Whether it’s for a professional document, a school paper, an Internet blog, or something more personal, effective communication depends on clear, concise, and grammatically correct writing. Punctuation, spelling, and grammar rules can trip up anyone, while organization and word choice can make writing memorable—or banal. The Handy English Grammar Answer Book is an engaging guide to writing with clarity for all occasions. It offers fundamental principles, grammar rules, and punctuation advice, as well as insights on writing for different occasions and audiences. From a brief history of the English language to the deconstruction—and explanation—of the different parts of a sentence, and from showing how to punctuate correctly to how to organize a well-argued essay, this easy-to-use reference answers nearly 500 questions and offers fun facts on the English language and its usage, including How did English become a language spoken worldwide? What is a sentence fragment? When do I use “that” versus “which”? How do I use materials ethically on my own websites? How do I write an outline? Several appendices, including model papers and sample writing for every occasion, a glossary of commonly used terms, a bibliography, and an index add to the book's usefulness.

Christine A. Hult is a professor emeritus of English at Utah State University, where she taught writing and worked as an administrator for 25 years. She received her Ph.D. in English and education from the University of Michigan in 1982. Over the course of her career, Professor Hult taught in the composition, technical writing, honors, and English education programs at the University of Michigan, Texas Tech University, and Utah State University. At Utah State, she served as the associate and acting department head of English and as the associate dean for academics at the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. She was instrumental in creating online degree programs and courses for both graduate and undergraduate students, including the first master's degree in technical writing offered completely online. Professor Hult served as the editor of the Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators for seven years, as well. Her research interests include online teaching and learning, writing across the curriculum, computers in the writing classroom, writing program and teacher assessment, and women in academia. She published several books, including Comp Online (Pearson Education), Researching and Writing across the Curriculum (Longman), and, with co-author Professor Thomas N. Huckin, The New Century Handbook (Pearson Education). Professor Hult lives in Logan, Utah.

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. The Roots of Modern English
2. The English Language and Language Change
3. Important Grammatical Concepts and Terms
4. Sentence Structure
5. Spelling Correctly
6. Using Punctuation Correctly
7. Using Mechanics Correctly
8. Writing Effective and Correct Sentences
9. Using Words Effectively and Correctly
10. Academic Writing
11. Writing in Sciences and Technology
12. Writing in Social Sciences
13. Writing in the Arts and Humanities
14. Business Writing
15. Learning English as a Second Language
16. English in the Electronic Age

Bibliography
Appendix A. Irregular Verb Chart
Appendix B. Idiomatic Expressions
Appendix C. Homophones
Appendix D. English Prepositions
Appendix E. Misused Homophones
Appendix F. Frequently Misspelled Words
Appendix G. Wordy Phrases
Appendix H. Frequently Confused Word Pairs
Appendix I: Twenty Common Grammar Gremlins and How to Fix Them
Appendix J. Famous Quotations on Writing and Grammar
Appendix K. Model Papers
Appendix L. Model Bibliography Styles
Index