Once taught relentlessly to all students in the English-speaking world, grammar has disappeared from most school curricula. Crystal shows that explaining the nuts and bolts of grammar presents a special challenge, because the subject is burdened with a centuries-old history of educational practice that many will recall as anything but glamorous. He points out how essential grammar is to clear and effective speech and writing, while offering the fascinating history of grammar from ancient Greece, to emailing and texting. In this book, David Crystal confronts the foe of many : grammar. Once taught relentlessly to all students in the English-speaking world, grammar disappeared from most school curricula, so terms such as "preposition" and "conjunction" now often confound children and adults alike. In this breezy, entertaining book, Crystal proves that grammar needn't make us uneasy--we can all make sense of how we make sense. -- Provided by publisher.

First steps in grammar -- Interlude : the first grammarians -- Second steps : the big picture -- Second steps : the small picture -- Third steps : combining big and small -- Inside the words -- Interlude : the first English grammarian -- Talking about mouses -- Interlude : learn by heart -- What sentences do -- Interlude : the first modern English grammarian -- Sentence building -- Interlude : grammatically precocious -- Story time -- Connecting -- Interlude : did the teddy bear chase the elephant? -- Talking about grammar -- Interlude : Victorian playfulness -- Up with wihch we will not put -- Interlude : a shocking faux pas -- Clarity and weight -- Interlude : redistributing weight -- Clarity and order -- Grammar and meaning -- Interlude : real and unreal ambiguity -- Grammar and effect -- Structure and use together -- Interlude : define dog -- A sense of style -- Grammar on the job -- Explanations -- Grammatical change, now -- Interlude : pluralsy -- Grammatical change, then -- Interlude : thou vs you -- Into living memory (almost) -- Going transatlantic -- Interlude : another pretty little Americanism -- Going global -- Interlude : a good good example -- Grammar online -- Back from the grave -- Why the delay? -- Interlude : do as I say, government level -- A top ten for the future.