{"id":279,"date":"2014-02-18T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T17:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=279"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:47:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:47:22","slug":"toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/","title":{"rendered":"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference"},"content":{"rendered":"

(NOTE:<\/strong> The TOEFL books that Magoosh reviews and recommends reflect the older, pre-August 2019 version of the test. As of this writing, there are no TOEFL prep books that reflect the newest version of the test. Fortunately, older-format books are still very useful in prepping for the current TOEFL. For details on this, see Magoosh’s tutorial on using older prep for the 2019 TOEFL<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"English<\/a>It can often be hard to find reliable, user-friendly grammar resources. Online there\u2019s often too much information to sift through, and it can be really hard to find what you need. At the same time, books frequently are incomplete and geared towards teaching very specific concepts, usually at a low or intermediate level. But as you study advanced English, especially the academic English on the TOEFL, you probably have discovered just how complex English grammar really is. Sometimes you\u2019ve probably been frustrated when you find that the rules you learned at school don\u2019t really tell you the whole story. I\u2019ve recently discovered English Language Grammar Reference and Teacher\u2019s Guide<\/a> by C. Neil Linton, which you may find useful in overcoming these hurdles.<\/p>\n

Although the title says that the book is intended for teachers, the grammar and writing section of it is also useful for advanced English learners, especially for those who are studying on their own. It\u2019s set up to be used as a flip-reference rather than to be read\u2014in fact, I think if you were to try to sit down and read the whole thing, you might find it boring and confusing because of the many lists and charts. But if you ever need to review punctuation rules or check to see whether a sentence you\u2019ve encountered is grammatical or not (and why), then this book is an excellent resource. It\u2019s very easy to navigate because the headings are clearly marked, and the table of contents gives you a good idea of where to find any topic you can think of.<\/p>\n

Because the book is geared towards teachers, it may not always suit your needs exactly. Chapters four through six deal not with English language, but with teaching, so they\u2019re not relevant to most students of English. Also, the explanations of grammar can sometimes be a little complicated. Take, for example, this quote from the section on passive voice, page 33: \u201cThe passive voice <\/i>places the entity that receives the action in the subject <\/i>position of the sentence. This shifts the focus from the entity performing the action to the entity receiving the action.\u201d That explanation may not be helpful for some people. However, there are at least several examples for every topic in the book, which can help to clear up any difficulties.<\/p>\n

There are a few areas in the book that need to be fleshed out for advanced English learners. For example, the book doesn\u2019t talk about the difference between \u201cwho\u201d and \u201cwhom\u201d or \u201cthat\u201d and \u201cwhich\u201d in relative clauses; for a more detailed explanation, I would check out www.quickanddirtytips.com. Also, if English articles are very different from the articles in your native language (or if your language doesn\u2019t use articles), then you\u2019ll need to supplement this book with more resources to really understand how articles work. The author warns that the section on articles is just intended as an introduction, and I think it\u2019s one of the better and more thorough discussions of English articles that I\u2019ve seen. Nevertheless, you will need to find practice and additional examples in order to internalize the many rules and exceptions of English article use.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kicking it up a notch<\/h2>\n

Maybe you are confident in your current understanding of English grammar, and you don\u2019t see what a grammar reference has to offer you. If you can already write and speak grammatically, then it\u2019s time to start using more varied language and using the phrasing that a native speaker would use. Here are a couple of sections from the book that are especially useful for those of you who want to take your fluency to the next level:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Objective complements (pages 18-19)- This section deals with some advanced uses of adjectives. You may learn some new sentence structures in this section that will make your writing flow better.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adjective and adverb order (pages 22 and 72)- Here the author deals with how we order multiple adjectives in a sentence. There is often just one correct way to order them, and you may not have learned this rule in class. Do remember, however, that adjectives and adverbs should be used in moderation\u2014<\/i>that is, use enough of them to make your writing and speech varied and descriptive, but don\u2019t go overboard, using them to show off your vocabulary.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Advanced subject-verb agreement (pages 64-67)- This is a topic that even native speakers have trouble with, but you need to know about it to make your writing really polished.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The lists of complex prepositions on page 79 and conjunctive adverbs on page 73 are great resources for expanding your academic writing vocabulary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to use this book for the TOEFL<\/h2>\n

