When Bad Grammar ...

I was delighted to discover that it was World Book Day at Popular Bookstore. Well, technically it runs from 20 Apr - 6 May 07. All books are on 10% discount and members like me get 15% off.

There were a few new novels on the rack, nothing really noteworthy except for something that looked like a lad-lit - which is essentially chick-lit written by a lad with a lad as the protagonist.

I ended up getting Ann Batko's When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People. Firstly, the title was very engaging. Who wouldn't want to be thought of as a good person? ahem I never did quite understand how the Dummies series took the world by storm. How could anyone spot a Dummy book and cheerfully declare to the world that "Yes, I'm a certified Dummy!", happily take it and traipse to the check out counter to purchase the darn thing? Well, I'm proud to say that I've NEVER bought a Dummies book (I may have borrowed one or two but surely that doesn't count?).

Anyway, back to the grammar book I bought, I must assure you that I did not buy the book based on the title or nice looking cover alone. I made that mistake before. And let me tell ya, the person who coined the overused cliche was right. A book may look very pretty on the outset but if the innards are boring, nothing on earth can compel a disillusioned reader to finish reading it. This disillusioned reader only ploughed through about 20-odd pages before deciding that she has much more delightful things to do with her time and chucked it aside with an air of relief.

When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People (let's call it WBGHTGP for brevity's sake) is refreshingly different from the other grammar reference book I bought - the very highly acclaimed The Elements of Style by W. Strunk and E.B. White. The latter had a text bookish way of representing things in a bland and utterly immemorable manner. After reading and re-reading some passages of the book, I still couldn't find a proper framework to hang the proper grammar I've picked up.

But Ann Batko explains grammar in a delightful, easy to grasp and most importantly, memorable style. Take for example this bit about when to use who/whom:

Tip: When deciding between "who" and "whom", it can be easier if you use the "m" test: Think of how you would restate the sentence with the pronoun he/him or they/them, and if you use a form that ends in "m", you need "whom."

For example, Who/Whom is the present for? You'd say, Is the present for them? You wouldn't say, Is the present for they. That "them", with the "m" on the end is your clue that you need the objective case form "whom".

Marvellous, isn't it?

And as to why I have quite a few grammar books in my library to date, I have always been unsure about the science of it all. I am well acquainted with the art and beauty of stringing words together, having read so many wonderful books since childhood. And while I know if a sentence doesn't 'sound' right, I don't necessarily know why. The art and the science must come together if I am to be a serious stringer of words. If I am to edit my own writings for work and pleasure.

It certainly helps when I encounter such useful tools as WBGHTGP. I haven't gone through the whole book but I dare say that if you need to choose just one such book for your daily use, then this has got to be IT.

Happy learning!