Understanding English Grammar [Hardcover]

Martha Kolln (Author), Robert Funk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0205268552 | ISBN-13: 978-0205268559 | Edition: 5

For courses in advanced grammar. Best-seller. Practical, ecelectic approach with a systematic approach to learning grammar. New: Chapter 1 on history of grammar pedagogy, "Classrom Applications," co-author Funk, section on rhetoric of punctuation (Ch. 14).

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This market-leading book provides a systemic way to understand grammar based upon the instinct found in speaking. With schools still teaching grammar, the authors encourage the readers of this book to consider themselves grammar experts, simply clarifying in rules the innate knowledge of grammar we all use from the moment we speak. Current and future teachers will now be able to execute their grammar lessons with a better understanding of the theories and structures that are the foundation of grammar. While this is especially appropriate for teachers, its logical approach and clear explanation make it a benefit for anyone who wants to know how English works.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 5 edition (June 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205268552
• ISBN-13: 978-0205268559
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #999,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, Good Grammar, Happy Tummy, July 27, 2003

By 

Stacey Cochran (Raleigh, NC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding English Grammar (6th Edition) (Hardcover)

I'm a fiction writer. And there are four books within reach of my writing desk. The most recent addition has been Martha Kolln's Understanding English Grammar. This bad boy has it all, folks. If you're like me, you get tripped up on lie and lay like the rest of us, and those kinds of words (and the rules underlying them) are at the very heart of what UEG sets out to clarify. I think I first went to Kolln's masterpiece for help with prepositions. I don't know who first introduced prepositions into the English language, man, but I'd like beat him with a wet dish rag!

As Kolln says on page 320: "Prepositions are among the most difficult words in the language for foreign speakers to master." I'd take this a step further; I'd say they're the most difficult words for _English_ speakers to master. A couple of examples she lists:

Be sure to fill out the form carefully.
Be sure to fill in the form carefully.

He wasn't fired.
He didn't get fired.

Can _you_ spot the correct usage above? Well, if it gives you pause then Understanding English Grammar may be the book for you. It is a model of grammatical clarity and a wonderful reference book to turn to in times of grammatical doubt:~)

Other books I keep close by my writing desk include: "The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms," Richard Lanham's "A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms," and The Holy Bible. If cleanliness is next to Godliness, grammatical perfection is like Zen awareness. You know it's possible to attain, but achieving it is another matter altogether. Kolln's book can help -- with the grammar, that is.

Yours,
Stacey

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best I've found!, June 6, 2006

By 

Bobbi Lafferty "BL" (Anchorage, Alaska United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding English Grammar (Hardcover)

I own the 3rd edition of this book. I don't know if the comments I have will still apply to this edition, but here they are anyway.
I looked everywhere for a book that illustrated grammar instruction through diagramming sentences, and this is the only one I've found! If you aren't into that, don't let it discourage you. They are only used as illustrations and to show the similarities and differences between sentence types.
This book takes a very logical approach to grammar that I was very thankful for and which was very easy for me to follow, as it added just the right next bit of information as I was ready for it. It was just what I was looking for.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK for what it intends to do, July 2, 2011

By 

Neal Obstat (Delaware) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exercise Book for Understanding English Grammar (Paperback)

This is a structural grammar, fairly similar to traditional grammar. Basically, what this book does is set up a classification system for analyzing English sentences. It doesn't discuss how English sentences are generated, doesn't present phrase structure rules, and doesn't include much information on how to actually use the language (the kind of thing that ESL grammar texts include). It does a pretty good, if somewhat superficial and incomplete, job of presenting a classification scheme, which is a bit old fashioned these days. For those who like a traditional approach to grammar, the diagrams will be welcome, though there are some gaps that I would have liked filled (how to diagram a cleft sentence, for instance). There is a wee bit of transformational-influenced grammar, particularly in the discussion of verb phrases, where tree diagrams are used and phrase-structure rules (of a sort) are given: VP = MVP + (COMPLEMENTS); MVP = AUX + MV; AUX = (MODAL) + (HAVE) + (BE); AUX = TENSE + (MODAL) + (HAVE + {-en}) + (BE + {-ing}). But there isn't much of this in the book, which makes it perhaps a bit dated but much more student-friendly than a book that uses more of a transformational-generative approach. I think Klammer et al.'s "Analyzing English Grammar" is similar but more sophisticated (though still not cutting edge), though less student-friendly. The same may be true of Huddleston and Pullum's "A Student's Introduction to English Grammar." (I haven't quite made up my mind about Huddleston and Pullum's text.)

One other point about Kolln's book: it isn't constructed very well; the binding is already beginning to crack after just a few months. But the font, the graphics, etc. are just fine.