Australian Grammar Handbookk: Introduction

The grammar in this book is presented in a very simple, easy-to-understand style and is based on the format of lessons given to classes 3 – 6 (Primary School) many years ago. It deals with the seven parts of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, conjunction preposition). Next step is sentence structure (phrases, clauses), then a section on “common errors” where all the newfound knowledge hopefully will explain everything!

Perhaps the facts you read in the following pages will jog your memory of what you learned at school, or fill in the gaps of what you should have learned if you had been listening! We can all get away with the occasional slip but when it is so easy to avoid the embarrassment of saying “the wrong thing” why not find out once and for all what the “right thing” is?

Students of French should also find a few answers here. It is very difficult to learn this language without knowing about, for example, case of nouns, pronouns, tense of verbs, direct and indirect objects, just to mention a few points.

Some of the facts presented in this section perhaps seem a bit overwhelming; e.g. the 8 different kinds of adjectives, the 8 different kinds of adverbs, 7 kinds of adverbial clauses, and you might well ask

“Why must I learn all that”?

Well you don’t have to learn it – merely be aware of the facts and know where to find them should the need arise. It is necessary to explore all aspects of grammar and to understand where they fit in the overall pattern.

Parsing and analysis also get a mention. Parsing is an exercise whereby all words in a sentence are listed and their qualities given. It leaves no doubt about the function of each and every word.

Analysis is breaking a sentence into principal and other clauses, having first underlined the verb.

These were very simple exercises, performed daily by Grades 5 & 6 ensuring that very few children commenced High School without a solid grounding in English Grammar.

 The punctuation section is quite straight forward; all punctuation marks and symbols are listed, examples of where and how to use them, possible problems and how to avoid those problems.

 Many children (and adults), who are unable to benefit from traditional methods of teaching spelling, will find the information contained in the spelling section to be particularly important.

 Countless numbers of students, previously considered to be “hopeless spellers” have overcome their spelling problems after having been taught using the rather unorthodox method explained in this book.

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