Recommended Grammar books

[TomTom]

Hi, there.

I'd like to know which book is better "Grammar in Use: Cambridge" or "Understanding and Using English Grammar: Longman."
"Practical English Usage" looks good but it is for "British English." I've been learning American English so I have a few options to pick up.

[Donbelid]

I'm a great fan of "English Grammar in Use" (Cambridge, new editions, not the old ones)

[Tdol]

Practical English Usage covers AE as well as BrE.

[TomTom]

Originally Posted by tdol

Practical English Usage covers AE as well as BrE.

Thank you, tdol. I'm Japanese, and the Oxford catalogue Japanese edition says that it's British English. so that I believed it's only for British. But I'm considering it now. It is highly recommended also in the amazon.

Thank you for the comments, Donbelid, tdol.

[Tdol]

Michael Swan is British, but he's also married to an American grammarian, so he is able to cover both. I like the book a lot. Also, the differences grammatically are not that great- there are differences in relative pronouns, and we use structures like 'need + -ing' in BrE, etc, but they tend to be little differences (though lots of them). He will mark any BrE usage as specific. He is very good at looking at specific usages and working out coherent rules for them. I do think highly of the book. Also, if you're going to use English inerntaionally, American English is more dominant in Asia, but British English tends to hold sway in Europe, so it won't hurt you to know a bit about both.

[TomTom]

Thank you, tdol.

You've convinced me. Both Grammar in Use and Azar English grammar have work for students but I prefer a reference book. So, I may buy Practical English Usage. A Paperback version costs ￥2,230/11 pound in Japan, one and a half times higher than in amazon UK. You need a bit of courage to buy just for a paparback.
But I believe you!

Thank you.

[Tdol]

I'm living in Japan at the moment, and I'd say it's ￥2,230 well spent- the price of a few beers for a reference work that'l last a lifetime. Michael Swan gave some talks in Japan recently- I saw him at the headquarters of the Yomiuri newspaper, and he was very interesting and went down well.

[TomTom]

Hi, tdol.

You are a teacher and in Japan now? It's great. I have to thank you for being in Japan. I'll ask about English grammars more and more.

See you later.

[Tdol]

Ask away, TomTom.

[Abstract Idea]

Maybe someone here could recommend a good deep grammar book, not intended for ESL, but written specifically for native speakers?

I am not looking for a book focusing on mistakes, the right or wrong way to
use English, or a teaching English book. I would like to know a book which
focus on the very structure of the language.