INTRODUCTION
Igrew up in rural Missouri. My father was a cop. My mother was an Avon lady. They raised five kids to be clean, be quiet, and be good (with mixed results for “quiet” and “good”). Education was mostly left to the  schools. There were no tutors, no college prep, no books on how to help children succeed at life. It worked out for me somehow: I became a constant reader, and with the help of libraries, I added to my learning.
But nobody emphasized for me that writing and speaking well were important until I was in my twenties. In grade school and high school—where I felt I excelled at composition and literature analysis—everything  seemed fine. It was about overall literacy, the broad strokes of language. I listened, I did the work, and I passed the tests.
But in college, that wasn’t enough. Others noticed I used too many commas. Professors left embarrassing remarks about my writing on my essays. The student newspaper editors cut my wordiness to tight  journalistic paragraphs that I couldn’t seem to come up with on my own.
Clearly, there was a higher level of attention I could pay to my writing and speaking. So, I set out to fix my language.
There was so much I didn’t know.
It turned out to be so interesting I dived in deep and eventually became a lexicographer— someone who compiles and edits dictionaries—especially dictionaries for people learning English through classwork rather than by being born into it.
Later, I became the co-host of a public radio show about words and language now heard by more than 500,000 people a week around the world. Now, I give speeches, I talk to the press about language (especially  about new words and slang), and, as you can see, I write books about it. I want others to see what I see: with a little bit of help, anyone can improve their communication. 
Since you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you or someone you know needs help with their language. To help as many people as possible, I’ve written this book to be useful for a wide range of readers,  writers, and learners: junior high, high school, and college students; graduate students who speak English as a second (or even third) language; or business professionals and community leaders who need a  refresher on grammar points they last thought about decades ago.
This book does not cover all of English grammar. Instead, it contains frequently asked questions I’ve encountered from writers, speechmakers, and language learners of all ages and kinds.It also includes facts that  were eye-openers for me when I first started on my journey of communicating better. I hope this book will be your trusted companion as you express all that you have to say.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
First, browse the book to familiarize yourself with its contents. Then, when questions come up, use the table of contents to find answers. Each entry has an index number. Related subjects appear near each other  or are mentioned in a cross-reference like this: see section 8.0, Nouns.
I know many readers like to dip and skim for pleasure, so I’ve written this book so you can open to any page, read for a few minutes, and go away with a little nugget of information. Of course, you can read the  whole thing straight through, too, if that’s your style. I don’t judge.
To make everything easier to understand, I’ve included example sentences, lists and charts, and a glossary explaining some of the specialized language of grammar and linguistics.