5 Resources on Grammar

Ghostly letterpressWe use language every day. It’s our tool, our medium, our art.

However, even the most experienced and confident writer runs into an occasional grammatical snag (lie or lay?).

Lay down your fears and don’t take it lying down (wait, is that correct?).

These five resources are just a mouse click away:

  • Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips: Short snippets about both the most common and arcane confuzzlements, from a former magazine and technical writer and Stanford trained biologist.
  • Dr. Grammar: The doctor is in. The most interesting section is probably the FAQs , which lists common problems in alphabetical order.
  • Grammarphobia: Worth a visit even for grammarphiles, this site is maintained by the authors of Woe is I. Interesting articles here, including dissolution of grammar myths (which includes explanations of why it’s perfectly fine, these days, to split infinitives and end with a preposition).
  • The Elements of Style , William Strunk, Jr.: The classic (sans White’s contribution) is available, in its entirety, through Bartleby.com.
  • Common Errors in English Usage: Author Paul Brians’site (based on the book of the same title) features a no-nonsense, alphabetical list of errors and miscues. Great if you just need to look up usage quickly.