Book Review: McGraw-Hill's Essential ESL Grammar: A Handbook for Intermediate and Advanced ESL S...

In formal English, the standard passive is formed with the helping verb be. For example:

We were interrupted.

In informal conversational English, most native speakers actually use the helping verb get instead of be. For example:

We got interrupted.

One of the key features of this book is the discussion of this kind of grammatical substitution wherever it is significant. (This occurs surprisingly often.)

Many noncount nouns can be used as count nouns but with a predictable shift in meaning—to convey something like “different kinds of.” Here are some examples:

However, if the word ends in a vowel plus y, the preceding rule does not apply, because the letter y is does not represent a separate vowel. The y is part of the spelling of the vowel and therefore cannot be changed:

Note: In addition to the usual plural form feet, the noun foot has a second plural form, foot, when we use the word to refer to length or measurement. For example:

Collective nouns refer to groups of people either individually or collectively. Here are some examples:

In conversational English, Option 2, with the preposition left at the end of the sentence, is strongly preferred over Option 1 for both human and nonhuman antecedents. In formal, written English, however, the reverse is true: writers prefer to move the preposition along with the relative pronoun, as in Option 1. The preference for Option 1 probably reflects a schoolroom grammar bias against ending sentences with prepositions in formal, written English.

Since that and which can both be used in restrictive clauses, we cannot rely on that and which to signal the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. It bears repeating that the only reliable way to distinguish the two types of clauses is by the difference in their use of commas. If a clause is set off with commas, it is nonrestrictive. If it is not set off with commas, it is restrictive. The choice of that or which is only supplementary information.

we need to understand the difference in meaning between the progressive tenses (past, present, and future) and the present tense. Briefly, the progressive tenses describe action in progress (hence the name “progressive”) at some moment of time (past, present, or future). The present tense, on the other hand, is literally “time-less.” It is used to describe an ongoing state or permanent condition.

The progressive sentence describes what the woman was doing at some actual moment of time—when we came into the office, for example. It does not mean that answering the phone was her regular job. The present tense sentence, on the other hand, does exactly that: it describes what the woman’s usual job is. It does not necessarily describe what she is doing at the moment. In fact, she may not be on the phone at all; she might be out taking a break.

It is often comical when someone else writes a dangling modifier. However, it is not so funny when you write one. The lesson is that whenever you use a participial phrase shifted away from the noun it modifies, mentally shift it back to its normal position to see if it makes sense.