This book is a course book and a reference grammar for students and their teachers. Although it is based on the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (LGSWE), the Student Grammar is much more than just an abbreviated LGSWE. Rather, we have simplified and reorganized the content of the LGSWE, avoiding much technical detail while retaining the strengths of the larger book. For example, like the LGSWE, the Student Grammar contains over 3,000 authentic English examples, and contrasts the major patterns of use in spoken and written registers. However, we have simplified the presentation when possible; for example, we have tried hard to find new and simpler extracts from our corpus data, often replacing more complex examples in LGSWE.


Of the five authors of LGSWE, we three owe a debt of gratitude to our two other co-authors: Stig Johansson and Ed Finegan. We benefited from the work that Stig and Ed did on the LGSWE during our writing of the Student Grammar. We would also like to thank the students in English 528 at Northern Arizona University, who used a draft of the Student Grammar as their grammar textbook and provided numerous helpful comments and suggestions for revision.

To support the educational use of the Student Grammar, we have also written a Workbook, which can be used as a classroom textbook or for self-study by students. The Workbook provides exercises based on authentic English texts and sentences, linked directly to the Grammar Bites in the present book.

Links