My Grammar and I... Or Should That Be Me?: How to Speak and Write It Right by Caroline Taggart

My Grammar and I... Or Should That Be Me?: How to Speak and Write It Right Reviews

• 
  MischaS_

  Good girls are Christians.
  Bad girls are Christian's.
  
  I see what you did there!
  
  Well, I don't think that this book is something amazing for a native speaker of English. But since English is my third language, I think it gave me a lot! I sort of wish we had this in high school.
  
  It certainly showed me a lot of things I did wrong and also things I never heard about. (Preposition at the end of a sentence... I know, I know.) What is the split infinitive? And some things I do, and I know that I should not. But I really love 'Tautology.'
  
  I added a couple of bookmarks, definitely going to review some of the issues again.
• 
  Jo (The Book Geek)

  I bought this rather unexpectedly on a shopping trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. I hadn't even got this book on my to-read list, but I have been wanting to brush up on my grammar for a while, so I decided to take the plunge and buy it.
  
  Firstly, the layout was fairly structured, and I thought that made it accessible for any reader. The content itself was interesting, and although I had heard of most of what was written, it was also grand to be reminded of things I'd forgotten.
  
  I think some of the examples used could have been clearer, as the majority of them were actually the incorrect terms used, and I'm not sure this is always helpful. I also noticed that the humour used was terribly tongue in cheek, and certainly not suitable for a text about grammar.
  
  Despite the minor issues, this was a different and informative read, and I'm glad to have purchased it.
  
  Plus; I'm glad they included an excerpt from Graham Greene.
• 
  Eastofoz

  So let’s say you’re one of those people who’s not always 100% sure about whether to use either/or/neither/nor or maybe you go apostrophe happy putting those little marks not only with contractions but for just about everything else thinking you’re making a possessive, or you’re a bit sucky in the punctuation department, irregular plurals perhaps (one dice two die or is it the other way around? Does that even exist!? LOL!) This is a great little book from the Reader’s Digest collection that will without a doubt help you avoid some very big pitfalls that the native English speaker makes in both writing and speaking.
  
  Written in a light, fun way and never bogged down with grammar lingo that only a linguistics major could decipher, you’ll pick up quite a few memory aids and things that just may surprise you (like OMG you don’t say “a local resident” or “a new innovation”?!). Each chapter deals with a particular problem area with a catchy title to draw you in providing some good examples of common errors and how to fix them. There’s an interesting chart about groups like what do you call a group of dolphins –“a pod” and not “a school” like you would for fish. If that kind of thing interests you then you’ll find some cool tidbits in this book. If you’re learning the language even at an advanced level this book will also be very helpful because it goes through things like the various passive and active verb tenses and their conjugations, pronouns, conjunctions, common interjections and the list goes on.
  
  Unfortunately I couldn’t give it a 5 star rating because I wasn’t sold on their explanation of when/how to use “I” and “Me”, one of the biggest mistakes around. Still found that confusing. Nevertheless it’s a solid 4.5 stars that would make a handy addition to any reference shelf.
  
• 
  PuPilla

  Nagyon szórakoztató, egyáltalán nem fullasztó alapanyag egy kis 'brush up'-hoz. Tény, hogy főleg native speakereknek szól,d e ettől függetlenül a nyelvtanulónak is nagyon élvezetes tud lenni, akkor is, ha nem sok újat mond esetleg. Alapszint azért nyilván nem elég hozzá, akkor fáradságosabb, és elvesznek a poénok is. Sok a példamondat, megmutatja a rosszat is, hoz konkrét vicceket is, vagy csak lábjegyzetben viccelődik, kiszól a sorok közül, hogy megvagyunk-e még, vagy most elvesztett minket :D Mondatszerkezet, írásjelek, igeidők, azonos alakú-hangzású szavak is vannak a fejezetek közt. Jólesett elolvasni, és akármilyen hihetetlen is, hangosan nevettem néhol. :D Egy nyelvtankönyvön! :O :D
  
  Bővebben a blogon:
  https://pupillaolvas.blogspot.com/201...
• 
  Kathrynn

  Having read others in this series, I was expecting My Grammar and I... to be funny, but, for me, it was over-the-top cute to the point of annoying. The examples given in many parts were examples of what NOT to do, but they were not labeled as such. For someone using this as a guide, they could easily become confused or frustrated. The author went out of her way making it comical, but at the sacrifice of information in some places.
  
