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A GUIDE TO BETTER ENGLISH by Robert N. Cronk
This free GUIDE TO BETTER ENGLISH by Robert N. Cronk (First person born in the U.S. in 1924), will enable you to speak and write better English. The complete book is here ready to download.
This book of simple, easily remembered lessons was written with the intention of providing a guide to those persons who are undecided in which words to use in certain circumstances.
"A GUIDE TO BETTER ENGLISH" was written so that the average person can easily apply the lessons to attain better speech and better writing habits. It has been made very simple without all the gobble-de-gook about the complex rules of English.
Good luck, good writing and good speech.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER / LESSON PAGE NO.
Dedication 5
Introduction 6
Chapter One 9
Lesson One (Using “Me” or “I”) 10
Lesson Two (Using “Aren’t”, “Isn’t” or “Ain’t”) 11
Lesson Three (Using “Saw” or “Seen”) 13
Lesson Four (Using “Can” or “May”) 14
Lesson Five (Using “To” or “Too”) 15
Lesson Six (Using “Don’t” or “Doesn’t”) 16
Lesson Seven (Using “You” or “Yous”) 17
Lesson Eight (Using “Dis”, “Dat”, “Dese”, “Dem”,
“Dose” and “Dere”) 19
Lesson Nine (Using “Probably” or “Probaly”) 20
Lesson Ten (Using “You Know” and “You
Know What I Mean”) 21
Lesson Eleven (Using “Their”, “There” or “They’re”) 22
Lesson Twelve (Using “Your” or “You’re”) 24
Lesson Thirteen (Using “Ax” or “Ask”) 25
Lesson Fourteen (Using “Farther” or “Further”) 26
Lesson Fifteen (Using ”Between” or “Among”) 27
Lesson Sixteen (Using “Learn” or “Teach”) 28
Lesson Seventeen (Don’t Be Redundant
or Repetitive) 29
Lesson Eighteen (Learn and Use New Words) 31
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.)
CHAPTER / LESSON PAGE NO.
Lesson Nineteen (Never Start a Sentence
with “And“ or “But”) 32
Lesson Twenty (Keep Thoughts Concise &
Paragraphs Short) 33
Lesson Twenty-One (Double Negatives) 34
Lesson Twenty-Two (Ending a Sentence with
a Preposition) 36
Lesson Twenty-Three (Using 1st, 2nd, 3rd Person) 38
Lesson Twenty-Four (Do Not Start Sentences
with the Word “ I “)
(Unless Necessary) 39
Lesson Twenty-Five (Use Adjectives Often) 40
Lesson Twenty-Six (Using Adverbs) 41
Lesson Twenty-Seven (Be a Good Listener) 42
Lesson Twenty-Eight (Punctuation) 43
Lesson Twenty-Nine (Possessive Words) 45
Lesson Thirty (Spelling) 47
Lesson Thirty-One (Gender) 52
Lesson Thirty-Two (Interrogative Words) 53
Lesson Thirty-Three (Mention Subject of
Document in First
Paragraph) 54
Lesson Thirty-Four (Using “Past” or “Passed”) 55
Lesson Thirty-Five (Using “Curse Words”) 57
Summation 58
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to each of you
who purchased this book with the
intention of improving your speech.
The hard work of implementing
the suggestions put forth in this book
will be rewarded with “A NEW YOU”.
CONGRATULATIONS, AND GOOD LUCK
INTRODUCTION
This book was written with the intention of its becoming a guide to you in choosing one word over another, and to explain to you why that word should, or should not, be used in your speech.
It also contains hints on procedures in certain circumstances, which should be followed by you in order to improve your speech.
The author is not naive enough to believe that, even after you have read all of the material contained herein, you will be speaking perfect English. To the contrary, with hard work and diligent effort, it is the hope of the author that the reader’s speech will be greatly improved.
Hence, the title word “GUIDE”.
It is possible that, since this book was written entirely from the memory of the author (except occasionally from reference books), some of the reasons given may be inconsistent with other authors. However, the basic intent is more or less the same, that being better speech patterns for the reader.
Learning to speak correctly is not as hard as you might think, but merely a matter of learning and following a few simple rules.
The purpose of this book is to refresh your memory on the basics you learned in high school, and once remembered, can be a definite advantage to your future life. If you realize the words you speak are not correct English, then try speaking the correct way as described in this book. You will probably be amazed at how easy it is to speak and write correctly.
For example, when applying for a job by submitting a resume, a potential employer’s first impression is gained by the way your resume is prepared. The words you write, and how they are used, give him an indication of your TRUE education. The fact that you graduated from high school does not really mean that you retained the knowledge you learned there.
However, the correct usage of words conveys to him that you were a good student; that maybe you are fairly smart; and perhaps you just might be the right person for the job.
If you are applying for a job through a personal interview, the first impression a potential employer receives is your appearance, and then how you speak. That second impression is delivered with the first words out of your mouth.
By following the suggestions given in this book, it would almost be guaranteed that your chances of gaining that employment would be enhanced by at least one hundred percent.
There are many ways in which you can use words incorrectly. But do not despair. By following the suggestions outlined in this book, you WILL improve your speech.
