Expert: Dan Smith - 2/2/2005

Question
Mr. Smith, I will be taking the Foreign Service Exam in April. I am looking for a concise and fairly simple manual on english grammar and organization. Preferably, I would like something readable, but not too lengthy. Do you know of any particular texts that may fit this purpose?
Thank you for your time.
Joe Hogue

Answer
The classic for nearly a century now is Strunk & Whilte, The Elements of Style. It is short, readable, and thorough. It is also inexpensive at about $8.00.

For answers to specific questions of modern usage, the best and most entertaining book I have found is Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. It's about $35.00, but worth every penny.

This entry regading "Between you and I" is a good example from Garner's book:

"Some people learn a thing or two about pronoun cases, but little more. They learn, for example that it is incorrect to asay 'It is me' of 'Me and Jane are going to school now.' But this knowledge puts them on tenterhoods: through the logical fallacy known as 'hasty generalization,' they come to fear that something is amiss with the word 'me'--that perhaps it's safer to stick with 'I.' They therefore start using 'I' even when the objective case is called for: 'She had bthe biggest surprise for Blair and I [read 'me'].  'Please won't you keep this between you and I [read 'me'].  These are gross linguistic gaffes, but it is perennially surprising how many otherwise educated speakers commit them."

That's one of my favorite linguistic peeves, but also a good example of Garner's writing. Both of these will serve you well over your entire career.

Enjoy.