It's a text book, so prices are inflated. Look for one edition back and you should be fine. Language changes, but not that fast. Otherwise, maybe a US seller will ship international for you. I don't diagram very often, but when I do it's extremely helpful. In that other thread, I'd likely not have picked up on the possible adverbial connotations had I not diagrammed things. Grammar is like a second language, but it's an easy one to pick up. Like I said, you already know most of it, you just don't know the names of things.
Be careful of U.S. books on English, they will understandably tend to focus on American English rather than British English. It's useful to have a perspective on both, but in gaining an understanding of how we use language in the U.K. it might not be the best place to start. I can heartily recommend 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' by Lynne Truss, even if just for the fun of it. I have a number of grammar and writing help books that I've never gotten around to reading. I'd recommend them only if I'd actually read them and found them useful. I think the reason I've not read them is that I'd far prefer to have some kind of exercise-based learning rather than dry words in a whole volume read parrot fashion.
Wouldn't I just have to swap some z's for s's, and o's for ou's? I think our culture is so inundated with America's affectations (trying some new words there) that it wouldn't matter which form of English I used; people would probably just get confused if I used British English, anyway. I think I'll stick to asking my questions on here as they arise. I'm like you in that I prefer to learn things for myself in practice, rather than reading how I would deal with something should it happen. I wish I had put more focus on writing from a younger age, because I'm really enjoying all that I'm learning here on the forum, and in practice through my writing; it's a shame that I have been too distracted to take my passion for words and stories seriously.
But in Britain, as I understand it, if you use "trunk" for "boot" they send you to "gaol" instead of "jail." N'est-ce pas?
But the grammatical constructions are still the same. The English just don't know what words to use (Because they are too close to France, I suspect.) Boots are for feet, trunks are for storing things. A carpenter rounds a corner to prevent injury, people walk around corners to get places. For a people who invented the language, they sure don't know how to speak it
Is "gaol" a typo? Or am I missing something? I think it's because with our accent, we sound silly calling a car's "boot" a "trunk". What you're referring to as the true trunk is what I'd call a chest, because I can't bring myself to say the word trunk out loud - it makes me squeamish. It's the same with "butter"; if I pronounce the t's clearly then I feel like I'm being pompous - trying to act all posh-like - but if I drop the t's all together and say "bu'er", then I sound equally ridiculous. If you're American your accent lends you the chance to pronounce the t's in "butter" like d's, "budder". I actually think our accent is the cause of a lot of our woes; we sound so clumsy and awkward when speaking... well I feel like I do, anyway! If I had an American accent then I'm sure I'd be impervious to my self-deprecation, and I'd be able to speak like a normal human being when using my mouth-hole - or maybe this has nothing to do with how we use our language, and I'm just being dramatic.
We use 'jail' not 'gaol' now. That changed quite a while ago I believe. British English is rife with words and sounds used multiple times for different meanings. While I understand it can be a pig to learn for those for whom it isn't a first language, those very aspects are what give us our comedic wordplays, and we wouldn't have Shakespeare, or The Two Ronnies various classic wordplay sketches without them: Fork Handles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz2-ukrd2VQ Mastermind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0C59pI_ypQ
Nope. What I find surprising is that it is pronounced much like "jail", i.e. the 'g' is a soft 'g'. To be honest, I thought it originated in Sweden; the first place I encountered it was in Stieg Larsson's novels.
@ Ian: we still usually spell it "gaol" in literary writing, not "jail". "Jail" is more for journalists (in more than one way, if they work for News of the World).
I can't say I remember seeing 'gaol' used in any books I've read that were written in the last one hundred years or so. 'Jail' I've seen aplenty, but admittedly they are of the more popular fiction variety than literary.
Some further thoughts... from a British perspective: > Prison, not gaol nor jail. > Boots may well be for feet, but trunks are for trees. > Watch the Two Ronnies whenever you get the chance. Brilliant.