Our friends and our peers are a tremendous influence in the way we speak. It is well known that, almost without exception, how you hear the English language spoken is the way in which you speak the language. The most influence comes from the home and the way your mother and father utter their words. Then there are your friends and siblings with whom you speak every day.
People are like parrots. What they hear is what they say. The result of which is called “accents” or “dialects”. That is exactly the nature of accents. A large group of people, such as “Southerners”, all pronouncing their words the same way (because the environment in which they were raised dictated that result) is called an “accent”. In this case, it is called a “Southern accent”. There are many regions of the United States with their own unmistakable accents. For example, most people living in the Boston, Massachusetts, area can be easily discerned from those living in other parts of the country, simply by the way they pronounce the English language, or in other words, by their accent. Some other easily discernible accents originate from folks living in New York City, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Maine, just to name a few. Some other areas have their own unmistakeable accents.
It is not suggested that the people from the areas mentioned do not speak correct English. To the contrary, many people from these areas DO speak correct English. it is not what is said, but the way it is said that creates accents.
Habit is sometimes a very hard thing to break, but with a strong will and a lot of perseverance, you will succeed. Breaking the habit of incorrectly pronouncing words and using words incorrectly is much like trying to stop smoking. Thousands of people break the habit and quit smoking every day. Thousands more try to quit smoking, but fail to accomplish the task, because in their heart, they really did not want to quit.
In order for you to speak correctly, you must first want to do so, just as in leaving the cigarettes behind. Without a strong desire to improve your speech, and your vocabulary, you may as well close the covers of this book right now. It is of the utmost importance that you want to improve, and with that incentive, you will find that it becomes more easy to succeed.
Using tools when practicing the suggestions in this book is helpful. A dictionary, a thesaurus, and a pad and pencil, are such tools. Take your time when reading this book so that you may assimilate the information contained herein. Leave your mind free of other problems and thoughts, so that you can devote your total attention to what is being taught. Make notes when needed for future referral, and refer to them as often as necessary.
Practice is paramount in obtaining your goal. Try using just one suggestion at a time, and keep practicing that particular item until you feel comfortable in speaking the words.
One final thought. Your peers probably do not speak correct English or you would not have bought this book. If such is the case, if you speak correctly, it means that you will be talking a bit differently than those peers. The word “peer”, as in the expression “A jury of his peers”, denotes equality, or, in other words, another person of equal intelligence, rank, ability, value, or quality, for example. You would then be a step above them in your speech, and not necessarily their equals as far as your speech is concerned..
Now let’s begin.
CHAPTER ONE
The English language is made up of words and sentences. When speaking the language, it is accomplished by doing so in sentences, or a group of words used to convey a thought. A sentence consists of words, each of which is used to clarify or expound upon the thought being conveyed. Each word is a component of the sentence, such as the subject noun, common noun, pronoun, verb. adverb, adjective, preposition, etc.
PUT YOUR MIND AT EASE RIGHT NOW. We are not going to get into the heavy stuff, but merely outline a few rules to follow. This will be something you can do without even realizing you are referring to the above mentioned components. SO DO NOT WORRY. We will be very easy-going.
The intention of this book is to refresh your memory about several different situations in which you might find yourself when writing or speaking. The rules associated with each situation will be discussed, examples given, and hopefully you will be able to select the correct words to use in each situation without even thinking about which words to use. When you reach that plateau, you will have successfully completed this course and graduated with honors.
The lessons will consist of situations in which you will be given a choice of words to use. We will discuss each word and tell you why, or why not, that word should be used. By understanding the reason that word should be used means that you are well on your way to speaking correctly.
Pronunciation is a key factor in this course. Learning to pronounce each word correctly is paramount to speaking correctly.
Last, but not least, is spelling. If your document is full of misspelled words, what kind of impression do you think the reader will get? But don’t worry. Spelling is not as hard as you think. We will discuss spelling in one of the lessons.
LESSON ONE
(Using “Me” or “I”)
When to use “me” or “I” is determined solely by its use in the sentence.
EXAMPLES:
(1) John and “me” went to the store.
(2) John and “I” went to the store.
(3) “Me” and John went to the store.
(4) “I” and John went to the store.
In order to determine the correct word, “I” or “me”, is simply a matter of elimination. One of the three rules that apply to this sentence is who to put first, John or you. Only one of the above examples is correct.
RULE ONE: In every case, when speaking of two or more people (yourself included), the person other than yourself is always placed first, and you come last. That would eliminate examples (3) and (4), leaving only examples (1) and (2) to be considered.
RULE TWO: Since two people went to the store, the second rule is to drop (in your mind only) the second person “John”. That is all you need to remember. By dropping “John”, that leaves only one person (you) who went to the store.
RULE THREE: Now say the sentence to yourself (without John). Is the correct way example (1) or (2)? Would you say (as written), “Me went to the store”? Of course not. Even you know that would not be correct English. How about, “I went to the store”? Exactly. Even the sound of it is good, and it is the correct way to say the sentence. That eliminates example (1), leaving example (2) as the correct way, i.e. “John and I went to the store”.
By following the three rules mentioned above, you will be speaking correctly as far as “me” and “I” are concerned.
(Click on "English Guide - Part 2" below to continue.)
English Guide - Part 2
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Copyright © 2007 Robert N. Cronk. All Rights Reserved