Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language: A

I've had no chance to read "Huddleston, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language", but in my opinion Quirk's work is the only real reference grammar on the market. For sure you cannot read it while relaxing yourself on the beach, but for any serious advanced student (and mainly for more specialized users such as teachers, writers and so on) it is a must-have (and to study, hard study !!) book. I've bought many english grammars but no one is as realiable and structured as this one. The complementary book for Quirk is "Biber, Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English": it's a great work bust my first impression is not so good as expected (too much data and analisys, very poor synthesis)

It may be expensive but it covers almost everything you would ever like to know about English Grammar presented in an scientifical but very understandable language. Regional forms are also dealt with like American, Australian or South African English! Clearly the best book in the field!

I have been driven up the wall for decades with 'grammar' books that clearly omit gargantuan amounts of information on grammar. If you use English, and you have ever had a question on grammar that wasn't answered to your satisfaction, you need to get this book. The book is not for everyone. Many people don't care that much about the details of grammar, and the book would just sit on their shelf. It's not for foreign language persons, unless they really want to understand the details and are willing to take the time to learn. It's not a book to learn conversational grammar. It's a scientist's book that nails the grammar down where it can be nailed down, and then clearly delineates the boundaries where it can't. If truly grasping grammar is important to you, this is your text.

I first encountered (and purchased) this book while teaching English in Germany. It is the finest grammar of English in all its flavors that I have ever seen. The index is non-traditional, but I found its apparatus far more efficient than most indices I have worked with. I do not recall ever not being able to find something in this exemplary work.

The index to Quirk and Greenbaum's Comprehensive Grammar, written by David Crystal, is perhaps the best ever compiled. The earlier college grammar index had some serious flaws, but Crystal's index in this book is a masterwork of scholarship. Certainly, considering the complexity of the topic, readers may encounter some difficulties finding the precise information they seek, but diligent use will reward them.This book, of course, was written for linguists and is not for the layperson.