๐Ÿ“œ1. Prequel ยท The charactersEveryone Arrives at OnceMeet Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria at the doors of the Great Library, where four people name one year four different ways.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ’ฌ2. Prequel ยท What is a word?Four Things Called WordSpoken, written, thought and classified: one word turns out to mean four different things, and grammar cares about only one of them.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿท๏ธ3. Prequel ยท Parts of speechWhat Words DoNoun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection: the eight jobs a word can hold.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ”ฅ4. Prequel ยท BeingBeing Is Said in Many WaysEvery form of โ€œto beโ€, taken apart at the foot of the burning bush, and Aristotleโ€™s ten Categories: the many ways of saying that something โ€œisโ€.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ5. Prequel ยท The verb to beThe Verb That Names ItselfIdentity, description, place, helper and plain existence: the five jobs of โ€œto beโ€, opened by Philoโ€™s question about a burning bush.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ”—6. Grammar ยท Linking verbsA Verb That Doesnโ€™t VerbBe, seem, become and their relatives: verbs that describe or rename instead of acting, and why the soup smells delicious, not deliciously.Read โ†’ โณ7. Grammar ยท Present tensesThe Instant and the Standing RulePresent simple and present continuous: a photograph of this instant, or a law that holds every day.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ“š8. Grammar ยท Past tensesAn Incident with a ShelfPast simple, past continuous and used to: what happened, what was happening, and what used to happen every week.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿชข9. Grammar ยท Perfect tensesTwo Points JoinedPresent perfect and past perfect: a rope, not a dot, tying one action to a second point in time.Read โ†’ ๐ŸŽฒ10. Grammar ยท The futureA WagerSix ways English talks about what hasnโ€™t happened yet, and why Marcos was always going to lose.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ–‹๏ธ11. Grammar ยท Modal verbsHow Sure, How Allowed, How ObligedAn ink-stained mystery: must, might, may, can, have to, should and their friends, for certainty, permission, ability and obligation.Read โ†’
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The Rest of the Year

The story continues from strip 12 to strip 39: grammar, then writing, then a speech before the Council. Premium strips need a password.

๐Ÿท๏ธ12. Grammar ยท NounsA Name for EverythingCommon and proper, concrete and abstract, countable and uncountable โ€” nouns sorted out through a shipment of cassia.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ‘ค13. Grammar ยท PronounsIn Her PlaceNow that everyone knows who Cassia is, the library stops repeating her name โ€” personal, possessive, reflexive, reciprocal, demonstrative, relative, and indefinite pronouns.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ“ฆ14. Grammar ยท AdjectivesA Beautiful Small Old Round Black BoxAttributive and predicative position, adjective order, comparatives and superlatives, gradable and absolute adjectives, participial adjectives, and compound adjectives โ€” all catalogued from one uncatalogued box.Read โ†’ ๐ŸŽš๏ธ15. Grammar ยท AdverbsCarefully, Rarely, Almost NeverManner, position, time and frequency and place, degree, flat adverbs, comparatives, and sentence adverbs โ€” all wound up in one old mechanism.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿงต16. Grammar ยท ConjunctionsJoining the PiecesCoordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and the comma and semicolon rules that hold them together โ€” all pieced from one torn letter.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿงญ17. Grammar ยท PrepositionsThe Space Between ThingsPrepositions of place, movement, and time, dependent prepositions, sentence-final prepositions, and the preposition/particle distinction โ€” all mapped from one set of hidden directions.Read โ†’ ๐ŸŽˆ18. Grammar ยท Phrasal verbsUp, Off, and AwaySeparable and inseparable phrasal verbs, three-word phrasal-prepositional verbs, shifting literal and idiomatic meanings, particle semantics, and the register gap between a phrasal verb and its Latinate twin โ€” soot and all.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ”“19. Grammar ยท ConditionalsIf We Open ItZero, first, second, third, and mixed conditionals, the comma that marks an if-clause, conditional linkers beyond "if," and the formal inversions that drop it altogether โ€” argued over one locked chest.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ“”20. Grammar ยท Reported speechOnce RemovedDirect and reported speech, backshifted tenses, reporting verbs beyond "said," shifting pronouns and time words, reported questions and commands, and the one case where the tense doesn't have to move at all โ€” read from a diary two thousand years old.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿšถ21. Grammar ยท Gerunds and infinitivesTo Go, or GoingGerunds and infinitives as verbal nouns, verbs that choose one over the other, the few that take both with different meanings, gerunds after prepositions, the infinitive of purpose, and the bare infinitive after "let," "make," and "help" โ€” argued out over what to do with a diary two thousand years old.