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    Visual Grammar, No Mistakes Grammar, Volumes I, II, and III
    Visual Grammar, No Mistakes Grammar, Volumes I, II, and III
    Visual Grammar, No Mistakes Grammar, Volumes I, II, and III
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    Visual Grammar, No Mistakes Grammar, Volumes I, II, and III

    By Giacomo Giammatteo

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    About this ebook

    This book is a combination of No Mistakes Grammar volumes I, II, and III. But it’s so much more. It has some new material, but it also has about 200 pictures. That’s right—pictures.

    This is one of the world’s first, if not the first, visual grammar book. Most people learn better with pictures. With Visual Grammar, you get images that show examples of the words you’re learning. Not every word has a picture but a lot of them do.

    This book includes misused words, redundancies, absolutes, flat adverbs, eponyms, idiomatic expressions, Latin phrases, and more.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGiacomo Giammatteo
    Release dateMar 14, 2018
    ISBN9781940313634
    Visual Grammar, No Mistakes Grammar, Volumes I, II, and III
    Author

    Giacomo Giammatteo

    Giacomo Giammatteo lives in Texas, where he and his wife run an animal sanctuary and take care of 41 loving rescues. By day, he works as a headhunter in the medical device industry, and at night, he writes.

    Read more from Giacomo Giammatteo

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      Book preview

      Visual Grammar, No Mistakes Grammar, Volumes I, II, and III - Giacomo Giammatteo

      Visual Grammar

      Visual Grammar

      No Mistakes Grammar I, II, and III

      Giacomo Giammatteo

      Inferno Publishing Company

      © 2017 Giacomo Giammatteo. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

      Inferno Publishing Company

      Houston, TX

      For more information about this book visit my website.

      Edition ISBNs

      Trade Paperback ……

      E-book ……

      Cover design by Natasha Brown

      Book design by Giacomo Giammatteo

      This edition was prepared by Giacomo Giammatteo gg@giacomog.com

      Created with Vellum Created with Vellum

      Contents

      Introduction

      No Mistakes Grammar, Volume I

      1. The Beginning

      2. The Words

      No Mistakes Grammar, Volume II

      I. Idiomatic Expressions

      1. He’s Going Downhill

      2. Eat, Shit, and Die

      3. Hunger Pangs

      4. Thumbs-Up or Thumbs-Down?

      5. Shoo-in or Shoe-in

      6. An Axe to Grind

      7. First Come, First Serve

      8. Whet your appetite

      9. Toe the Line

      10. Going to Hell in a Handbasket

      1. Words

      II. Redundancies and Sayings

      11. Business Redundancies and Other Problems

      III. Miscellaneous

      12. Capitalization

      13. Compound Modifiers

      14. Wordiness

      15. How to Use Dates and Times

      16. Very

      17. Communication or Communications

      IV. Pronunciations

      18. Words Difficult to Pronounce

      19. More Mispronounced Words

      No Mistakes Grammar, Volume III

      1. Words

      2. More Common Redundancies

      3. Redundancies

      4. Absolutes

      5. Words We Don't Need

      6. Eponyms

      7. Flat Adverbs

      8. Initialisms and Acronyms

      9. Latin Abbreviations

      10. Lie, Lay, and Laid, and Lain

      11. Poisonous or Venomous?

      12. Plurals of Compound Words

      13. Time-Consuming Words

      14. Punctuation, (:!-*%;--@''–#,) and Other Things

      15. I'm Afraid of ;;;;;;

      16. Closing

      Acknowledgments

      About the Author

      Also by Giacomo Giammatteo

      Introduction

      I struggled with the best way to present this, as the work is combined from three books. At first, I thought of simply separating the book into three volumes, each one representative of the respective book, and that’s the idea I eventually settled on (sort of).

      I was going to combine all word examples and all redundancies, idiomatic expressions etc; but after giving it thought, I came to the conclusion that this way may be better. So, for better or worse, here it is.

      I hope this works for you.

      Where appropriate, I have also included a few pictures. Since this is one of the world’s first visual grammar books, I thought it would help. As we all know, pictures help in the learning process.

