Customer Reviews

English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek

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No one attempting to learn New Testament Greek should be without this book. It's an easy read, well composed and full of useful information for the beginner.

This is a very handy reference for those who are trying to learn biblical Greek but need an instant refresher of the parts of speech in English and don't have much time to get up to speed. Very helpful. If you need to learn how to diagram sentences, you'll need an additional resource for that. This one includes only the most cursory review of that topic. I still recommmend it for students of biblical Greek.

Helpful, Fun and One in a million in its insights and explanations to Greek and its usage.

I bought it because of the reviews on Amazon. Please, do not waste your money (as I did)! Get "Basics of Biblical Greek" Grammar by William D. Mounce, Second Edition, and you will be satisfied. There you will find everything that you need to "refresh" your English grammar and learn Greek as well.

If you need more than "refresh" your grammar, buy "English Grammar in Use" by Raymond Murphy (Third Edition with Cd-Rom). It's a self-study reference and practice book for INTERMEDIATE students of English. It's easy and clear. On each left-hand page a grammar point is explained and on the right-hand page there are exercises. Most important, there is the "Key to exercises" so you can check the answers.


I added the following text on July 02, 2011.

Mounce's Biblical Greek Grammar 2nd ed. versus 3rd ed.

Mounce's second edition had three great characteristics: 1- Smaller in size; 2 - Direct to the point; 3 - It had a Cd with audio summary lectures. The third edition has none of it. (I have both of them!)

After you read Mounce two or three times, get a copy of Learn New Testament Greek third edition by John H. Dobson. You will see in practice what you learnt from Mounce. It will help you a lot in your reading.

For homework, I preferred the following two books: Learn to Read New Testament Greek, Third edition, by David Alan Black and Learn to Read New Testament Greek - Workbook: Supplemental Exercises for Greek Grammar Students by Ben Gutierrez , Cara L. Murphy and David A. Croteau.

I found three other very important materials as helpers: 1- The Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament by Warren C. Trenchard; 2 - Sing and Learn New Testament Greek: The Easiest Way to Learn Greek Grammar [Audio CD] by Kenneth Berding (Great!); 3 - Biblical Greek Survival Kit by William D. Mounce (it includes Basics of Biblical Greek Vocabulary Cards + Basics of Biblical Greek Vocabulary Audio CD (also in mp3 format) + Biblical Greek Laminated Sheet Zondervan Get an A! Study Guides).

For your reading on NTG, get a copy of: A Reader's Greek New Testament: 2nd Edition [Leather Bound] by Richard J. Goodrich and Albert L. Lukaszewski. This is for building vocabulary, not to know the "correct" reading of the text.

The three important New Testament texts are: 1- The Greek New Testament with Greek-English Dictionary, 4th Revised edition, Edited By: Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Bruce M. Metzger, etc.; 2- Novum Testamentum Graece 27, Edited By: E. Nestle, Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland; 3- The New Testament in the Original Greek (Greek Edition) by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont.

If you have no idea what Textual Criticism is, get a copy of: New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide by David Alan Black.

After Mounce, Dobson and Black, look for two other books: Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel B. Wallace and A Workbook for Intermediate Greek: Grammar, Exegesis, and Commentary on 1-3 John (Wood Sermon Outline) by Herbert Bateman IV.

Remember, there is a great difference between learning NTG and translating it. Do not confuse them!

About a dictionary, you do not need something fancy in the beginning, but this is the big deal: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition by Walter Bauer and Frederick William Danker. - If you can find a good used copy of the second edition, it will be great.

There are a lot of materials out there to learn NTG, but if you cannot buy all of this, do not worry, get Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar by William D. Mounce.

Do not give up!

charis humin kai eirene apo theou patros hemon kai kuriou Iesou Christou.

Only Sam Lamerson could have written a grammar that brings humor to English grammar, but he does so with a sharp, captivating style that makes his lessons stick to the mind and touch the heart. This book is a joy to read, even if you are not trying to Ace New Testament Greek, and it will be a life saver if you are.

As I have been studying Greek, I have realized the serious deficiency in my knowledge of English grammar, much less Greek grammar. As an English speaker, I speak and write English without much thought to the concepts behind English grammar. Since I have not studied English grammar formally in some time I found learning Greek grammar to be extremely difficult since I am not able to translate (no pun intended) Greek grammar concepts into English grammar concepts hence making the experience of learning Greek difficult to say the least.

It was therefore with a significant amount of joy that I found Samuel Lamerson's book English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek. Lamerson's book is not intended to be a comprehensive introduction to English Grammar but is primarily designed for first year Greek students who need to brush up on their English grammar to be able to understand Greek grammarian lingo. The book is very short (about 100 pages) and is written in a simple and humorous style. It opens with a devotional from the Greek text showing the significance of Greek grammar for exegesis and then proceeds to introduce basic English grammar and basic Greek grammar showing where they are similar and where they differ.

Lamerson covers the basic elements of English grammar (nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, tenses, and so on) and shows their connections with Greek. The book also includes a glossary for linguistic dummies like me who constantly need to brush up on the meaning of grammar jargon. Lamerson's book is quite helpful for brushing up on English grammar concepts necessary to understand New Testament Greek.

I would suggest this book to those who have a Greek Grammar that does not reintroduce English grammar concepts as it deals with Greek grammar. Some first year grammars that I have examined assume knowledge of English grammar. If you have a solid grasp of English grammatical concepts then this book is unnecessary. If you are using Mounce's grammar then you will probably not need this book. Mounce basically covers all the necessary English grammar in each respective chapter though not with as much depth as Lamerson. This book is not a replacement for an English grammar handbook but it is nevertheless a helpful little resource. I recommend it to struggling first year Greek students.

I ordered the "ACE" after 4 classes of Greek. To say that I should have ordered it after my first class is an understatement. Thinking about taking Greek? Order your copy today!!

this book is great for understanding greek grammar and it came in perfect condintion. It also came within days of my purchase.

If you've never studied Greek and don't remember all the titles for english grammer then its probably pretty usefull. After your first year you'll already know everything in it.