A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language [Hardcover]

Randolph Quirk (Author), Sidney Greenbaum (Author), Geoffrey Leech (Author), Jan Svartvik (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0582517346 | ISBN-13: 978-0582517349 | Publication Date: May 1985 | Edition: 2nd Revised edition

An indispensable store of information on the English language, written by some of the best-known grammarians in the world.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1779 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 2nd Revised edition edition (May 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582517346
• ISBN-13: 978-0582517349
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.2 x 3.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #409,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

158 of 163 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Useful, but..., March 11, 2003

By 

Karl Hagen (Arcadia, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (Hardcover)

As the title and price suggest, this is a reference grammar of English, not a textbook. It's written for people who already have a grasp of basic grammatical principles. This is the sort of book that you pick up when you want to look up patterns of verb complementation, etc. Only a masochist would try to read it straight through, or to learn grammar from it.

The _Comprehensive Grammar_ is an expanded and revised version of a series of grammars first published in 1972 (starting with _A Grammar of Contemporary English_.) Since its publication, this book has been *the* standard reference work used by professional grammarians. It is a scholarly, descriptive account of English based on extensive analysis of real usage. It is particularly strong in the way that it stresses the communicative functions of English. It tries to present material without being bound to a specific theoretical position. In many ways, this was a wise idea, since it has allowed the book to remain useful over the years while syntactic theories have changed drastically.

If you come to this book from traditional, schoolbook grammars, this work will seem quite modern, especially in its treatment of tense and with some word categories like determiners.

On the other hand, since the basic framework for this book was laid down in the 1960s, it does not reflect much of the research that has occurred since.

I have used this book for years now, and until recently, I would have recommended it without reservation as the best reference grammar available and given it five stars, despite the fact that it was beginning to get a bit long in the tooth. In 2002, however, Huddleston and Pullum brought out their _Cambridge Grammar of the English Language_, which is destined to supplant Quirk, et al. as the standard reference.

Huddleston and Pullum challenge the analysis of the _Comprehensive Grammar_ in many places, and (from the parts that I've read, at least) they make a compelling case.

The _Comprehensive Grammar_ remains very useful if you need to see examples of various structures, and to provide a complementary view to Huddleston and Pullum. But since most people can't afford two books of this size, I would go with the newer one, and go to the library if you need to check something in Quirk.

58 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I would never be without this book, March 23, 2002

By 

MICHAEL OBRIEN (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (Hardcover)

I have been driven up the wall for decades with 'grammar' books that clearly omit gargantuan amounts of information on grammar. If you use English, and you have ever had a question on grammar that wasn't answered to your satisfaction, you need to get this book. The book is not for everyone. Many people don't care that much about the details of grammar, and the book would just sit on their shelf. It's not for foreign language persons, unless they really want to understand the details and are willing to take the time to learn. It's not a book to learn conversational grammar. It's a scientist's book that nails the grammar down where it can be nailed down, and then clearly delineates the boundaries where it can't. If truly grasping grammar is important to you, this is your text.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Varieties of English Experience, April 24, 2000

By 

Charles J. King (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (Hardcover)

I first encountered (and purchased) this book while teaching English in Germany. It is the finest grammar of English in all its flavors that I have ever seen. The index is non-traditional, but I found its apparatus far more efficient than most indices I have worked with. I do not recall ever not being able to find something in this exemplary work.