Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Understanding English Grammar [with MyCompLab Access Code]

Rate this book
ALERT: Before you purchase, check with your instructor or review your course syllabus to ensure that you select the correct ISBN. Several versions of Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products exist for each title, including customized versions for individual schools, and registrations are not transferable. In addition, you may need a CourseID, provided by your instructor, to register for and use Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products. PackagesAccess codes for Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products may not be included when purchasing or renting from companies other than Pearson; check with the seller before completing your purchase. Used or rental booksIf you rent or purchase a used book with an access code, the access code may have been redeemed previously and you may have to purchase a new access code. Access codesAccess codes that are purchased from sellers other than Pearson carry a higher risk of being either the wrong ISBN or a previously redeemed code. Check with the seller prior to purchase. -- Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE This market-leading text for grammar courses is a comprehensive description of sentence structure that encourages students to recognize and use their innate language expertise as they study the systematic nature of sentence grammar.A practical blend of the most useful elements of both traditional and new linguistic grammar, the text emphasizes whole structures, most specifically the ten basic sentence patterns introduced in Chapter 3. Two key features separate this book from others: its clear organization and its user-friendly, accessible language. Both students and teachers appreciate the self-teaching quality that incremental exercises provide throughout the chapters, with answers at the end of the book. 0321891260 / 9780321891266 Understanding English Grammar Plus NEW MyCompLab -- Access Card Package Package consists of: 0205209521 / 9780205209521 Understanding English Grammar 020589190X / 9780205891900 NEW MyCompLab - Valuepack Access Card

464 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1982

19 people are currently reading
271 people want to read

About the author

Martha J. Kolln

14 books5 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
79 (32%)
4 stars
73 (30%)
3 stars
61 (25%)
2 stars
19 (7%)
1 star
8 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Whitney Atkinson.
1,059 reviews13.2k followers
December 14, 2017
You know what it's finals week and I read this entire textbook chapter by chapter for the class so iM MARKING IT AS READ ON GOODREADS

it was easy to understand and i love grammar and editing stuff so it was p nice don't roast me
Profile Image for Connie.
96 reviews
April 16, 2009
An excellent grammar book. You may actually learn to enjoy diagramming sentences!
Profile Image for Hayat Qaid.
18 reviews8 followers
January 17, 2018
This book has great information, but its format is messy and not easy to read.
Profile Image for Steven.
Author 1 book111 followers
June 2, 2019
A text book I still return to. Have the 2nd edition in hardback. It's all marked up with notes so that's what I stick with. Made me love sentences and all the different ways you can make them. Gets me in the mood to revise.
Profile Image for Ambreen.
28 reviews9 followers
July 30, 2007
I was a journalist and copy editor solely because of this book. Divine.
Profile Image for Courtney Kleefeld.
Author 7 books49 followers
September 27, 2019
I read this textbook for my Structures of Modern English class my first year of college. I’ve kept it since then. It’s a very good resource to keep and reuse, especially if you’re a writer or a teacher or want to tutor. Understanding the rules of English gives you the necessary tools to communicate in English. However, knowing the rules doesn’t make you a good writer, as evidenced by a few poorly written examples of English given in this book.
Knowing how to write and communicate effectively is different from knowing the rules, but knowing the rules is a good step toward understanding how to communicate effectively.
So even though the examples of the rules of English given in the book aren’t always written well, I still highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to go a step further into understanding how English works.

