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The Pointless Rules of English and How to Follow Them
The English language is a bit ridiculous. It’s unreasonably complex, half of its rules are completely arbitrary, and most of us don’t really know why we use it the way we do. But if you want to get an A on that essay, publish a killer novel or make people think you’re funny on the internet, it’s important to know how English works – if only so you can break it apart and use it as you please.
The Pointless Rules of English and How to Follow Them is your handbook to taking control of your writing. From magic Es to perfect progressive tenses, from essay structure to inclusive writing – we’ve got you covered.
Answering the big questions:
- What’s the deal with ‘whom’?
- How do I use ‘they’ as a singular pronoun?
- Can I have five question marks in a row in this tweet?????
- And what is a word, anyway?
The Pointless Rules of English and How to Follow Them is your handbook to taking control of your writing. From magic Es to perfect progressive tenses, from essay structure to inclusive writing – we’ve got you covered.
Answering the big questions:
- What’s the deal with ‘whom’?
- How do I use ‘they’ as a singular pronoun?
- Can I have five question marks in a row in this tweet?????
- And what is a word, anyway?
322 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2018
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 1, 2018
A delightful and informative guide to the nuts and bolts of the English language
The Pointless Rules of English is split into three sections. The first is a brief history of language itself, with a particular focus on how all the different influences on English have shaped it and contributed to its weirdness. The second (and main) section is an impressively thorough overview of grammar. It goes all the way from "what is a noun?", through adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and the rest, and finally to understanding how sentences are built up from clauses and phrases. This section also has a great chapter on punctuation with the clearest explanations I've ever read for how to use commas, semicolons, and dashes. The final section of the book is more generally about how to structure and improve your writing, with chapters on logic and rhetoric, specific advice for academic essays, and an excellent guide to using language inclusively.
My favourite thing about the book is the tone, which is delightfully friendly and fun, and the enthusiasm that the authors have for the subject is obvious and infectious. I never expected to enjoy reading about grammar this much, and I even laughed out loud at several points. The book makes good use of examples to explain each concept, and they often put a smile on my face too with their wit and pop culture references.
In each section I learned new and interesting things. I'd be lying if I said I've absorbed every word on the first read through, but I have been introduced to many things that I didn't even know existed, and the book is well indexed to make it easy to use as a reference when I need a refresher.
If you've ever wanted to know more about how English works then I very much recommend The Pointless Rules of English as an approachable and enjoyable guide.
The Pointless Rules of English is split into three sections. The first is a brief history of language itself, with a particular focus on how all the different influences on English have shaped it and contributed to its weirdness. The second (and main) section is an impressively thorough overview of grammar. It goes all the way from "what is a noun?", through adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and the rest, and finally to understanding how sentences are built up from clauses and phrases. This section also has a great chapter on punctuation with the clearest explanations I've ever read for how to use commas, semicolons, and dashes. The final section of the book is more generally about how to structure and improve your writing, with chapters on logic and rhetoric, specific advice for academic essays, and an excellent guide to using language inclusively.
My favourite thing about the book is the tone, which is delightfully friendly and fun, and the enthusiasm that the authors have for the subject is obvious and infectious. I never expected to enjoy reading about grammar this much, and I even laughed out loud at several points. The book makes good use of examples to explain each concept, and they often put a smile on my face too with their wit and pop culture references.
In each section I learned new and interesting things. I'd be lying if I said I've absorbed every word on the first read through, but I have been introduced to many things that I didn't even know existed, and the book is well indexed to make it easy to use as a reference when I need a refresher.
If you've ever wanted to know more about how English works then I very much recommend The Pointless Rules of English as an approachable and enjoyable guide.
Displaying 1 of 1 review