Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook

I bought this book in an effort to really learn the basics of english grammar now that I am taking post-bac classes and preparing to apply to graduate school. Training in writing and grammar was virtually nonexistent in my primary education and my first degree, in music, didn't particularly call for any great grammatical prowess. However, now that I'm back in school I wanted a reference that would clearly lay out the basics of english grammar in an easy-to-understand format.

I saw the present volume in a bookstore after purchasing several of the more highly-rated grammar books on amazon ("Essential English Grammar," "Grammatically Correct," "The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need"). Reading through it, I really appreciated its straight-forward organization and relative comprehensiveness (at least by the standards of a beginner). I'm glad I saw this book at the store - if I had read the reviews here on amazon, I probably would have passed over this helpful volume and searched for a more socially-proofed grammar tome.

I am a stickler for organization. I am a global-thinker and I learn best when I can see the structure in what I'm reading. The structure of "Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook" is very straightforward. The first several chapters are parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc), then it moves on to sentences and spelling and so forth. Each chapter begins with a section outlining (with bullet points) the different kinds or classes of word or sentence to be addressed. Then, the next several sections define and develop each point. Each chapter also has a section on differentiating different forms of words/sentences ("Recognizing different forms of verbs," for example).

Overall, this is a very well-organized, straightforward reference for a beginner or, presumably, someone wanting a general overview as a refresher.

But, as per the other reviews, if what you're looking for is an easy index of advanced, specific minutia, then you'll probably want to find another book.

This book is dull, poorly organized, and ambiguous. The number of errors make you doubt the validity of every statement.

I'm one of the 4 percent who ultimately bought this book upon having viewed items similar to it. Trust me, I would've like to belong to another statistic...

Most of the information found in this reference is easily findable on the Internet, and what's worst, already well rooted in your brain and fingertips from your first years in school. If you're looking for a guide of advanceD grammar, don't buy this book.

I'm a native English speaker but speak several other languages as well and sometimes get the rules mixed up. So I was looking for a quick reference guidebook to confirm that the grammatical lessons ingrained from my elementary education, such as, "i before e except after c..." etc. are still valid. Unfortunately, this book is poorly organized in such fashion that one has to read it chapter by chapter and can't really just focus on the specific grammatical rule you want to refresh your knowledge on. This may be good as a learning tool, but I would not recommend it for someone who already has a solid handle of the English language.

I was looking for a book to use as a study guide for the verbal section of the GMAT. As a college graduate, what I WASN'T looking for was a rudimentary book full of exercises, which is what the store bookshelves are full of. This book is more of a reference book, but it is laid out in a very intuitive and step-by-step manner, so it is useful as a study book. This was exactly what I needed, and for confirmation, I ended up getting almost a perfect score on my GMAT verbal.