English Grammar Boot Camp

Overview

Improve your grammar competence and confidence by learning the essential elements of English grammar and usage, led by an award-winning linguist. Understanding grammar is crucial for effective communication, whether in writing or speaking. This course will help you navigate the complexities of English grammar, enhancing your ability to express yourself clearly and accurately.

In this comprehensive course, you will explore various aspects of grammar, from the basics to more advanced concepts, through engaging lectures that provide practical insights and examples.

Course Content

01: Why Do We Care about Grammar?

Examine how we judge what is acceptable in English and the underlying assumptions that can cause miscommunication. (33 min)

02: Prescriptivism: Grammar Shoulds and Shouldn’ts

Investigate prescriptive grammar rules and the historical context of specific grammatical guidelines. (31 min)

03: Descriptivism: How Grammar Really Works

Dive into descriptive grammar and understand the actual usage of language, comparing it with prescriptive rules. (32 min)

04: Re Phrasing

Learn how to categorize words into parts of speech and the fascinating ways in which words can expand into new categories. (29 min)

05: Fewer Octopuses or Less Octopi?

Explore countable and uncountable nouns, modifiers, and the intricacies of irregular plurals in English. (31 min)

06: Between You and Your Pronouns

Delve into personal, interrogative, and indefinite pronouns, and the complexities of their usage. (33 min)

07: Which Hunting

Understand the rules governing the use of “that” vs. “which” and the nuances of relative pronouns. (29 min)

08: A(n) Historical Issue

Examine determiners and their functions in English, along with the history of capitalization practices. (30 min)

09: Funnest Lecture Ever

Study adjectives and their forms, including comparatives and superlatives, and the nuances of adjective placement. (30 min)

10: Going, Going, Went

Clarify the differences between past tense and past participle, and explore common usage errors. (32 min)

11: Object Lessons

Categorize verbs based on their function and tackle thorny usage issues like “bad” vs. “badly.” (29 min)

12: Shall We?

Explore auxiliary verbs and the ongoing controversy surrounding their usage, including “can” vs. “may.” (35 min)

13: Passive Voice Was Corrected

Learn about the passive voice, its definition, and its benefits in various contexts. (32 min)

14: Only Adverbs

Discover the rich world of adverbs and their various functions in modifying different parts of speech. (33 min)

15: No Ifs, Ands, or Buts

Examine conjunctions and their roles in sentences, including the controversy of starting sentences with conjunctions. (33 min)

16: However to Use However

Identify the range of conjunctive adverbs and their significance in formal writing. (27 min)

17: Squirrels and Prepositions

Explore the role of prepositions in showing relationships and the nuances of their usage. (31 min)

18: Stranded Prepositions

Discuss the debate around ending sentences with prepositions and the historical context of this usage. (27 min)

19: The Dangers of Danglers

Investigate dangling modifiers and their implications for clarity in both spoken and written expression. (31 min)

20: Navigating the Choppy Paragraph

Learn how to enhance the flow of your writing through key syntactic choices. (32 min)

21: What Part of Speech is Um?

Examine the distinction between involved and informational discourse and the role of discourse markers. (34 min)

22: Duck, Duck, Comma, and Duck

Review punctuation marks and their functions in structuring sentences and clarifying meaning. (33 min)

23: Its/It’s Confusing

Explore the usage of apostrophes in contractions and possessives, along with common pitfalls. (31 min)

24: Trending Language

Discuss new grammatical expressions and the controversies they spark within the linguistic community. (34 min)