between an adjective and an adverb. I looked it up on Wikipedia but was still confused. I find it annoying that DS1 asks me, e.g. what is a homophone of seen and I have to ask him what a homophone is. Why wasn't grammar taught when I was at school? I'll never need trigonometry again but I had to fake my way as a writer for years without knowing a dangling gerund from a subjunctive clause.

[NotTreadingGrapes]

Adverb describes verb, adjective describes noun is how I always tell it.

I agree with the above. French/German/Spanish/Italian grammar I was taught.

English grammar I learned when I became a TEFL teacher.

[M6Toll]

The great grammar book is good. I got it for DS aged 10, it's a lift the flaps kids book and a bit young for him to look at but we refer to it all the time.

[DorisShutt]

Yes! That's exactly the issue that I'm facing. I'd like to improve my foreign language skills (my step-mother is French) but books talk about subjunctive clauses and other such oddities; I'm stumped so I end up saying the equivalent of "I am liking the beach tomorrow to go" not "I'd like to go to the beach tomorrow".

[NotTreadingGrapes]

Well, I always say as long as you can make yourself understood. When I first came here to Italy, I had Spanish, French and German but no Italian. Luckily I got by with Spanglish and waving my hands around while shouting.

[MirandaGoshawk]

NotTreading... have you seen the film The Tourist? Johnny Depp talks in Spanish in several scenes to the manager of the hotel in Venice. This was a total joy for me as they didn't point it out unlike most US films where every 'joke' has to whack you over the head. So the manager responded in Spanish, the subtitles were in English, of course, and people who don't know Spanish or Italian, or weren't concentrating, wouldn't notice. Brilliant.

[mynxy]

I've recently had to take a literacy test, and you may find this glossary useful:

www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/professional/b00211208/literacy/glossary/a

[Metellaestinhortobibit]

The Elements Of Style by Strunk and White was recommended to me
Hth