Grammar of the English Language

By George O. Curme

This is a special price for the two-volume set. Purchased separately, they have list prices of $29.95 for Volume I: Parts of Speech and $32.95 for Volume II: Syntax. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0930454030
• ISBN13: 9780930454036
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Gale / Cengage Learning
• Length: 1045 Pages
• Weight: 3.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 3.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

The Real Deal

Elated with Bryan Garner's "A Dictionary of Modern American Usage," I endeavored to find a book that focussed more heavily on grammar than on usage, which, while overlapping grammar in many respects, does not comprise all of the topics in which I was interested. Accordingly, I searched Garner's book for a reference, and that is where I first learned of Curme's treatise. Be forewarned: This is a dry, matter-of-fact volume that is not for the novice or, for that matter, 99% of those who want to improve their grammar. This is for the most obsessive, pedantic, and rigid student of grammar, and I say all those things with a laudatory tone. This work is for an already-educated and highly literate person who wishes to either review the minutiae of grammar or become a grammarian. This book provides some useful examples and, more importantly, delves into grammatical theory, which is the final frontier of grammar. There are two ways of understanding grammar: The practical way and the theoretical way. Very few people understand it even on a practical level, but trying to find someone who has a firm grasp on grammatical theory is almost impossible. If you dare to aspire to such heights, put this on your list.