Descriptive English Grammar (2nd Edition)

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Summary: Needs a Solution Manual
Review: This book really needs a solutions manual. There are many diagrams that are difficult to correctly diagram and a solution manual would be extremely beneficial. To anybody buying a book on diagraming, i would highly suggest that you get one with a solutions manual.

Rating:
Summary: Great Grammar Reference!
Review: This is an old-fashioned English grammar book. Part I (pp. 3-198) contains a history of the English language and a minute examination of the uses of each of the 8 parts of speech, with copious examples. The grammatical status of a phrase like "all things considered" need be a mystery no longer. Part II (pp. 201-438) describes a method of sentence analysis using sentence diagraming. If you are looking at this review, you probably already know what sentence diagraming is. If not, it's a fascinating way to represent graphically how the words of a sentence work together to make sense. Writers who get stuck on a sentence that "just doesn't seem right"--is this a gerund, an adjective clause, an object complement?--can use sentence analysis to figure out what the basic sentence structure is, what's wrong with it, and how to make it right. In short, this book is not for everybody, but for those who delight in how the language works, word for word, it's a treasure trove from a bygone era.

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Summary: This is a paperback facsimile of the original hardcover.
Review: This is not a hardcover book! It is a paperback facsimile of the hardcover.