If you're having problems with parallel constructions, if your subjects and verbs are never in agreement and if you have no idea what I'm talking about, it might be time to check out some new ebooks put out by Aim Publishing in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.

Mary Ng, Owner of Aim and Author of Focus on Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement and Focus on Grammar: Parallel Constructions, simply loves grammar. When a sentence contains mistakes, "the meaning is a lot less clear," she said. "That's why it's important. Grammar helps you write more clearly so people can read through it without missing the meaning."

Ng was inspired to write the first book in the Focus on Grammar series, Basic Grammar Step by Step, after reading a news article that reported that students were having trouble writing because they were no longer being taught grammar. "Today the problem has gotten worse," she said, citing the example of an English professor at Simon Fraser University in B.C. who had to teach his students basic grammar. She said she has seen this problem firsthand when her son went to high school and received a grammar handout with no real explanation from his teacher about how to use grammar or why it was important.

"Employers are also complaining that graduates lack writing skills and communication skills," Ng added. "I think (grammar is) very important, especially for postsecondary students, because they have to learn how to write properly before they go off to the real world ... Any job you're in will require some form of writing."

Through her books, Ng said, "I want to help students not only learn grammar, but master grammar." Each book in the series focuses on a particular topic. "The coverage is quite in-depth," she said. She said she is especially proud that each book contains real examples of incorrect grammar in works published in newspapers, books and magazines and on the Internet. "I've collected over 1,000 examples of wrong sentences over the years. This book came from the examples. I didn't write the book with an outline; I wrote the book from the bottom up. I got all these different types of errors and then I had to categorize them." Some of the real-world examples are used as practice questions to teach students how to spot an error and how to correct it.

Ng said she is planning to write a few more books for the Focus on Grammar series, and she is currently collecting examples of misused modifiers, pronouns, possessives and commas.

Focus on Grammar: Subject- Verb Agreement and Focus on Grammar: Parallel Constructions are available in EPUB format and can be read on e-readers, smartphones and tablets. They are available at the Aim Publishing website (aimpublishing.com) for $4.95 each.