GRAMMAR RESOURCES Notes to the User Has your lecturer or tutor told you that you have difficulty with English tenses, or with understanding the difference between a noun and an adjective? Do you feel unclear about which preposition to use after a verb? This Grammar Resources handout is organised according to points of grammar that often cause problems for students at Hong Kong University. The handout lists the chapters or units from the grammar books available in the LRC that deal with these problem areas. You can use the handout like this: select the grammar point that you want to find out about read the Notes about the Books, go and find them in the LRC, and select one that seems appropriate and interesting work through the recommended chapter or unit check your answers with the answer key if you are still unclear or want more practice, or want more explanation, choose another book and repeat the procedure Prepositions Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 37-39 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 114-129 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 15 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 8.1-8.5 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 94-100 Practice your Prepositions E/PRT/G251 passim Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 26-29 Working with English Prepositions E/PRT/G240 passim Relative Clauses Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 97-98 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 7 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 88-92 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 8 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 1.6-1.7 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 109-114 Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 23 Forms of Words (noun, adjective, adverb, etc.) Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 1-3 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 2A Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 55 - ing vs. ed vs. Infinitive Forms Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 81-83 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 10 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 53-68 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 10 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 16 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 42-54 Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 14 15, 24
Sentence Structure Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 1-3, 99-100 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 2-4 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 3 7, 9 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 1 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 56 Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 35 Passive Voice Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 85 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 8 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 42-45 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 13 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 12 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 37-39 Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 9 Perfect Tense Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 44 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 11 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 13-21 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 9.5 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 4, 6 Practice Your Tenses E/PRT/252 11-16 Past Tense Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 42 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 12 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 11-12 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 9.3-9.4 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 5 Practice Your Tenses E/PRT/252 17-19 Past Perfect Tense Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 42 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 12 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 22-23 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 9.6 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 10 Practice Your Tenses E/PRT/252 17-19
Future Tense Cobuild Student Grammar E/PRT/G200 4, 8-9 English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 13 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 5-10 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 1C Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 9.7-9.9 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 13-17 Practice Your Tenses E/PRT/252 22-32 Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 8 Connectors and Conjunctions English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 3-4 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 107-113 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 3-9 Phrasal Verbs English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 125-128, 130 Exercises on Phrasal Verbs E/PRT/T290 passim Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 16 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 8.6-8.8 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 101-104 Phrasal Verbs in Context E/PRT/T300 passim Practice your Prepositions E/PRT/G251 19-23 Articles English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 71-80 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 3 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 62-68 The Article Book E/PRT/G370 passim Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 19 Countable and Uncountable Nouns English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 68-69 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 2 (esp. 2.3 2.4) Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 57 58, 60-61 Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 19 Conditionals English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 9 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 37-40 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 1D Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 14 Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 115-117
Subject Verb Agreement Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 59 Question Forms English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 48-49 Longman English Grammar Practice E/PRT/G210 13 (esp. 13.5 13.8) Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 22-24 Ways to Grammar E/PRT/G230 30 Word Order English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 2 English Grammar in Use E/PRT/G220 108-109 Grammar in Context E/PRT/G260 2B Oxford Practice Grammar E/PRT/G290 81, 89 Paragraph Structure English Grammar in Focus E/PRT/G310 6 Independent Writing E/PRT/WG160 pp.2-10 The Process of Composition E/PRT/WA260 pp.8-16 The Process of Paragraph Writing E/PRT/WA270 passim Notes about the Books English Grammar in Focus Intermediate level and above. Designed for Cantonese students of English in tertiary education. Deals with the most common written and spoken errors made by these students. Clear and simple explanations and examples with useful exercises. Oxford Practice Grammar Intermediate level and above. Clear and simple explanations and examples and plenty of exercises. Similar to English Grammar in Use. English Grammar in Use Intermediate level. A self-study grammar book. Clear and simple explanations of grammar points and plenty of practice exercises. Similar to Oxford Practice Grammar. Longman English Grammar Practice Intermediate level. Another self-study grammar book. Short and simple explanations of grammar points, some examples and plenty of exercises. Almost identical to English Grammar in Use and Oxford Practice Grammar. Collins Cobuild Student s Grammar Intermediate level. Plenty of examples from real English usage, explanations and exercises. Very similar in format to Longman English Grammar Practice, English Grammar in Use and Oxford Practice Grammar. Grammar in Context Cambridge Proficiency level. Reference and practice grammar book. Detailed and complex explanations and examples with exercises.
Ways to Grammar Intermediate level and above. Tries to make you aware of what you already know about a grammar point before giving you simple explanations and exercises. If you can understand the examples and do the exercises, do you need to memorise the grammatical explanation? Practice your Prepositions Lower to intermediate level. Lots of exercises on different categories of prepositions. Working with English Prepositions Intermediate level and above. Reference and practice book. Lists of prepositions at the end. Lots of exercises with answer key. Practice your Tenses Lower to intermediate level. Lots of exercises on the various tenses. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs Intermediate level. Lots of lists of, and exercises on, phrasal verbs. Phrasal Verbs in Context Intermediate level and above. An excellent book for self-study involving a great cartoon story that helps you use phrasal verbs in context. The Article Book Basic to quite advanced level. It takes you through all the main rules about using articles and provides you with plenty of practice exercises and an answer key. The Process of Composition A very thorough book that takes you through all aspects of writing academic essays. But there is no answer key, so it is useful for getting an overview of the process but not for getting feedback. The Process of Paragraph Writing Everything you ever wanted to know about writing paragraphs in English. Again, there is no answer key so use it as a source of information and not for feedback. Independent Writing A well-planned book that takes you through all the main stages of researching planning, writing and revising academic essays. Other Grammar Books Essential English Usage and Grammar E/PRT/G300.1-300.5 A series of five books. Very old-fashioned. Locally produced. Lots of grammar rules and plenty of unimaginative exercises. Grammar Dimensions E/PRT/G320.1-320.4 Series of four books going from basic to advanced level. Thorough detailed explanations and examples and plenty of exercises, but not all of them are designed for self-study. Main advantage is that you can choose the level of difficulty you want. If, for example, you cannot understand the use of perfect tenses in Book 3, you can look at the less complex explanation and exercises in Book 2. Answers to the exercises are provided in the Teacher s Manuals. Longman Advanced Grammar E/PRT/G250 Advanced level. Uses short literary texts to create exercises on various grammar points. Difficult to use as a systematic self-study grammar practice book.