For those of you interested in English grammar

I know we have a few grammarians here - I watch them with interest from a safe distance, in much the same way as I would at a safari park - and we also have quite a few second language speakers of English - so please let me draw your attention to an entertaining book on usage by Emeritus Professor and long-term generous supporter of SSiW, Mike McCarthy:

It would be lovely if we could nudge that number of reviews up a bit, hint hint…:wink:

@Deborah-SSi - could we also fit this into the email, on a ‘now for something completely different’ kind of basis? :slight_smile:

4 Likes

Here’s the link for all those who are not able to buy kindle editions from amazon.co.uk.



I hope you don’t mind to post this despite you can just put the title into any amazon search engine and find the editions there but bear in mind that not all can buy kindle editions from amazon UK for who knows (what really) reason.

Enjoy.

1 Like

:joy::grin::joy:

Don’t know why grammar gets such a bad rap; me, I love it (now there’s a sentence constructed with questionable grammar).

Let me see if I can draw on my long-ago Cymraeg for a few words here and there, otherwise known as a mish-mash.

Diolch for the heads-up on y llyfr. Dw i’n prynu’r paperback achos I exist in the Stone Age a does gen i ddim Kindle (which means, diolch, @tatjana, for the fast link i’r llyfr at the US store)

:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

2 Likes

I don’t have Kindle either but Android app is magnificent and there’s one plus for me: I can magnify the text so it can be more easily readable for me. There are always multiple versions of one book so you can choose which format would you prefer to buy. I don’t buy phisycal books from Amazon also because the postage costs me more than actual books and Kindle is in deed the best solution hence Audible is even better (at least what concerns me) if there’s Audio (Audible) version to disposal.

And, of course @sororp, you’re welcome. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

There is of course Kindle for PC (if you have a PC).

1 Like

Actually, I have a Mac; however, I did look into the Kindle reader for that, but every review I’ve seen says “Don’t bother, it’s terrible, none of the features work right, get a real Kindle instead.” -sigh- And I had such high hopes.

But what an excuse to buy more space-hogging, real paper books :grin: I’m such a dinosaur.

“When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.” ― Erasmus

1 Like

Not available to all but to citizens of US it might be. I know kindle for PC isn’t available for me but there’s a cloud reader from which I can read kindle editions though.

So, be aware someone from different country than Slovenia might have the same troubles.

1 Like

Kindle for PC works in the UK, for what it’s worth.

1 Like

Hmmm … last time I checked it said it’s not available in UK at all. It didn’t even show it to me on Amazon UK. I can’t buy kindle book editions in UK anyway for who knows what really reason. Amazon UK obviously did their Brexit a long time ago before it was voted for it in UK. They proclame Slovenia is not in Europe anyway when I try to buy something else but phisycal books with the sign “We ship only to EU”!!!

But this is another story though. We’re still at English Grammar book…

1 Like

Kindle has definitely been available for PC in UK for some time. I often use it.

1 Like

Ahhh …

This happens to me:

My country is obviously on another planet. I wonder if I’d get this grammar at all if I’d purchase it.

EDIT
All of a sudden I could just download it from amazon.com. Amazon cruiser space ship obviously found planet Slovenia so here we go … one more excuse to read and learn more.

4 Likes

Oh good, a descriptivist rather than a prescriptivist. I’ll get meself a copy.

2 Likes

and - hint - review - /hint :slight_smile: :wink:

1 Like

I don’t have a Kindle, I have a Kobo - because I’ve got a ‘thing’ about shopping at Amazon. There is an app I have on my Mac called Calibre, which can convert one format to another. So I’ve converted a pdf to the format for the Kobo (the name of which I’ve forgotten), in order to read it on my device. I believe it can do something similar the other way around (e.g. convert a Kindle file to a pdf so that you can read it on a Mac). I would investigate further before trusting my vague knowledge - but might be something to look into?

2 Likes

+1 for calibre @sororp . I happen to use it on a PC, but if it works on a Mac, you should be able to convert almost any e-book format to any other, either for use on an actual e-reader device, or just to read (using Calibre or any e-book software) on the Mac itself. There are specialist forums out there that talk about this sort of thing a lot, so google if stuck.

2 Likes

I have an ancient Kindle, but I now buy e-books from Gwales (which say they’re not compatible with the Kindle) and use Calibre to convert. I won’t buy from Amazon, but I’m pretty sure case law grudgingly allows you to read stuff you’ve legally bought on a different device if you choose.

Well @aran, I am somewhat of a grammarian (not that it does me any favours, in the main), but I’m also an Amazon boycotter for a number of reasons I won’t go into. So, I shall have to either wait for the Emeritus Prof’s e-book to be available as non-e, or do some digging on that other behemoth, Google, in case it already is (sorry, bad syntax to end a sentence with a short word!). I am, however, excited by the prospect. Correct grammar in a language you love (and I love all languages, to be fair) can be a bit of a drug. I follow TAPS on Facebook: the apostrophe protection society. It provides not only deep satisfaction from seeing that there are other sticklers out there, not just me, but also plenty of laughs as it happens. I suspect the perception of us grammarians by others who think good grammar to be somewhat incidental is mostly that we are vegan, boffins; nerds in our own lunch-break and really FAR too hung up on detail. However, I love it and this 59-year old leopard isn’t about to change its spots. On to another post about eisiau, moyn and angen.

It would be dreadful if grammarians changed their spots - then tourists like me would have nothing to look at (from the safety of our cars)… :slight_smile:

1 Like

@aran :laughing: I wonder what the “wildlife” in those “parks” think of us? And do they think in English or Cymraeg? Or leopard or ape-speak? The mind boggles… a lot!

1 Like

Is this book would help me to improve speaking and writing English skills? Actually, I am not good at English and mostly used discounted premium account of Grammarly that to fix my English error. However, still want to improve my English in more flexible manner.