I really like how one of the points in the book is that English-native speakers already know a lot of the rules without knowing they know them—that’s why something “sounds right” or “sounds off.” Reading about grammar helps transfer what we don’t know we know to what we are aware of knowing.
Profile Image for Gracie Graham.
28 reviews1 follower
November 27, 2023
This is a fantastic textbook! Honestly, this is a fantastic book in general! I’ve always been a strong writer, but I am now able to explain why I write the way I do; I now have the words to express the linguistic, grammatical, and rhetorical choices I make while writing. I work as a writing tutor, and this book is an excellent resource for myself as well as my clients. Plus, I absolutely loved the class I took on grammar that characterized this textbook as required reading. Without that class, I never would have read UEG and I wouldn’t have been able to reach my full potential as a tutor.
92 reviews
July 6, 2020
As far as a grammar book goes, I really appreciate the applicability of this book. There are some rules not covered and times the practice sentences could be more applicable. Great practice on a wide variety of skills.
Profile Image for Selah Margaret.
115 reviews15 followers
June 27, 2024
I still hate grammar with a passion, but this book was amazingly useful and taught me a ton (mostly by teaching me exactly how much I still don't understand).
Profile Image for Bhakta Kishor.
286 reviews45 followers
July 26, 2020
It is a prominent book for increasing the knowledge on vocabulary and pronunciation of English. The book’s goal is help English speakers know how to better control the language they already know by understanding the fundamentals of grammatical rules.

The authors state in the preface: “[Many native English speakers are] unable to to descrtibe what they do when they string words together, and they don’t know what has happened when the encounter or produce unclear, imprecise, or ineffective speech and writing.” This is an advanced book on grammar and sentence mechanics that seeks to address this issue and make English speakers better writers.

⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛⚛
Profile Image for Mark.
2,134 reviews44 followers
October 2, 2014
It is a textbook; how much am I supposed to like it?

#1: It is way to freaking expensive! It should be half the damned price it was. And, sadly, there was a 9th ed. just out when we got this but that would've been even more expensive.

Anyway, we read about 4/5th of this book before we moved on to other grammar topics (TG) so I am counting it as read. Looking back through the index I think I will go ahead and finish the rest, also, as it could be useful.

I think it was a fairly effective text for standard grammar and Reed-Kellogg diagramming, but, honestly, I haven't read/used any other grammar texts so I have no standard of comparison.
Profile Image for Jenna.
35 reviews
August 20, 2009
I thought this book was helpful and, at the end of this semester, I see that it taught me enough about grammar that I didn't know before. However, I think the layout of the book was pretty terrible and most things definitely could have been clearer. The author is in the process of reworking the entire text now, so maybe she'll take suggestions from students and change some things. I recommend this book if you're looking to spend some time brushing up on English grammar. If you're not willing to read everything carefully, find a different book.
Profile Image for Olivia.
1,614 reviews1 follower
October 23, 2015
I couldn't stand how this book was formatted. "You need to use (insert term). You will learn about those in chapter thirteen." DOES NOT HELP when you are on chapter TWO. Unlike some others I've seen reviews from I do not find diagramming enjoyable nor did this book help me understand how to do it. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Profile Image for Nathan Boleen.
129 reviews
July 12, 2008
I mean, it's a Grammar textbook, but I learned ample information from it. I guess I liked that I learned lots, and so I give it five stars for content, but how can you give a grammar book five stars...honestly?
Profile Image for Bernadette.
16 reviews
June 30, 2009
This book is dense as fuck but thankfully I read it for a class and the teacher really helped me plow through this. Diagramming sentences may be an art of the past but I am definitely going to make my students learn how to do this...
Profile Image for Caitlin N..
475 reviews15 followers
December 17, 2014
Read for grammar class with a focus on descriptive grammar rather than prescriptive. The book was good, clear stuff - really helpful for practical things such as identifying parts of speech and diagramming.
2,367 reviews31 followers
Read
June 27, 2012
This is an English textbook. I picked this up to learn how to diagram sentences. I didn't get too far. It is now on my desk in my classroom used as a resource.
Profile Image for Clare.
1,460 reviews311 followers
one-day
June 29, 2012
Steubenville recommends
Profile Image for Angela.
223 reviews51 followers
April 6, 2017
The class was really difficult and even my professor didn't like this text. He did better at explaining the concepts than the book. The book would come in handy when I wasn't in class, but as for teaching, I was always lost for the most part.
Profile Image for Julia Manning.
7 reviews
Read
May 18, 2018
I absolutely loved this book! This is the first textbook that I have read from front to back. Defiantly a book everyone should read.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.