Grammar is the basis for effective communication.
Without clear communication, meaning and message can get murky. Sentence structure, subject/verb tense, punctuation and spelling are common mistakes. In this book, we break it down with fun examples, images and explanations to help you remember pesky grammar tricks!
Download our handy Good 2 Know grammar book and brush up on these tricky grammar rules.
What's inside the book? A few examples:
EN DASH VS. EM DASH
What are these!? Well, an em dash is longer than an en dash. Traditionally, the em dash is as wide as the typeset capital letter M and the en dash is as wide as the typeset capital letter N. Of course! The em dash is the kind of dash you use mid-sentence. When people say, “Use a dash,”they almost always mean the em dash. Use it whenever the sentence requires a pause or break between ideas.
The en dash is used much less frequently, usually to indicate a range or span of numbers, dates or locations.
If you can say “to” between two words, or digits, then an en dash should be inserted as a substitute.
Whether you are using the longer em dash in a sentence or the shorter en dash to indicate a range, there are no spaces between the dash and the words around it.
ORPHANS AND WIDOWS
In typography, you want to avoid having single words as the last line of a paragraph as well as a single line of text at the beginning or the end of a column or page. Why? A lonely single word at the end of a paragraph creates a visual interruption in the flow that breaks the reader’s focus.
ABBREVIATIONS
The dawning of social media has created a whirlwind of words. Information is so accessible that it is becoming impossible to read and understand it all. This phenomenon also causes the plague of the computer age: carpal tunnel. So, to protect those sore wrists from typing too much, people have been reducing words and phrases into abbreviations. Fewer words, however, mean much more confusion.
This book helps navigate some of those confusing abbreviations to help you make sense of this chaos.
About the Author
Tasha Stewart
Tasha is a versatile designer and copywriter who has been with Accurate for more than 12 years. Always one to point out a rogue dash or an inch mark in place of a quotation—she wrote and illustrated this grammar book as a fun reminder tool for all.
Want to know more?
With examples of punctuation, things editors look for, often-confused words, and abbreviations you may not know, having this book on hand will help guide you to perfecting your content!
