I am going to ask you to do something in all due seriousness. If you think that you are truly versed in grammar and composition, then you should be able to diagram most sentences.
Can you tell me what each and every word means in this sentence?:
"The restaurant that we like best serves excellent seafood."
It's called diagramming, and it's not a joke as many would have you think. Watch this example:
"He is the teacher from whom my brother takes guitar lessons."
He = pronoun and subject of the sentence.
is = Present Tense linking verb
the = article acting as an adjective that answers the question, "Which teacher?"
teacher = noun, predicate nominative identifying the subject of the sentence as its antecedent. He = teacher
from = preposition that is part of the subordinate clause and it is modifying the verb "takes" in the subordinate clause; it's object is the objective case pronoun "whom"; "teacher" is the antecedent of the pronoun "whom."
whom my brother takes guitar lessons = adjective subordinate (dependent) clause that modifies "teacher"; it answers the question, "Which teacher is teaching my brother guitar?"
my = possessive pronoun pointing out the writer's brother
brother = the subject of the subordinate clause
takes = transitive verb
guitar = noun acting as an adjective to modify lesson; it answers the question, "What kind of lessons?"
lessons = noun, object of the the verb
The same sentence written another way, so to understand its construction:
"He is the teacher my brother takes from whom guitar lessons."
Can you do this sort of thing? Are you that good? This was a simple one. They get a lot more complicated. Can you diagram a compound-complex like this?
"Since it was not a harbor, Vancouver had been deceived, and Deception Pass became its name."
I learned all this over a period of years, taking my time studying independently on my own.
My source has been the completion of the Second and Third course in a series put out by Warriner's English Grammar and Composition. It goes from the seventh grade (First Course) up to senior high school (Complete Course), for a total of six books. However, there are different versions/editions, which can be confusing. The ninth grade one, Third Course, that I have is also named the Liberty Edition, which makes it a big, fat book packed with extras. Anyway, Google it; Check them out on Amazon.
For the rest there is no end:
Style manuals: Chicago Manual of Style; 6th Edition Turabian A Manual for Writers of Term Papers; AAA Style Guide; AP Style Guide 2005; APA 6th Manual; Gregg Reference Manual; MLA; The Blue Book; and several more.
Usage Manuals (I have shortened names here): Garner's; Cambridge Usage; American Heritage Dictionary of Usage; and a few more.
Dictionaries: You should reference at least several; also there are many specialized dictionaries out there for all kinds of industry. Webster's is the mother of all. But I go for American Heritage and Random House.
Get a copy of "The Synonym Finder" by J.I. Rodale--it's got over a million words in it.
That about covers it.
If you want to know more about things like linguistics, etymology, language per se, and more; good luck--it's out there, visit your local library under: 400 Language; 410 Linguistics; 420 English & Old English languages; etc. Also, an endless amount of reference books and online publications and sources in regards to just about any subject that you are willing to venture with sweat, blood, and tears.
Finally, if you want to waste your time with college English 101 and 102 the way the are today go ahead. You'll learn a lot more on your own.