Can anyone here suggest a grammar forum? I am trying to brush up on my grammar, and I need to post sentences often to discuss structure. For that reason, I do not wish to post on this forum.

I did a search and found too many of them. I need some suggestions to narrow it down. I am not talking about a writing style forum, just a boring grammar forum.

Thanks
Azel

There isn’t a grammar forum on here, I'm afraid. Do you have any books on the subject? English Grammar for Dummies was recommended to me by EmmaD and it’s very good. Also, while not a grammar book as such, The Oxford Manual of Style is indispensable for settling things like the difference between ‘effect’ and ‘affect’, when to use ‘whom’, and so on.

There’s another one which is generally referred to as Strunk & White, but it’s not to hand and I can’t remember the exact title. I'm sure someone will tell you, and you’ll get lots more suggestions when the rest of the UK wakes up

Dee

Strunk and White is American, and there are differences, so I'd be wary if you're writing in English English. Another excellent book is Rediscovering Grammar by David Crystal.

Grammar does matter, but to judge by your posts, Azel, I don't think it's as much of a problem for you as you think. If you're writing a novel and plan to submit it to agents and editors, you could get it professionally copy-edited before you do, which should pick up anything problems. Whatever you're writing then joining a group here and asking particularly for comments to do with grammar and syntax might be helpful too.

Emma

I did a search and found too many of them

Sorry Azel - you've lost me - too many of what?

I agree with Emma that you seem to be worrying more than you need to. Judging from your posts your grammar is quite acceptable for most purposes (and as she says, if you're worried about it you can get it fine-tuned later by a pro).

Deb

Thanks every one for your help and suggestions.

I own both English Grammar for Dummies and Strunk & White. I am studying both.

I seem to remember someone saying it was not the copy-editors job to cleanup an authors grammar (At least, not the major portion of it.), so that is why I am going over my copy carefully to catch most of the mistakes.

So far, I think it has helped make better reading material. When I check my work sentence by sentence, I tend to find things wrong that are not related to grammar. I find myself deleting an unneeded word or changing it to something that works better. My only fear is that I am changing how my main character expresses herself when I do this sort of word-by-word cleanup. I don’t know where the line is between cleaning up grammar and creating a wooden character that thinks and talks unnaturally.

Azel

creating a wooden character that thinks and talks unnaturally.

I would strongly suggest, Azel, that you join a forum and post a section for review, specifically asking people to check this aspect of your work. It is very unlikely you will get the answer from a book since dialogue is rarely gramatically correct.

Just to echo what Emma said, Rediscover Grammar is an excellent book.

Nik.

[Just to echo what Emma said, Rediscover Grammar is an excellent book.]

I ordered it from Amazon.com.

thanks
Azel

Azel, you should not be forcing your characters' speech into strict grammatical rules. You need to write it in a naturalistic way, so it sounds like the way people really talk (but isn't exactly, because fictional speech usually needs to be less meandery than it's real-life cousin).

I mean this in a kind way, so please don't take offence, but I do think you're obsessing about this, since your grammar seems fine for most purposes. By all means look something up or ask in here if you have a specific gap in your knowledge which you want to fill - that's a great way to learn. And by all means read the grammar book to improve your overall understanding. But don't obsess and think your every sentences is wrong unless you go through it with your grammar book in hand. Some people's writing is that bad, but yours certainly isn't from what I've seen.

Deb

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BTW, checking your work through very carefully is, as you suggest Azel, a good idea for reasons other than grammar. There is much you can pick up if you read your own work carefully, and well worth doing.