I've been searching for a decent reference book to supplement my copy of Elements of Style. Any recommendations would be helpful.
Are you looking for a textbook on grammar (something you can study), or a "handy reference" on grammar that you can turn to when needed?
There's the Grammar Girl handbook, which is done in a breezy, light-hearted way.
English Composition and Grammar by Warriner is something of a modern-day classic.
A handy (and cheap) book on grammar is Essential English Grammar by Glucker. Some times it's nice to have a small handbook nearby rather than having to pull out a ten-pound textbook. It's showing its age a little, but I still prefer it.
There are dozens of reasonably good grammar handbooks. I find that they collect over the years. I probably have at least a dozen in the house. You could go to a bookstore and just browse; usually a quick look at a grammar handbook will tell if it's one you would like or not. One style will appeal to one person, while another will appeal to someone else.
Myself?
Elements of Style is a reference for me. Nothing really comes close.
But, I've got very good grammar. It was one of the reasons why I started writing.
I've been searching for a decent reference book to supplement my copy of Elements of Style. Any recommendations would be helpful.
That'll be a no, then?Myself?
Elements of Style is a reference for me. Nothing really comes close.
But, I've got very good grammar. It was one of the reasons why I started writing.
More recent grammar texts have two basic flaws. (1) They follow political correctness in regard to gender reference. (2) They elevate Yahoo linguistic practice to the level of correctness.
I have an old copy of the Bloomsbury Grammar Guide, by Gordon Jarvie. It's a pretty good general grammar guide, though there are probably plenty of others just like it.
A local college textbook store or the used bookstore will have a number of grammar texts or handbooks intended for undergraduate writers; go, seek, fine one that works.
Yep. You can get slightly old ones (that is, recently superseded by a new edition) for next to nothing.
Do get a used one; because these are generally considered textbooks the cover price for a new one can be killer.
Oh, look, there are copies available for three cents! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031244317X/?tag=absowrit-20
Maryn, who knows a bargain when she sees one
English Composition and Grammar[/I] by Warriner is something of a modern-day classic.
I'm quite fond of Lunsford & Connors The St. Martin's Handbook, which I got for under $5 when the newer edition came out. There aren't a lot of things I look up for myself, but when I'm doing critique and trying to explain why something is wrong, it's a great reference for finding the correct names of what comes to me more or less naturally.
There are a lot of "rules" that are merely style choices that have been elevated over the years