Grammar thought of the Day

What the Heck Are Progressive and Emphatic Verbs?

Today I took a grammar test and became completely confused on this section of Grammar. So I decided to explain it to you. How can a person who bombed something explain it? I don't know either. If my explanation is incorrect, please take the time to tell me. The rest of you, bear with me.
Progressive verbs
Progressive verbs means that the verb phrase shows that the action is still progressing. They are studying at the library. This means they have been studying, that they are currently studying, and that the will probably be studying for a while longer. (workaholics)
Emphatic verbs
Verbs are the most interesting of all the words. They do things. Left alone, the President, the skateboard, and the girl would sit there and do nothing. (and that sentence had an emphatic verb group)
An emphatic verb emphasizes the verb even more so in the sentence. And that is done by adding the word 'do', 'does', or 'did.' In this sentence: But Marissa did go to Grandma's house; the sentence stresses that Marissa went, and it wasn't about who went to Grandma's house, or where Marissa was going.
Hopefully this is an adequate explanation for the Grammar. This is more in depth than what my book said, and I was tested on it. Grrr, I hate that book. And yes, this is a shameless way of studying. Well, at least I understand it a bit better now.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

I don't understand grammar. The workbooks which I am supposed to be working through are drudgery; they are filled with busy work and confusing rules. My writing sounds fine the way it is, thank you very much! Except, I have yet to master the language. Semi-colons are a mystery and my knowledge on where to insert an apostrophe is sketchy. And those grammar text-books are not working. Perhaps, just maybe, I can get by as a writer and college student just by using spell-check and what sounds right to my ear. If someone could make grammar alive and interesting, not just a pesky test to pass through on the way to good writing, I might learn it.
My wish was partially answered yesterday when I picked up and read Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. I never knew punctuation was so much fun. For example, the author writes, "I apologize if you know all this [proper punctuation], but the point is many, many people do not. Why else would they open a large play area for children, hang up a sign which says 'Giant Kid's Playground', and then wonder why everyone stays away from it? (Answer: everyone is scared of the Giant Kid)."
Yes, it's British humor. She not only approaches grammar with humor, but with a bit of history and Shakespeare; yes, Shakespeare. Lynne Truss examines several moments of Shakespeare’s plays as examples; scenes which I know and love. I was delighted. I never knew the Bard referred to grammar and punctuation in his plays.
Learning about the history and evolution of punctuation gave me an appreciation for it. Because I learned so much more than the usual high-school grammar course, the book easily solidified the basic concepts in my head. Grammar may still be a struggle—hey, if you see mistakes in this post, my defense is I am still learning—but thanks to books like Eats, Shoots and Leaves, grammar is made worthy of learning.