Shertzer breaks down the eight traditional parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections) with a focus on function rather than memorization. Notably, she highlights common confusion points, such as the difference between lie and lay, or who versus whom.
A common search query is whether you need both books. The answer is yes, and here is why: the elements of grammar margaret shertzer pdf
| Feature | Strunk & White (Style) | Shertzer (Grammar) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Focus | Composition, brevity, word choice | Sentence mechanics, rules, correctness | | Famous Rule | "Omit needless words." | "A pronoun must agree with its antecedent." | | Best For | Making writing elegant and direct | Making writing correct and unambiguous | | Thickness | Slender (85 pages) | Slightly thicker (150+ pages) | Shertzer breaks down the eight traditional parts of
Think of it this way: Strunk & White teaches you how to build a beautiful house. Shertzer teaches you how to ensure the electrical wiring and plumbing work. You need both to be a master writer. This is the heart of the book
This is the heart of the book. The PDF version allows for easy searching of complex topics like:
While seemingly mundane, Shertzer’s chapters on capitalization bridge the gap between proper nouns and stylistic choices. For the modern reader, the sections on writing numbers (when to spell them out vs. when to use numerals) provide a standard that is still adhered to in academic and journalistic style guides like APA and MLA.
A surprising number of professional writers struggle with when to capitalize "president" or "the internet." Shertzer provides a clear hierarchy of rules, moving from proper nouns to titles to historical periods.