What's the most complete English grammar available?

[Fantsuworkshard]

By complete I mean having everything on grammar that an English speaker needs to know.

So far I've had two recommendations: "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation" and "The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation". They seem decent books, but not as complete as I was hoping. The interesting thing is that I searched on Amazon for more books but couldn't find any that seemed better. I'm used to 700-pages grammars on other languages but no English grammar seems to be like that.

[aokoye]

I mean the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English by Biber et. al. exists. They have the large one (that might be out of print) which is 1,203 pages and a student version which is 487 pages. There's an accompanying workbook for the student version. I used it for my English grammar class (which was required for my linguistics degree) and I know the intensive English language program at my university has used it as well. The Longman is based on a very large set of spoken and written corpora (including non American corpora from what I remember) which sets it apart from other grammar books from what I understand.

[Adrianslont]

The biggest I’ve seen is

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Comprehensive_Grammar_of_the_English_Language

It’s 1779 pages long.

[Fantsuworkshard]

I mean the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English by Biber et. al. exists. They have the large one (that might be out of print) which is 1,203 pages and a student version which is 487 pages. There's an accompanying workbook for the student version. I used it for my English grammar class (which was required for my linguistics degree) and I know the intensive English language program at my university has used it as well. The Longman is based on a very large set of spoken and written corpora (including non American corpora from what I remember) which sets it apart from other grammar books from what I understand.

Is that big Longman (with 1.203 pages) really apropriate for a student that wishes to study grammar? From its amazon description it looked more like a sociolinguistics book than a grammar one. Also, would you be familiar with the English In Use series? I'm wanting to know if its books (essential, intermediate, advanced) are all worth buying or if only the advanced edition is.

[Fantsuworkshard]

The biggest I’ve seen is

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Comprehensive_Grammar_of_the_English_Language

It’s 1779 pages long.

It looks cool! If I was to choose from this one and the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, which do you think I should choose?

[Adrianslont]

The biggest I’ve seen is

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Comprehensive_Grammar_of_the_English_Language

It’s 1779 pages long.

It looks cool! If I was to choose from this one and the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, which do you think I should choose?

I have no idea, I’m afraid. I am not at all familiar with the Longman grammar and it is a long time since I have seen the one I mentioned (CGOEL).

If you live near a big city library or near a university you might be able to find a copy of them to have a look at.

Or maybe try to google up comparisons of the two now that you have their names.

I note that the Longman starts at a really high price on Amazon while the CGOEL is available much cheaper.

They are both very serious reference grammars - I guess you know what you are looking for if you are accustomed to 700 page grammars!

The CGOEL is NOT a book of grammar exercises - it just describes the grammar.

[Cavesa]

Is that big Longman (with 1.203 pages) really apropriate for a student that wishes to study grammar? From its amazon description it looked more like a sociolinguistics book than a grammar one. Also, would you be familiar with the English In Use series? I'm wanting to know if its books (essential, intermediate, advanced) are all worth buying or if only the advanced edition is.

The "intermediate" blue book was enough for my CAE (C1). I hadn't been using any other coursebooks but I had been practicing my writing a lot online in a text based multiplayer game and on its forums (and I got the highest grade for writing, equivalent to C2).

So, I think the blue book is definitely worth it, unless you know you are safely at the C1 level or beyond. The advanced green one is still lying in my bookshelf barely started, waiting for me to find the time, but looks very detailed.

The blue book is perfect for self study (I did the whole book during one summer, to test out of a class with a horrible teacher. I was very motivated) and I'd say you get a lot of value for your time. It is dense but still digestable.

The red one is very good for beginners or lower intermediate learners, even though my memories of it are part of the whole nightmare of my first four years of English classes at school. I could still tell you some of the whole sentences we had to memorise for the tests (that's where my disgust for learning grammar purely by memorisation without logic and tons of exposure originates). Truth be told, I think there are a few worthy alternatives to the series these days, such as the Oxford English Grammar Course, and they can definitely replace the red book, perhaps the blue book. I have personally picked this alternative for my younger siblings, as the design is nicer and it looks less dense and intimidating while still being comprehensive enough. But I am not sure the whole series and its last volume go as far and deep as the green in Use one.

[Fantsuworkshard]

Is that big Longman (with 1.203 pages) really apropriate for a student that wishes to study grammar? From its amazon description it looked more like a sociolinguistics book than a grammar one. Also, would you be familiar with the English In Use series? I'm wanting to know if its books (essential, intermediate, advanced) are all worth buying or if only the advanced edition is.

The "intermediate" blue book was enough for my CAE (C1). I hadn't been using any other coursebooks but I had been practicing my writing a lot online in a text based multiplayer game and on its forums (and I got the highest grade for writing, equivalent to C2).

So, I think the blue book is definitely worth it, unless you know you are safely at the C1 level or beyond. The advanced green one is still lying in my bookshelf barely started, waiting for me to find the time, but looks very detailed.

The blue book is perfect for self study (I did the whole book during one summer, to test out of a class with a horrible teacher. I was very motivated) and I'd say you get a lot of value for your time. It is dense but still digestable.

The red one is very good for beginners or lower intermediate learners, even though my memories of it are part of the whole nightmare of my first four years of English classes at school. I could still tell you some of the whole sentences we had to memorise for the tests (that's where my disgust for learning grammar purely by memorisation without logic and tons of exposure originates). Truth be told, I think there are a few worthy alternatives to the series these days, such as the Oxford English Grammar Course, and they can definitely replace the red book, perhaps the blue book. I have personally picked this alternative for my younger siblings, as the design is nicer and it looks less dense and intimidating while still being comprehensive enough. But I am not sure the whole series and its last volume go as far and deep as the green in Use one.

Hi, Cavesa! So, the English in Use series. Can you explain its premise? Do the books of the series differ in regards to content or are they basically the same but with a different level of explanation each time?

[aokoye]

I mean the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English by Biber et. al. exists. They have the large one (that might be out of print) which is 1,203 pages and a student version which is 487 pages. There's an accompanying workbook for the student version. I used it for my English grammar class (which was required for my linguistics degree) and I know the intensive English language program at my university has used it as well. The Longman is based on a very large set of spoken and written corpora (including non American corpora from what I remember) which sets it apart from other grammar books from what I understand.

Is that big Longman (with 1.203 pages) really apropriate for a student that wishes to study grammar? From its amazon description it looked more like a sociolinguistics book than a grammar one. Also, would you be familiar with the English In Use series? I'm wanting to know if its books (essential, intermediate, advanced) are all worth buying or if only the advanced edition is.

I think the student version of the text, Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, is definitely appropriate. I personally know multiple English language learners who have used it. I would also suggest getting the workbook.

The larger text probably is overkill, but you noted that you couldn't find a 700+ page English grammar. It's definitely not a sociolinguistic text, but it is probably best used by linguists who are very interested in English grammar. In short, the Student grammar is likely appropriate for what you're looking for. It's not 700 pages, but it is what you're looking for.

[Cavesa]

Hi, Cavesa! So, the English in Use series. Can you explain its premise? Do the books of the series differ in regards to content or are they basically the same but with a different level of explanation each time?

Yes, the format is the same, the density and level of explanation is the main difference. Of course not all topics appear in all the books, but the curriculum and division of the grammar is well thought out. The green one also feels a bit different, in my opinion, because of having a different author than the previous books. At C1, I'd say you should look in the blue book and see for yourself, whether it can still be helpful to you, and decide whether to buy both the blue and green or just the green one.