      No Mistakes Grammar, Volume I

      After we reach a certain age, communication becomes second nature. It's a given that people will understand what you say and, because of that, few people worry about specifics. Face it, even people with a minor command of the language typically communicate well enough to get by.

      And if getting by is your goal in life, no problem. But if you are aiming higher. If you need to pass an SAT or other test, or if you need to rely on communication skills in your job, then you will need a lot more than getting by.

      When you're speaking to someone who has a keen understanding of words, they will assume you do too. So when you misuse a word, it may have devastating consequences. When you suggest to a colleague that they take the alternate choice instead of saying choose the alternative, there is a major difference. You don't want to be blamed for that.

      So whether you're an English-as-a-second-language student who is studying for a test, or a business person who needs to brush up on word usage, find a quiet spot, put on your reading glasses if you need them, and settle in for some fun.

      The Beginning

      Misusing words when you speak gives an impression that you probably don't want to give .

      Misusing words when you write is even worse, because it's permanent. Someone might forget what you said, but if it's written, well...it's there to refer to forever. With that thought in mind, let's try to get it straight.

      Don't get me wrong. I'm not here to tell you how to write. I have a difficult enough time myself. When I send a manuscript to my editor, I get it back with more editing marks than you can imagine.

      So what is my goal? To see if I can help even one person improve their writing or speech enough for them to be happy with it. If I sell a few books in the process, my animals will be happy. (All proceeds go to the animals on my sanctuary.)

      This book is split it into three sections—one for the ordinary people, the ones who only want to see what they’re doing wrong; one for people who rely on words for business communication (and who need to get it right); and one for the maniacs—like me—who simply want to get things right for the sake of being right.

      The first section consists mostly of misused words and sayings (and a few redundancies)—the things you'd encounter in everyday life. It covers almost 200 everyday misused words (187).

      The second section covers similar points (not the same words) as the first, but also includes sections on Absolutes (words that shouldn't be modified) Business Redundancies, Capitalization, (a horrible misuse in business) Compound Modifiers, Mispronunciations, Punctuation, Sayings, and Times and Dates. it's not a complete grammar book, but it does cover a lot of territory.

      The third section covers more redundancies, more absolutes, capitals, eponyms, flat adverbs, initialisms and acronyms, Latin phrases, plurals of compound words, and more.

      Let's face it, the last thing you want anywhere—but especially in business writing—is to have the meaning of your words taken the wrong way. So whether you write cover letters, résumés, business proposals, or only emails to colleagues, get the book and learn to do it right.

      It's a sin, but if you read enough blogs, and you know what you're looking for, you’ll see hundreds—if not thousands—of mistakes every week. I have even caught grievous errors on grammar sites.

      If you're going to write about grammar, you should make all efforts to get it right. I would never think of correcting someone's grammar in public, and yet one of the few TV shows I watch features a character who does just that. I wouldn't object, except he makes grammar mistakes—obvious ones.

      My theory is that if you're going to have a character correct grammar, he better damn well be free of grammar mistakes.

      Another note:

      I thought about using definitions from dictionaries, but half of them I couldn't understand, so I made my own definitions. I hope that works out okay.

      In some cases, quotes of famous people were used. I got these from Brainy Quote, which can be found here. http://www.brainyquote.com

      Throughout the book I used 🐗 as a symbol for a tip, or a way to remember how to tell the difference between words.

      🐗 Dennis is my pet wild boar. We rescued him when he was only a few days old, and he's been with us for five years now. Of course, he's a little bigger, weighing in at about 400 lbs. When we first got him, he was twelve pounds.

      In any case, I used an image of a wild boar to draw attention to a particular section/tip. I hope it will help you remember it.

      Misused Words

      In the old days the written word was not only the preferred method of long-distance communicating, it was the only method. Marriages were arranged, business partnerships discussed, terms decided upon, and deals concluded. Heads of state negotiated treaties and settled territory disputes using words.

      Then came the telephone, and the airplane, and other forms of modern transportation and communication, and things changed. Emphasis shifted from the written word to the spoken word.

      Transportation made getting together in person much easier and less expensive and, if that wasn't possible, the telephone sufficed as a backup. The result was that the written word faded into near obsolescence, and the generation that embraced this new technology couldn't have been happier; grammar had never been more than a necessary evil anyways anyway.