  Having said that, for someone with a solid grasp of the English grammar "system" this may be a fast, light read with many funny examples of incorrect grammar--as if we don't see enough of that on a regular basis. :-(
• 
  Estíbaliz Montero Iniesta

  
  YOUTUBE /
  INSTAGRAM /
  RESEÑA EN WRAP UP DICIEMBRE
  El libro de gramática perfecto. Todas las explicaciones son claras y concisas, con ejemplos adecuados y justificados. Además está todo aderezado con un toque de humor irónico que hace muy pero que muy entretenida la lectura de un libro de gramática. Eso no me parece nada desdeñable. Porque, como dicen las autoras, si ni siquiera los diferentes diccionarios ingleses se ponen de acuerdo en ciertas cosas, ¿cómo va la gente a evitar cometer errores?
  
  Me parece ideal para repasar gramática o como herramienta para preparar e impartir clases de inglés.
• 
  Emily Dickson

  It’s 2.5 out of pure enjoyment but obviously this is a book for helping with grammar and I would say it’s pretty concise at explaining that hard stuff
• 
  Marina

  Taggart writes with humour and expertise but this is a book for grammar insiders and will be of little use to anyone who has any real difficulties with the subject. NB- I’m a literacy teacher.
• 
  Maud

  What can I say, I'm a sucker for funny books on English grammar! (so if you have any recommendations, let me know!)
  This one has to be one of my favourites. It has a lot of humour, a lot of information and easy to understand explanations. I don't know how valuable this would be for a native speaker but for me (English is my second language) it was very interesting and I learnt a lot!
  The one thing that I do have with these types of books is that I never remember every rule that you learn. But I think I could grab this book if I come across some grammar that I don't understand and can't really find online (small chance, I know but there is a chance!).
  If you are looking for a good and fun book on grammar this is one I highly recommend!
• 
  Katia M. Davis

  I enjoyed this. There were a few laughs in it. I finally managed to get a few things straight in my head that have always confused me. It was relatively easy to understand with plenty of examples. I also discovered I use a couple of elements of American English for punctuation when I write British English, like using em-dashes when I should be using en-dashes if I'm going to be consistent. My eyes have been opened. Very useful book.
• 
  Sam

  Great little book to use alongside my teaching. It is both educational and humorous.
• 
  Gerry

  'Few of us to ask (or answer, or give a damn about) this question in real life. However, this book does ask it, so 'it seems only courteous to have a go' write the authors when discussing sentence structure. The decision is that as 'My Grammar and I' forms a compound subject this is a good enough, and more correct, form for the title!
  
  The book may sound somewhat dull in its title, but it is far from being so. It is great fun throughout even if it does make the reader wonder whether he/she will ever write another word for fear of transgressing some of the basic rules. Incidentally, my writing career may well be over or at least become more laboured as I ponder over the correct way to construct a sentence!
  
  The authors teach us, in the most charming way, all about spelling and confusables, parts of speech, sentence structure, punctuation and, finally, odds and sods, or, elements of style. I do hope they don't read this brief review because I feel sure I will have transgressed somewhere - even if it is only in the overuse of exclamation marks!!!
  
  
• 
  Seppe Gillis

  Voor wie denkt dat dit boek een beetje duidelijkheid kan scheppen tussen alle taalregels, think again. Met elk nieuw hoofdstuk raakte ik meer verstrikt tussen alle regels, uitzonderingen, ezelsbruggetjes en voorbeelden (wie heeft er nu ook een ezelsbruggetje nodig om de vijf klinkers te onthouden? An Elephant In Orange Underwear??)
  Desondanks heb ik enorm kunnen genieten van dit boek. Zo verwarrend als het geheel is, ik hou enorm van de manier waarop het boek geschreven is. De auteurs zijn erin geslaagd om witty opmerkingen en taalgrapjes als hagelslag tussen de pagina's te strooien wat het leesplezier heel goed doet. De tussentitels voelen dan wel weer wat geforceerd aan, die hadden gerust droog en duidelijk gemogen.
• 
  Ben

  Great for those who already know some of the rules.
  
  I enjoyed this overview of English grammar, but I couldn’t help feeling that it was written for those already somewhat interested in grammar. Subjects were dealt with concisely, but probably too swiftly for those that would most benefit from reading this.
  
  It was an easy read for most of the book, and I skipped some sections that were obvious. In terms of my own writing, this will probably be my first stop when I have a query, though it certainly won’t cover everything.
• 
  Loren Johnson

  I found this to be both informative and entertaining. I had no idea when I bought this that it’d be so much fun to read. I thought it was just a grammar book but hey, it’s actually an interesting read! A solid investment, that much is for sure, and a terrific help with my writing. Thank you Caroline Taggart and J. A. Wines! You have made my life so much easier.
• 
  Gianluca Fiore

  It's fine. Easy to read, funny at times and concise enough to be useful as a quick reference. I found it not as deep as I hoped and with less edge cases and throughout discussion of the English language"s classic conundrums
• 
  BookDragon

  It helped with my grammar and with spelling, confusables, and intriquete reading and writing.
• 
  Rebecca

  Lol!
• 
  Maya

  My Grammar and I is an engaging and funny read, and Taggart clearly writes from a lot of experience. However, I only found this engaging because I am already aware of grammar terminologies and rules; a newcomer to grammar will not benefit as much from this book.
• 
  VampireNovelFan

  This book is a fantastic small reference for correcting grammar mistakes that we'll make in everyday life. If you're serious about writing, this won't solve all of your problems, but it's definitely an easy read that I'd highly recommend.
  
