How to Speak and Write Correctly Paperback – September 13, 2011

This book definitely worked well.

"Every person of intelligence should be able to use his mother tongue correctly. It only requires a little pains, a little care, a little study to enable one to do so, and the recompense is great."PROs:* Lots of good information without wasted words* Contains more than just grammar, such as the history of the English language* Huge list of the best authors, poets, and booksCONs:* Some outdated usage of words, such as "thou" and "thee" (was written in 1917)* Entire sections are now almost irrelevant, such as the letter writing section* Not enough examples to solidify definitions and usage* Becomes tedious and hard to concentrate on towards the middle of the book* Much of the advice is common sense, such as "read the masters""In employing the long sentence the inexperienced writer should not strain after the heavy, ponderous type. Johnson and Carlyle used such a type, but remember, an ordinary mortal cannot wield the sledge hammer of a giant. Johnson and Carlyle were intellectual giants and few can hope to stand on the same literary pedestal."The book starts out as a nice refresher on the parts of speech, something almost all of us learn but few remember. The usage of these words, such as adverbs and prepositions, came back to me with relative ease after reading the short definitions provided. The problems arose when the book got into more technical detail, such as instead of simply "verbs", there are "transitive/intransitive verbs" + the tenses, etc. One example to describe what a noun is is fine, but only one example for the more tedious parts of speech simply isn't enough. It got to the point where I was lost because he was using terms that he didn't solidify into the reader's mind, making me skim large portions of the book.The first half of the book is pretty much grammar review, then it goes into letter writing, which is almost completely useless today. The most interesting part of the book was actually the end where it went over the history of the English language and how it developed. There is also a very large section where he goes through the works of literary giants such as Shakespeare and Milton and shows that they are surprisingly filled with mistakes that the average person wouldn't notice. This part, although slightly interesting, was much too pedantic for me.My favorite part of the book was actually the short list of greatest authors, poets, and books. The problem is, he merely listed names instead of explaining why they were included. It would have been nice to hear his reasoning on why he chose who he chose, such as what makes each writer uniquely great, or what makes certain books stand above the rest.Overall, I would not recommend this book unless you absolutely don't want to spend any money. There are probably far better and more updated books for less than $3. The book does a lot of things, but none of them particularly well, and too much of it is useless for the modern reader."In the works of Shakespeare, the most wonderful genius the world has ever known, there is the enormous number of 15,000 different words, but almost 10,000 of them are obsolete or meaningless today."

Great bok.Liked it because most of it was easy to understand.I can improve my english lanuage after reading it.

I'm tutoring, for a volunteer organization, an English as a Second Language adult who has limited English reading and writing skills. In order for my student to progress well she needs more knowledge of English grammar.Like most literate Americans, I learned grammar in grade and early high school and have hung on to it as a usable skill reasonably well over the ensuing 40 years, but as far as remembering the details well enough to teach it to another person, well, that's another thing altogether.So, of course, I went to Kindle books to find something to fill the gaps in my memory and I found this book. For free. Hard to argue with the price.It's pretty dry, very minimal, and slightly archaic. Here you will find advocacy for the use of "thou" in 21st Century English. That said it is a useful book. It is a complete, comprehensive, factual manual.Very dry, though.

I downloaded the kindle edition because it was free, not expecting much. Imagine my surprise when I finally got to reading it to discover such a neat, well-presented grammar book. All the rules are illustrated with clear examples. This book gets to the point! It's not a book for beginners though; there are a lot of rules but no tricks or tips for memorizing them. In this regard, it's unlike any grammar book I've used in school.I really appreciate the section on Redundancy in Chapter VIII. It's so common to read things like 'Fill the glass (full)." and "He fell (down) from the top of the house." these days that I never realized that so matter words we use are repetitious. Of course you fill the glass full, you can't fill it empty! No wonder books are getting longer and longer but saying less and less.

Great book spot on with its facts just not so much my cup of tea other then my own opinion it’s a sound book to have

This is an interesting, useful but old book about modern English. I can still learn a lot from this book but some of them are obsolete obviously. I am interested in books and writers that are recommended in the end of the book. I will try to read more.

This was originally purchased as a joke to my daughter an English Lit student. After looking through the first couple pages I found it quite interesting and educational. I would suggest every parent purchase this book and get a better hold on how to speak and write correctly. I probably sound a bit old fashion, but poor speech can make you look bad, a poorly written document can keep you from obtaining entry into a good school, or obtaining a good job.

This book is absolutely full of invaluable information on the grammar of the English language.It is full of invaluable ideas on how to keep your own language fresh.

Very well written book although a little wordy for my taste in some parts. It explains just enough to understand and I use it as a reference book for editing. Although I though I would need to complement this book wit another, I found it complete and and enough for the job.

Highly technical, lots to take in but, if mastered you'd be very well placed to communicate in English both written and the spoken word. Highly recommended provided you have the patience to get through the text and take your time to understand it.

This is not the easiest of read and there is heaps to learn. Maybe not always so useful in modern life, but it is art that should not be lost.

Excellent value for none. I enjoyed this item and would recommend it to anyone. the delivery and package was extra to non and the excellent speedy delivery was great too