      And then something strange happened. Technology advanced so rapidly that the planes and phones that had pushed writing and grammar into the background, and damn near buried them, became catalysts for bringing them back. Well at least one aspect of the technology.

      According to Mashable, there were about 145 billion emails per day being sent as of November 2012. That's billion not million. No matter how you look at it, that's a lot of email.

      Email single-handedly pushed writing back to the forefront of communication. Thanks to email, writing made a resurgence. The problem was, it didn't bring grammar with it.

      For some reason many people seem to think they don't have to write right when using email. They view it like a trip to the corner store late at night, when it's okay to go wearing a T-shirt, or with your hair in curlers, or unshaven.

      Corner store aside, it is not okay to send your emails, or any other communication, out that way. Don't do it—even if you're sending a message to friends or family; it will get you into a habit of being sloppy. And trust me, you might think it's okay. Your friends might think it's okay. Even your colleagues might say it's okay. But it's not. And it never will be.

      Draft a sales proposal that has sloppy wording and your prospect will take notice. They’ll wonder if that same sloppiness will show up in your company's products or customer service.

      Hit the send button on an email with your résumé attached, and the person evaluating it will notice a mistake—trust me. I have spoken to a lot of human resource people who told me that mistakes were one of the first things they looked at. In fact, I published a book—No Mistakes Résumés—that deals with that subject.

      I don't blame you. I understand how difficult grammar is and, even worse, how boring it is if you aren't interested in it. But it doesn't mean you shouldn't learn, or that you can't learn.

      Don't worry; I'm here to help.

      Vocabulary

      Depending upon which study you read, the average person has a vocabulary of somewhere between 8,000 and 20,000 words. The writing vocabulary would be slightly less. Let's assume for a minute that we’re talking the lower end of this—say 7,500 words. That's still a lot of words to remember, or, to mix up. But this list I'm providing you is much shorter. It's about 200 words (187), and these constitute the majority of the mixed up and misused words in every day everyday usage.

      So without further adieu ado, we’ll get started.

      Special note: Throughout all my books, I use gender-neutral pronouns instead of continually referring back to the subject as he/she. It is an accepted practice and has been for decades.

      Another note: I use strikeout to emphasize that it is not the word to use. I hope this will help things sink in.

      The Words

      A/an:

      A mistake I often see is the misuse of the indefinite articles a and an. The rules are simple, yet people often get them confused.

      A—You use a in front of a word beginning with a consonant sound, regardless of spelling. So it would be: a fox, a dog, a university (the u makes a y sound), and yes, it would be a historic event. (Historic is pronounced with an h sound.)

      An—You use an in front of words beginning with a vowel sound, again, regardless of spelling. So, it would be an elephant, an ostrich, an antelope, and an honor. (In the word honor, the h is not pronounced.) Words beginning with h and u seem to be the ones that confuse most people. (It doesn’t help that British and US pronunciations often vary.)

      A lot/alot:

      This is an easy one. Alot is not a word. It is always a lot, spelled as separate words.

      A while/awhile:

      This distinction is primarily a usage problem. When used as a noun phrase—a while—it typically follows a preposition.

      Example: I think I'll stay for a while.

      When it is used as an adverb it takes the one-word format and follows verbs, never a preposition.

      Example: If it's all right with you, I'll stay awhile.

      🐗 If the word you're looking for follows a preposition, such as after, for, in… use the two-word format, "a while. If it follows a verb, use awhile."

      Accede/exceed:

      Accede—means to agree or approve of something. It can also mean to assume an office or title.

      Note: accede is usually followed by the word to.

      screenshot of resume

      Exceed—means to excel or be greater than. (On a résumé you might see this under the accomplishments section—sales exceeded quota for region by 45%. Or, I plan to exceed the sales of my predecessor.) The screenshot to the left shows exactly that.

      🐗 Try to think of exceed as excelling. They both begin with ex.

      Accept/except: I have accepted the fact that everyone is incompetent—except me.

      accepted, all is okay

      Accept=to receive a gift, to agree, accept an invitation, accept your responsibilities, accept a package, accept something as okay.

      I accepted responsibility for doing the project; no one else was doing it right.

      except

      Except=exclusion. (In most cases, you could substitute but for except. Try it out in the examples below.)