  Thanks to this book (which I read over a year ago), I'm much more conscious of some mistakes that I would have made without it. I'm much more sensitive to noting parts of speech and proper placement of prepositions. It also helps that this reference uses funny sentences. It's technical while not going over your head, making retention easier. The pitfalls it focuses on are:
  
  Sentence Structure
  
  Parts of Speech
  
  Punctuation
  
  Spelling and Confusables
  
  Elements of Style
  
  Every section is useful. You probably want to read these books more than once as a refresher, but you will remember things from the first read. I would also recommend having sticky tabs for areas you know you will need to re-read at some point.
• 
  Julie Suzanne

  I'm not sure that this is easy or good reading for someone who is just learning grammar, but it was a refreshing, enjoyable review of what I already know with lots of little things I never really knew before. I especially like the introduction and how the example sentences are humorous. It's not a dry grammar book, and maybe you'll find something new as well?
  
  I read it front to back over summer vacation (voluntarily), so I think that says it all.
• 
  Symon Hill

  Quite good. Fairly clear explanations for most things; also quite funny. Could have benefited from more discussion about the issues around decisions about grammar. While not too legalistic, it was relatively traditional.
• 
  Alex Ott

  Very good book on grammar, a lot of examples, explanations of rules and exceptions. Could be used as reference...
• 
  Claudia 🌻 Aliaga

  I came to this book looking for a way to support my assistant course of English Grammar I teach to EFL Pre-service teachers (and to sharp my own English manners, obviously), and I can surely say it is exactly what I expected.
  Even though I think it is basic to native speakers, it works perfectly fine if you’re a non-native speaker trying to get rid of not only the language sloppiness, but also to understand how a few details may change the complete sense of what you are expecting to say. We must be aware that language is constantly changing. However, following two or three rules didn’t hurt anyone, as well as reducting ambiguity and as result, become a more proficient speaker.
  I couldn’t take my eyes off it until I finished. I never thought a grammar book could be hilarious, so it was a discovery for me to find it. I would totally recommend it if you are learning english as a second language, or even if you want to remember school-level grammar.
• 
  Adrian J.

  I studied Linguistics as part of my undergraduate degree, and consequently there was little new to be learned for me from this book - but it did help me remember a lot of things I already knew.
  
  This one won't be packed away like all the others; it's staying on my shelf as a quick reference for the next thirty years. Really, really good reminder of correct terminology for things.
  
  I don't know how helpful it would be to someone approaching grammar with no formal background in it, though. It might be a bit too broad to give any really valuable knowledge.
• 
  John Naylor

  This is the kind of book I read but then struggle to find things to say about. I also traditionally make a few grammatical errors in reviews of anything to do with the subject of grammar.
  
  It gives enough details as well as examples of both what to do and what not to do when it comes to aspects of grammar. It is an education to read it but, although the author tried to add humour, it did read as a little dry at times.
  
  It isn't a book I would recommend. It is a book that others should seek out themselves if they want to learn more or possibly improve their grammar.
• 
  Aishwariya Laxmi

  This #grammar #book is basic. It deals with spelling, parts of speech, sentence structure and punctuation in a humorous vein, albeit not hilarious. There are some mnemonics shared with the reader and some quaint bits like the poem involving the parts of speech. However, I wouldn't recommend it to professionals in the trade looking for a solid reference book. It's suitable for freshers or those with a sketchy understanding of English Grammar who are looking to improve their grasp of the subject.
• 
  Nikos Dunno

  I'm always surprised when British people I meet tell me how grammar was never of big importance at school when they were growing up, or that it was never taught with an emphasis that would make its understanding long lasting. If only this book were part of the curriculum. It presents the most important grammatical rules in a funny, witty, and non-threatening way. A book that one can easily read on the side, and come back to multiple times.
• 
  Lucie Pelcakova

  Pokud jste anglista, anebo chcete vyšperkovat svou gramatiku na dokonalost, tak tahle kniha je pro vás. Osobně s grammar stále občas bojuju, proto jsem byla ráda, že knihy nabízí rychlé, často vtipné, vysvětlení ohledně toho, co kdy použít. Zároveň se mi také mnoho vysvětlivek líbilo tak, že je určitě užiju při učební.
  
  Jediné co mi trochu scházelo bylo nějaké větší (velmi podrobné) probrání časů, ačkoliv se jim autorka věnuje, byla bych ráda za něco víc.