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿชœ22. Grammar ยท Participle phrasesDangling by a ParticipleParticipial phrases as reduced relative clauses, introductory participles, the classic dangling participle, past and perfect participle phrases, the absolute construction, and how a participial phrase differs from the participial adjective already covered โ€” crossed on one narrow scaffold plank.Read โ†’ โ“23. Grammar ยท QuestionsA Question of OrderYes/no questions and the auxiliary inversion, wh-questions with and without do-support, what each question word asks, tag questions, embedded questions that fall back into statement order, and the negative question that isn't really asking โ€” all put to the group under interrogation.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ˜ฒ24. Grammar ยท InversionNever Had She ExpectedNegative adverbial inversion, "only" fronting, so/such inversion for emphasis, full locative inversion after a place adverbial, and the family resemblance to the conditional inversion already covered โ€” delivered as the evening's verdict finally arrives.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ•ต๏ธ25. Grammar ยท The passiveNobody Broke ItActive and passive voice, dropping the agent, why official language reaches for the passive, passive with modals, the same shape across every tense, the get-passive, and which verbs can make the swap at all โ€” recorded for the official ledger.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ—ƒ๏ธ26. Grammar ยท Articles and determinersA Box, The Box, No Box At AllWhere determiners sit in the adjective order, the indefinite article and the a/an sound rule, the definite article, the zero article, possessive and demonstrative determiners set against the pronouns they resemble, and quantifiers like much/many and few/little โ€” written into the library's official catalog at last.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿค27. Grammar ยท AgreementNone of Them AgreeSubject-verb agreement across intervening phrases, collective nouns, indefinite pronouns like "everybody" and "none," compound subjects joined by and/or/nor, and the "there is/there are" placeholder โ€” caught while proofreading the library's own report.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿงฑ28. Grammar ยท Sentence typesOne Idea, or SeveralIndependent and dependent clauses, simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences, sentence fragments, and run-ons and comma splices โ€” rebuilt one choppy paragraph at a time.Read โ†’ โœ‚๏ธ29. Grammar ยท Relative clausesWhich Is Essential, and Which Isn'tRestrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses, the removability test, "that" versus "which," when the relative pronoun can be dropped, relative adverbs like "where" and "when," and "whose" for things as well as people โ€” deployed to keep from saying one name fourteen times.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ’ญ30. Grammar ยท Noun clausesWhat Happened Is the SubjectNoun clauses as subject, object, and complement, "that"-clauses distinguished from reported speech, embedded questions reframed as noun clauses, and "whether" clauses of uncertainty โ€” the third and final clause type, completing what relative and subordinate clauses began.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ“„31. Writing ยท The paragraphOne Idea, Properly EscortedTopic sentences, unity, coherence, transitions, and knowing when one paragraph has finished its work and the next one ought to begin โ€” the ledger entry rebuilt as a paragraph, and a whole year's writing assignments handed out.Read โ†’ ๐ŸŽฌ32. Writing ยท The narrativeWhat Happened, In the Order It HappenedNarrative structure โ€” orientation, complication, climax, and resolution โ€” narrative tenses working together, showing instead of telling, and choosing a point of view.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ“ฐ33. Writing ยท The articleA Reason to Keep ReadingThe article: an engaging opening hook, addressing the reader directly, a register that informs and entertains at once, headings that guide without lecturing, and a closing opinion that invites reply โ€” written for the scholars' circular.Read โ†’ โญ34. Writing ยท The reviewWorth FindingThe review โ€” description before judgment, a balanced verdict instead of a one-sided one, evaluative language, a personal voice, and a clear recommendation for a stated reader.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ“‹35. Writing ยท The reportFor the Record, In FullThe report โ€” a stated purpose, clear headings, an impersonal and formal register, information grouped by topic rather than by the order it happened, and a closing section of recommendations โ€” written by the clerk, at last.Read โ†’ โš–๏ธ36. Writing ยท The essayTwo Sides, Weighed on PurposeThe discursive essay โ€” a clear thesis stated early, one argument per paragraph, linking words that carry the reasoning forward, a counterargument met honestly instead of ignored, and a conclusion that finally takes a side.Read โ†’ ๐Ÿ“37. Writing ยท The proposalA Plan, Not Yet a FactThe proposal โ€” a clearly stated aim, a brief account of the current situation, suggested improvements under their own headings, persuasive language built on modal verbs, and a conclusion asking directly for approval โ€” written by Demetria to settle what the essay only argued about.Read โ†’ โœ‰๏ธ38. Writing ยท Letters and emailsThe Same News, Twice OverLetters and emails, formal and informal โ€” matching salutations to closings, a register that shifts entirely with the reader, and the same true content dressed two different ways.Read โ†’ ๐ŸŽค39. Speaking ยท OratorySaid Aloud, and MeantOratory โ€” winning a room before making an argument, the rule of three, repetition for emphasis, rhetorical questions asked aloud, spoken signposting, and a close built to be remembered rather than reread โ€” delivered to the Council itself.Read โ†’