Errors in English and Ways to Correct Them: Fourth Edition

Very good and informative, I have both additions.

Do not get this book to learn sentence diagramming. The 2nd edition had been recommended as an overview of symbols and procedures to diagram a sentence, but that section is not in this 4th edition. Otherwise the book is a fairly good overview of syntax and grammar, but not as elegant as Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. I bought this book to help me learn sentence diagramming so I could do New Testament exegesis in original Greek, but this book does not help.

Helpful

Excelente book!!!!! Love it!!!!!!

should learn it.

I purchased this book for my sociology course at Cal State Fullerton. I am honestly glad that I was required to purchase this book. At the end of every chapter there is a group of exercises and practice problems that you are supposed to complete. In my class we are assigned these problems and exercises. At first I thought these exercises would be a walk in the park, I never thought I needed improvement in my writing, however after completing many of the exercises I realized that I could use a lot of improvement. Many of the exercises are challenging. The book covers many common errors in grammar, but it also covers more subtle errors, errors that you may miss at first glance. These errors can make a world of a difference, it could be the difference between an okay review, and an outstanding review, or an okay story and an outstanding story. Even if this book is not required in any of your classes, or even if you are already out of school, I HIGHLY recommend this book. It isn't expensive, I purchased it for about ten dollars, and it is extremely useful for everyday life. Regardless of where you are in life, this book can help you. It can help you formulate a proper email to your boss, write an essay, or even write a better review on amazon. I highly recommend this book to people looking to brush up on their grammar, or even for people who think they don't need any help with their grammar skills - chances are this book will show you that you still have room for improvement. Extremely great buy, so glad I found this book!

Harry Shaw's _Errors in English_ has helped me correct my favorite errors (commas) for over twenty-five years. That the book weathered multiple military moves and was never dumped to shave a pound off the weight of even overseas household goods shipments, testifies to its usefulness. In leafing through it for an overall sense of the contents, I see crayon marks made by one of my children (the most recognizable symbol appears to be an orange upside-down 'e'). This tells me the volume did not spend its life safely wedged between other books on a high shelf; I kept it within reach.The book is not only a reliable reference, but (for those interested in such things) is browsably entertaining on word choice, sentence structure, punctuation and a dictionary of terms. Did you know the origins for synonyms of cliché, trite and hackneyed, are the Latin "tritus" (past participle of terere) meaning "to rub, to wear out;" and the poor, worn-out horses -- presumably of the Hackney breed -- who pulled London taxis in the days before the internal combustion engine took on the job of hauling us around? Cliché itself derives from the French "clicher," "to stereotype."No, the reader is not whipped along by Jason Bourne, but for a reliable read when the writer wants to fix the English on his page, Mr. Shaw comes through.

This book is divided into two major sections:1 -- Ways to Avoid Making Errors (in writing)2 -- Guides to Correct UsageThe second section includes grammar, word usage, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling.This is a book very worth reading and consulting, especially for a person who must write but is unsure about what good writing is.

Excellent