Thursday, May 29, 2008

Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl here.” is the opening of each episode of the most clever, useful podcast on the Internet.

Can you end a sentence with a preposition? Does the word “writers” get an apostrophe when used in “writers strike?” Is the serial comma required? Is it, “I feel bad.” or “I feel badly.”? How do I decipher the proper use of “affect” and “effect?”

These four-to-six minute lessons are perfect for any English class and are an excellent way to help young writers understand the peculiarities of our language. Before the Internet, I always had my Warriner’s English Composition and Grammar: Complete Course near by when I had a grammar question. Now, there is “Grammar Girl.”

Also, “Grammar Girl” is good about helping listeners understand that there is a difference between what is grammatically correct and what is common, acceptable usage. Meet GG on YouTube.