Front cover -- Half title page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of figures -- Introduction to the second edition -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 A soap opera in a grammar book -- 1.2 Questions about grammar -- 1.3 How the book is structured -- 1.4 How to annoy teachers and professors -- 1.5 What students worry about -- 1.6 Comments on questions -- 1.7 Conclusion: general advice about grammar and language -- 2 Bad language -- 2.1 Trying to be posh -- 2.2 Questions about language -- 2.3 Idioms: how words are usually used -- 2.4 Easily confused words -- 2.5 Going through a bad spell -- 2.6 Singulars and plurals -- 2.7 Formal doesn't have to mean pompous -- 2.8 What are you trying to say? -- 2.9 The author, one or I? -- 2.10 It's, like, a figure of speech -- 2.11 Comments on questions -- 2.12 Conclusion: advice about word choice -- 3 Standard practice -- 3.1 Why can't I use my own language? -- 3.2 Questions about 'correct' English -- 3.3 Standard English: do we need it? -- 3.4 Examples of uses that are not standard -- 3.5 Spoken and written English -- 3.6 Academic English -- 3.7 Comments on questions -- 3.8 Conclusion: advice about dialects and Standard English -- 4 Who or what is the subject? -- 4.1 A favourite subject - 'I' -- 4.2 Questions about subjects of sentences -- 4.3 Simple and compound subjects -- 4.4 When subjects move around -- 4.5 Subject closed -- 4.6 Comments on questions -- 4.7 Conclusion: advice about sentences and subjects -- 5 Where's the action? The verb -- 5.1 Doing, being and happening -- 5.2 Questions about verbs -- 5.3 Mangling and dangling participles -- 5.4 Getting tense with verbs -- 5.5 My past, present and future -- 5.6 Facts and possibilities -- 5.7 Comments on questions -- 5.8 Conclusion: advice about verbs -- 6 The complete sentence.

6.1 Can students write in sentences? -- 6.2 Questions about sentences -- 6.3 The sentence as a unit of thought or grammatical structure -- 6.4 The sentence and punctuation -- 6.5 Sentences and paragraphs -- 6.6 Breaking up is hard to do -- 6.7 Comments on questions -- 6.8 Conclusion: advice about sentences -- 7 What goes wrong with sentences? -- 7.1 Too much or too little -- 7.2 Questions about sentence errors -- 7.3 How to avoid running sentences together -- 7.4 How to avoid chopping sentences in two -- 7.5 Sentenced to death! -- 7.6 Comments on questions -- 7.7 Conclusion: advice about fixing sentences -- 8 Speaking personally -- 8.1 Having a voice -- 8.2 Questions about personal expression -- 8.3 Reasons for using the passive -- 8.4 When passives get awkward -- 8.5 When people get awkward -- 8.6 Expressing an opinion without saying 'I' -- 8.7 Bring me back: reflective writing -- 8.8 Reflections on what's going wrong -- 8.9 Comments on questions -- 8.10 Conclusion: advice about personal writing -- 9 More on complex sentences: relationships and relatives -- 9.1 Talking about relatives -- 9.2 Questions about relationships and clauses -- 9.3 Words expressing relationship -- 9.4 Revisiting the subordinates -- 9.5 Relative clauses: defining and describing a brother -- 9.6 Every which way but that -- 9.7 Comments on questions -- 9.8 Conclusion: advice about relative clauses -- 10 How to be offensive with punctuation -- 10.1 Define without using commas -- 10.2 Questions about punctuation -- 10.3 The functions of punctuation marks -- 10.4 Putting punctuation to work -- 10.5 Punctuation within words -- 10.6 A dodgy colon and a full stop -- 10.7 Comments on questions -- 10.8 Conclusion: advice about punctuation -- 11 That pesky apostrophe -- 11.1 Getting possessive and going missing.

11.2 Questions about apostrophes -- 11.3 What's happening to the apostrophe? -- 11.4 How to use an apostrophe to show possession -- 11.5 How to use an apostrophe to show omission -- 11.6 Hold the apostrophe! -- 11.7 That Lynne Truss has a lot to answer for! -- 11.8 Comments on questions -- 11.9 Conclusion: advice about apostrophes -- 12 Checking the checker -- 12.1 A house of correction -- 12.2 Questions about grammar checkers -- 12.3 Pitfalls with grammar checkers -- 12.4 How to use a grammar checker knowledgeably -- 12.5 What happens next? -- 12.6 Comments on questions -- 12.7 Conclusion: advice about grammar checkers -- 13 Quote/unquote - avoiding plagiarism -- 13.1 Credit where it's due -- 13.2 Questions about referencing -- 13.3 Grammar and punctuation in referencing -- 13.4 What goes in the quotation marks? -- 13.5 Double or single quotes -- 13.6 Different systems for referencing -- 13.7 Oh what a giveaway -- 13.8 In your own words -- 13.9 Comments on questions -- 13.10 Conclusion: advice about avoiding plagiarism -- 14 The machine's out to get us -- 14.1 Technology makes it possible -- 14.2 Questions about technology in grammar and language -- 14.3 Catching plagiarism - or helping to avoid it -- 14.4 Should computers mark essays? -- 14.5 Friendly computing: assistive technology -- 14.6 The human touch -- 14.7 Comments on questions -- 14.8 Conclusion: comments on technology and grammar -- 15 Finale -- 16 Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back cover.