Product Description

The Penguin Guide to Punctuation is indispensable for anyone who needs to get to grips with using punctuation in their written work. Whether you are puzzled by colons and semicolons, unsure of where commas should go or baffled by apostrophes, this jargon-free, succinct guide is for you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15068 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From the Publisher

A sample extract:

THE APOSTROPHE

5.2 Unusual Plurals

As a general rule, we never use an apostrophe in writing plural forms. (A plural form is one that denotes more than one of something.) Hence the things that those shops are selling are pizzas, videos, fine wines, cream teas, and mountain bikes. It is absolutely wrong to write pizza's, video's, fine wine's, cream tea's, and mountain bike's if you merely want to talk about more than one pizza or video or whatever. The same goes even when you want to pluralize a proper name:

She's trying to keep up with the Joneses.

There are four Steves and three Julies in my class.

Several of the Eleanor Crosses are still standing today.

Do not write things like Jones's, Steve's, Julie's or Eleanor Cross's if you are merely talking about more than one person or thing with that name.

About the Author
R L Trask has taught in the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences at the University of Sussex since 1988. He is the author of a number of books, including A DICTIONARY OF GRAMMATICAL TERMS IN LINGUISTICS, LANGUAGE CHANGE, LANGUAGE: THE BASICS, A DICTIONARY OF PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY, HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS and THE HISTORY OF BASQUE.

Customer Reviews

commas galore
This a good, straightforward, easy-to-read guide to punctuation. The table of contents is clearly laid out with chapters and sub-headings that allow easy searches for what you need to know - whether it's possessive apostrophes, the ellipsis or the slash that you're looking for.
An excellent reference book for those who want to learn and those who just need a reminder.

Penguin Guide to Punctuation by R. L. Task: Review by cpes31
"Easy to follow, this step by step guide will dispel the mysteries of punctuation and provide an invaluable aid to writing clear English". This quote from the cover describes "The Penguin Guide to Punctuation" in a nutshell. Well structured, with a clear style and good layout, it deals separately with each area of punctuation, both British and American, and provides illustrative examples for each case.

If you need to learn modern English punctuation quickly and easily, or if you just need a ready reference to verify the punctuation of your writing from time to time, buy this book. Not only is it an excellent book but it is also good value.

Don't be fooled by its size: this is DEFINITIVE!
Written by an author who clearly has strong feelings on the subject, this guide addresses each punctuation mark in turn, citing examples to cover every conceivable instance of its use. Differences between British and American usages are always highlighted where necessary (which is a nice touch I haven't seen in many other guides).

Despite being such a small book, the content is pretty much exhaustive, and Trask always expresses his opinion without pontificating. It's also written in an approachable style (where most guides are rigidly formal).

Worth every penny.