      All the soldiers, except one, died at the Alamo.

      I would go to Italy, except I have no money.

      🐗 Try to remember accept is associated with agree, like if your spouse tells you it was your fault, and you wisely say, "Okay, I accept that."

      Agree and Accept both begin with A.

      And except means exclusion. Both begin with ex, same as exceed.

      Quote:

      "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

      Martin Luther King, Jr.

      Accidently/accidentally: This mix up is simply a spelling error. Accidently is not a word, it's simply how many people mispronounce—accidentally.

      Accommodate: This is another spelling mix up. Many people spell it with one m. The easy way to remember this is that both c and m are doubled.

      ad for beer

      Ad/add: An ad is an advertisement and to add is to increase in number, or find the sum of. Like adding a room to your house, or adding items to the grocery list.

      calculator

      Or remembering that in the old days calculators were not around for use with adding numbers.

      🐗 This one is simple to remember. The one with two d's is the one meaning increase in number—you've added a d.

      Adapt/adept/adopt: I adopted a policy of flexibility long ago, and as a result, I am adept at adapting to almost any situation. People use the words adapt and adopt all the time. Adept, not so much, but it’s still used frequently. If you do a search on Google for the differences, you’ll see about half a million other people searched for the same thing.

      adaptor

      Adapt=to change things. To learn to live with changes in life. My grandfather, who was from Italy, had to learn to adapt to the new lifestyle he adopted. it's where we get the word adaptor as in the image to the left. An adaptor is a connective device that allows something to work in a different circumstance.

      I mentioned above about the number of people who searched for the difference between these words. That’s not nearly as many as some of the words, but it’s still a lot. To give you an idea of the confusion surrounding some words, then and than shows 275 million Google searches.

      card sharp

      Adept=an expert, a skilled person. The guy with the silk suit was an adept card player. He was adept at manipulating cards. (As the image shows.) The word does not have a negative connotation. It is not always associated with card sharps. You could say he was adept at repairing watches or fixing computers. It simply means proficient.

      dog needs home

      Adopt=to choose or take on as your own. The newlyweds couldn't have children so they adopted one. The baby was adopted. The puppy needed a new home, so we adopted it.

      My wife and I have an animal sanctuary, so we have adopted many animals, including a crazy wild boar which I use as my symbol for a hint or clue

      🐗 Distinguishing these words from one another is also an easy task. Look at the middle vowels in the three words: a, e, and o.

      Adapt has an a, think of adjust.

      Adept has an e, think of expert.

      Adopt has an o, think of orphan.

      Quote:

      Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

      Stephen Hawking

      Adverse/averse: I am averse to adverse reactions.

      you may have adverse reactions to drugs

      Aside from the pharmaceutical company ads where they mention over and over and over again the adverse effects you might experience from taking their drugs, not a whole lot of people use these words. And that is why it is even more important that you get them right. If there's anything worse than using two-dollar words when they're not needed, it's using two-dollar words the wrong way. It makes it appear as if you were specifically trying to use two-dollar words and failed.

      Adverse is an adjective meaning unfavorable, like the example of adverse reactions to drugs. Or perhaps you went hiking and a storm moved in, presenting you with adverse conditions, as in, the storm presented us with adverse conditions while climbing Mt. Shasta.

      willing to roll up his sleeves

      Averse means opposed to/against. On a résumé you might see someone say they are not averse to rolling up their sleeves, or not averse to doing hands-on work.

      🐗 Try to remember an adverse reaction to drugs, and that both drugs and adverse contain the letter d.

      And in almost every case, averse is followed by the word to. I can't think of a case where adverse would be followed by to. Also, think of averse as having a similar meaning as against, as in, I'm not against rolling up my sleeves.

      Quote:

      I'm not averse to helping Wall Street when it helps Main Street.

      Ben Nelson

      Advice/advise: I advise you to take my advice. The headhunter advised Jane to take the job offer, but she ignored his advice and stayed where she was. She regretted it.

      Advice is a noun, and normally reflects someone's opinion or suggestion. Advice is something you give (or take).

      Advise is a verb, and represents the giving of advice. You might find the following on

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