Again and again, I\u2019ve told you to read, read, read.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great way to learn vocabulary and acquire grammar with little effort. However, there are times when effort is required, especially if you want to get all the benefit out of your reading. So as you read, pay attention to any structures that surprise you. Occasionally take a sentence, and decide how you would have phrased it. If your phrasing is different from that of the original, then this guide can help you figure out why the author phrased it that way and whether your version is also correct. If you keep this book nearby whenever you\u2019re studying, you\u2019ll find that the more you pay attention to grammar and usage, the more questions you have. When you\u2019re writing or speaking, the many lists and charts make it ideal as a quick aid when you aren\u2019t sure of how, for example, a particular adjective can be changed into a noun, or what the past tense of \u201cdream\u201d is.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re curious about the English Language Grammar Reference and Teacher\u2019s Guide, <\/i>check out its Facebook page<\/a>. This review dealt with the first edition, but a second edition has recently been released. You can find information about the second edition on that page; to learn more about the students\u2019 version of the book, visit its page<\/a>. I hope these resources will help you polish your grammar so you shine on test day!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(NOTE: The TOEFL books that Magoosh reviews and recommends reflect the older, pre-August 2019 version of the test. As of this writing, there are no TOEFL prep books that reflect the newest version of the test. Fortunately, older-format books are still very useful in prepping for the current TOEFL. For details on this, see Magoosh’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13632],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(NOTE: The TOEFL books that Magoosh reviews and recommends reflect the older, pre-August 2019 version of the test. As of this writing, there are no TOEFL prep books that reflect the newest version of the test. Fortunately, older-format books are still very useful in prepping for the current TOEFL. For details on this, see Magoosh’s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-18T17:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:47:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2014\/02\/English-Language-Grammar-Reference-Cover-Image.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kate Hardin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kate Hardin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/\",\"name\":\"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-18T17:00:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318\",\"name\":\"Kate Hardin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/f695eb57ce131bb657ee5d3203ed66f9\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kate Hardin\"},\"description\":\"Kate has 6 years of experience in teaching foreign language. She graduated from Sewanee in 2012, where she studied and taught German, and recently returned from a year spent teaching English in a northern Russian university. Follow Kate on Google+!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/kate\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference","og_description":"(NOTE: The TOEFL books that Magoosh reviews and recommends reflect the older, pre-August 2019 version of the test. As of this writing, there are no TOEFL prep books that reflect the newest version of the test. Fortunately, older-format books are still very useful in prepping for the current TOEFL. For details on this, see Magoosh’s […]","og_url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/","og_site_name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL","article_published_time":"2014-02-18T17:00:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-10T21:47:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2014\/02\/English-Language-Grammar-Reference-Cover-Image.jpg"}],"author":"Kate Hardin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_site":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kate Hardin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/","name":"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-02-18T17:00:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-book-review-english-language-grammar-reference\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TOEFL Book Review- English Language Grammar Reference"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/","name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","description":"Online TOEFL Preparation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318","name":"Kate Hardin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/f695eb57ce131bb657ee5d3203ed66f9","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kate Hardin"},"description":"Kate has 6 years of experience in teaching foreign language. She graduated from Sewanee in 2012, where she studied and taught German, and recently returned from a year spent teaching English in a northern Russian university. Follow Kate on Google+!","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/kate\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13632,"user_id":47,"is_guest":0,"slug":"kate","display_name":"Kate Hardin","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Hardin","first_name":"Kate","description":"Kate has 6 years of experience in teaching foreign language. She graduated from Sewanee in 2012, where she studied and taught German, and recently returned from a year spent teaching English in a northern Russian university. Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+KateHardin123?rel=author\">Kate on Google+<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}