Essential Grammar in Use with Answers: A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Elementary Students of English

Over the last couple of years, I've been teaching English to students in Peru. Although trained as a TEFL teacher after I retired, I hated the focus on the communicative approach to teaching English as a foreign language. I much prefer the approach taken by the Spanish in teaching Spanish as a foreign language: a big, overt emphasis on grammar but with plenty of practice and production thrown in. Hence the two Murphy Books (this one and the Intermediate version) have become a major reference for me in preparing my lessons. They are brilliant. As previous reviewers have said, they're arranged in a logical order and appropriate for different learner levels. So, for example, he covers the use of articles (definite and indefinite) at a basic level in this Basic volume but comes back to the subject again in the Intermediate book where he refines our use of articles, so good for intermediate and upper intermediate students. If I could only take two books back to Peru it would be these. Thank you very much, Mr Murphy!

This is an excellent book. I teach English as a foreign language privately and I've been using the book for years This copy I bought for a friend abroad who's also started teaching English. The grammatical topics are listed in a logical order. The left hand page has an explanation and the right hand page has exercises as practice. From the beginning, a certain amount of vocabulary is inevitably used so, if teaching someone who is a complete beginner, I type up a simple worksheet first as preparation. Although I also use other material, as a teacher of EFL, I can't imagine life without this book!

This is an extremely useful study and teaching aid. It does away with scary grammatical explanations and instead leads the student through various models in common english to provide real experience. Each section comes with an exercise to cement ideas in the students' minds and these are not complicated and provide useful conversation points for lessons. On the whole a book which concentrates on 'when' we use as opposed to 'why' and while it is important for foreign language students to learn grammar, this is invaluable as a first step.

Bought this for my auntie as I already had and used the intermediate one when I was learning! Great book, easy explanations, excellent exercises and has answers... so you can keep checking your language development. Highly recommend it!

Have been using books from this series for years (used to teach EFL). Got this one for a Brazilian friend I'm teaching as a favour. Clear explanations/examples very good exercises. Particularly good for 'false beginners' or those like him who have picked up a lot by osmosis, so you can proceed quite quickly, jump about and correct bad habits and provide the structure and understanding previously lacking. Also great for self-study as people can work away on their own. I've always found these books indispesable to accompany any main course book I've used.

Essential Grammar in Use is one of the best books on the market for elementary learners of English... and new teachers who need to understand grammar fast! It's got simple explanations and a variety of exercises so it's simple to use and easy to learn from, even if the student has limited knowledge of English. (The book can also be used for self study if you buy the version with answers.)

My students love this, as much as someone can love a grammar book! Its all in colour and everything is simply explained. The grammar points are broken down and put simply on a two page spread, a grammar point on page 2 and the exercises on page 3, no looking halfway down another page to finish the exercises or searching to find the explanation. Fantastic, and very organised with the content and the way everything is laid out. I only wish there were more exercises for each grammar topic, but then they did publish supplementary exercises which I also use. This is a good series, I recommend this book to anyone teaching English (or perhaps even learning by themselves). I do have another wish that there were grammar books of comparable quality for learning French, Spanish etc.. but nothing comes even close. Really recommended, A* !

As this is a very useful book for self-study or for homework for a class, it really can be described as an essential resource. Grammar is split into easy steps and students can practise points they aren't sure of and check their answers in the back. This latest edition now has colour which helps some students. It is a little difficult for beginners unless they are very academic but is fine for elementary and pre-intermediate. The Intermediate and Advanced versions are available for higher students.

murphy ist seit 1997 mein meistbenutzes grammatikbuch - damals noch in der alten auflage. für jedes kapitel der englischen grammatik gibt es eine seite erklärungen, und eine seite übungen. das war immer schon so und hat sich bewährt. das glossar ist dergestalt, dass man alles findet (querverweise etc) diese neue, 3rd edition, enthält aber auch eine CD-ROM, mit der grammatik pauken zum vergnügen wird! die interaktiven übungen mit diversen übungsformen sind schon sehr attraktiv - satzbausteine in die richtige reihenfolge bringen, wörter (grammatikformen) ohne auswahl ergänzen, dasselbe mit multiple choice ebenso, hörverstehen - alles sehr benutzerInnenfreundlich. die möglichkeit, sich selbst tests zusammenzustellen, mit und ohne zeitvorgabe, ist sehr motivierend, am besten gefiel mir aber das schlangenspiel in 3 schwierigkeitsgraden, das auch die konzentration, wachsamkeit und feinmotorik schult. dass falsch zugeordnete sätze immer wieder kommen (neue chance?) fand ich auch sinnvoll. resumé: ein buch, das einen über jahre begleitet! für englisch lernende von 10-15 jahren gut als iensteig und erste festigung (danach kommt der blaue murphy) - - unbedingt kaufenswert!! ich habe die billige variante um 12.- gewählt, die kam aus indien. möglicherweise unterscheidet sie sich im druck und in der farbe (nämlich KEINE farbe)- aber dem alter wo alles bunt sein muss, bin ich schon einige jahre entwachsen... :-) und der preis für buch und cd rom ist ein hit!

Ce livre contient une page d'exercice sur un theme (par exemple le present simple), la suivante correspond aux exercices spécifiques à ce theme; Le vocabulaire est cela de base, de la vie courante. Tout est très bien expliqué, meme si c'est en anglais mais un niveau A2 (4ème - 3ème) peut comprendre sans problem. Je le recommande vivement pour reviser sa grammaire. Le meilleur livre qu'il soit. Il existe un livre suivant pour les niveaux B1 - B2 et encore un autre pour C1 - C2, tout aussi bien.

とても綺麗な状態で届いたので大満足です😊 コツコツ英語復習するのにピッタリな内容👍 すっかり忘れてしまったglamorを毎日楽しく勉強してます🎵

Io sono un livello intermedio ma ho preferito comprare il livello base per ripassare alcune cose che mi sono dimenticata e devo dire che ho fatto benissimo, chiarisce tanti dubbi ed è semplice ed essenziale, insomma mira dritto al punto. Sulle pagine di sinistra si ha la teoria con esempi, figure e spiegazioni grammaticali davvero molto diretti ed efficaci, non ci si perde in troppi paroloni ma si va dritti alla regola con un paio di esempi, stop (che poi è tutto ciò che serve); sulle pagine di sinistra invece ci sono tutti gli esercizi (e in fondo le soluzioni). Mi piace moltissimo perchè ti fa imparare in fretta ma anche ripassare in fretta, le spiegazioni sono tutte in inglese ma grazie ai disegni fatti benissimo è davvero IL LIBRO MIGLIORE per imparare l'inglese, sia da autodidatti che con docente. Lo consiglio davvero a tutti :)

o produto estava só preenchido as duas primeiras páginas, assim como já informado na descrição, muito bem conservado e com um pouco de cheiro de guardado, mas nada anormal.