McGraw-Hill's Essential ESL Grammar: A Handbook for Intermediate and Advanced ESL Students (McGraw-Hill ESL References) [Paperback]

Mark Lester (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0071496424 | ISBN-13: 978-0071496421 | Edition: 1

Master American English and communicate with confidence

As an experienced student of English, you know the language can be a tricky one to learn with its complex grammar and its many "exceptions to the rule" rules.

Written by ESL guru Mark Lester--author of Grammar and Usage in the Classroom--this authoritative reference unravels these mysteries so you can take your English-language skills to the next level. You'll gain the confidence to speak English in any setting: in the workplace, at school, in social situations, and at home.

Master those troublesome subjects that baffle even native speakers of English:
articles * determiners * predicate adjective complements * post-noun modifiers * conjunctions * word order * verb tenses * modals * noun clauses

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark Lester is an experienced grammarian, ESL expert, and professor emeritus of Eastern Washington University. He was the founding chair of the ESL department at the University of Hawaii, which is now considered one of the best ESL programs in the United States. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Grammar and Usage in the Classroom, one of the most widely used college grammar textbooks in the United States.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (March 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071496424
• ISBN-13: 978-0071496421
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic grammar guide even for non-ESL students, May 16, 2010

By 

Michelle Dear - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: McGraw-Hill's Essential ESL Grammar (Kindle Edition)

I am not an ESL student; I am an English speaking US citizen. I was looking for a grammar refresher, and could not find a decent book that went through the grammar structures I was looking for.

I started to look at ESL grammar books that helped ESL students, because I am about to take a Spanish immersion class and needed to know very specific grammar structure definitions to translate into Spanish.

For example, I needed to know the verb type infinitive, future perfect, etc, and I could not recall what those meant from my earlier years.

I couldn't find a single decent American guide out there. But the ESL guides cover them all in great detail.

If you are looking for a great grammar guide and are not even an ESL student, I highly recommend the ESL Grammar guides. This one in particular is fantastic.

I wish I could have purchased this in physical format, but I don't have the room to take it with me to Mexico. But on Kindle, I can do searches, etc, so it works out great for me.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars yet another terrific book by Mark Lester, Ph.D., May 22, 2010

By 

Mssr. Nomdeplume (Monster Island, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: McGraw-Hill's Essential ESL Grammar: A Handbook for Intermediate and Advanced ESL Students (McGraw-Hill ESL References) (Paperback)

ESL grammar is quite different from the traditional English grammar that Americans get--it uses different terminology, covers different subjects, and it is much more thorough. This becomes evident quickly when nonnative speakers ask native speakers grammar questions about determiners or phrasal verbs, for example. This book covers all the important subjects in detail, and it would be very good for intermediate/advanced ESL students as well as ESL tutors who need a quick reference guide with concise and clear explanations. The Introductions says "This book is for nonnative speakers of English who have already attained extensive fluency is classroom English. It is designed to help you move to the next level of functioning comfortably in a fully English-speaking environment . . . . The most important feature of this book is the immense amount of information about English grammar in general and about four specific areas of English grammar that are mostly likely to cause difficulties:

*Areas of unusual grammatical complexity.

*Areas of unusual irregularity.

*Areas in which native speakers routinely use special forms in conversational English.

*Areas in which both native and nonnative speakers of English often make mistakes." The book is divided into three sections: Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, and Sentences. Like his other books, this one reads well, the explanations are in depth and clear, and there are hundreds of sample sentences to clarify the concepts. (The tone isn't as zaney as his previous books--no example sentences about Senator Fogg or the Seven Dwarves here, sorry.) Lester packs a lot in these 340+ pages. I keep looking for the One True Grammar Book handed down from on high that covers all contingencies, but there is no such thing. But this book does a pretty good job, considering its affordable price and small size. The truth is that educators need many different weapons in their arsenals, and this is a good one.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ESL Grammar by Lester is a real gem!, July 9, 2008

By 

C. J. Voss (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: McGraw-Hill's Essential ESL Grammar: A Handbook for Intermediate and Advanced ESL Students (McGraw-Hill ESL References) (Paperback)

The author is a Professor of Linguistics who has written several successful textbooks and has taught English grammar to both college students and teachers. He thoroughly knows the subject and has a gift for creating sample sentences that are clever, entertaining, and clearly illustrate the points he wants to make. A highly recommended book for serious students of English!