Geoff Pullum’s new book, The Truth About English Grammar, is a stylish and witty introduction to English grammar as it ought to be understood. Regular English verbs have four forms—walk, walks, walking, walked. And be, all alone among English verbs, has eight—be; am, is, are, was, were; being; been. Pullum is a named co-author, with Rodney Huddleston, of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, published in 2002. Though grammar properly refers solely to how a language makes sentences, Pullum adds chapters on mythical grammar errors, spelling and punctuation, and style.
