This lively textbook on grammar helps writers of all abilities understand how the English language functions in contemporary life. It begins with a close examination of sentence patterns, word classes, and syntactical transformations, laying a structural base for understanding usage. Examples from a variety of published writers further your understanding of writing well from a rhetorical and stylistic perspective. Whether you're a beginning student, an advanced grammarian, or someone who wants to know more about how language works and how to use it, this textbook gives you what you need. Learn how to • manipulate, join, and transform patterns that undergird sentences; • write sentence patterns, transformations, and figures to establish habits of strong and varied sentence building; • compare kinds of grammatical and rhetorical structures and their effects on readers; and • analyze sentences and chunks of text for grammatical underpinnings and rhetorical effect. Become a better writer by understanding grammar, usage, and punctuation with the explanations, examples, and exercises in Grammar for Writers.