The latest volume in my language series, American English for All, is available on Amazon.
The series is designed for any English speaker who wants to avoid embarrassing errors in ads, blog posts, or other everyday, non-academic writing. The newest entry in the series is The Pronoun Book.
Nonstandard English is the norm on some television programming, but in the grown-up world of commerce, online dating, and political activism, nonstandard grammar and spelling are often deal-breakers.
I believe that the greatest number of grammatical errors result from a shaky understanding of pronouns and verbs. By mastering just a few basic concepts, anyone can learn to avoid pronoun errors when it matters.
When doesn’t it matter?
When people are hanging out with their friends, they may feel more comfortable falling into nonstandard speech. Nothing wrong with that. We all feel more comfortable speaking our home dialects when we want to relax.
When does it matter?
When a speaker or a writer wants to come across to others as an educated, thoughtful, competent person whose ideas are worth considering. Bloggers and advertisers are two groups that come to mind.
Depending upon the text, pronouns may make up as much as 15% of the words in any given passage. The more that a text has to do with persuasion, the greater the number of pronouns. For example, pronouns in presidential speeches often amount to from 13-15% of all the words in the speech.
Who needs this book about standard pronoun usage?
The Pronoun Book is a book for anyone who wants to brush up on standard pronoun usage.
In addition to bloggers and entrepreneurs, parents of young children and classroom teachers may find The Pronoun Book of value.
Official English textbooks are written to include instructional material for every possible nuance of usage—far more than any nonspecialist will ever need to know.
The guides in the American English for All series narrow the focus to just a few easily digested concepts presented in the simplest possible language.
You can scan the table of contents here.
For more of a peek, you can make use of the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon.
