GRAMMAR RESOURCES
Notes to the User
Has your lecturer or tutor told you that you have difficulty with English tenses, or with understanding
the difference between a noun and an adjective? Do you feel unclear about which preposition to use
after a verb? This Grammar Resources handout is organised according to points of grammar that often
cause problems for students at Hong Kong University. The handout lists the chapters or units from the
grammar books available in the LRC that deal with these problem areas.
You can use the handout like this:
 select the grammar point that you want to find out about
 read the Notes about the Books, go and find them in the LRC, and select one that seems
appropriate and interesting
 work through the recommended chapter or unit
 check your answers with the answer key
 if you are still unclear or want more practice, or want more explanation, choose another book and
repeat the procedure
Prepositions
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Practice your Prepositions
Ways to Grammar
Working with English Prepositions
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G251
E/PRT/G230
E/PRT/G240
Chapter/Unit
37 - 39
114 - 129
15
8.1 - 8.5
94 - 100
passim
26 - 29
passim
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
97 - 98
7
88 - 92
8
1.6 - 1.7
109 - 114
23
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G290
Chapter/Unit
1-3
2A
55
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
81 - 83
10
53 - 68
10
16
42 - 54
14 – 15, 24
Relative Clauses
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Ways to Grammar
Forms of Words (noun, adjective, adverb, etc.)
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
Grammar in Context
Oxford Practice Grammar
- ing vs. – ed vs. Infinitive Forms
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Ways to Grammar
 lrc pv 1997-9
Sentence Structure
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Ways to Grammar
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
1 - 3, 99 - 100
2-4
3 – 7, 9
1
56
35
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
85
8
42 - 45
13
12
37 - 39
9
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/252
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
44
11
13 - 21
1B
9.5
4, 6
11 - 16
5
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/252
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
42
12
11 - 12
1B
9.3 - 9.4
5
17 - 19
5
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/252
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
42
12
22 - 23
1B
9.6
10
17 - 19
5
Catalogue No.
Chapter/Unit
Passive Voice
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Ways to Grammar
Perfect Tense
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Practice Your Tenses
Ways to Grammar
Past Tense
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Practice Your Tenses
Ways to Grammar
Past Perfect Tense
Title
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Practice Your Tenses
Ways to Grammar
Future Tense
Title
 lrc pv 1997-9
Cobuild Student Grammar
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Practice Your Tenses
Ways to Grammar
E/PRT/G200
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/252
E/PRT/G230
4, 8 - 9
13
5 - 10
1C
9.7 - 9.9
13 - 17
22 - 32
8
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
Chapter/Unit
3-4
107 - 113
3-9
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/T290
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/T300
E/PRT/G251
Chapter/Unit
125 - 128, 130
passim
16
8.6 - 8.8
101 - 104
passim
19 - 23
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G370
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
71 - 80
3
62 - 68
passim
19
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G230
Chapter/Unit
68 - 69
2 (esp. 2.3 – 2.4)
57 – 58, 60 - 61
19
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
Chapter/Unit
9
37 - 40
1D
14
115 - 117
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G290
Chapter/Unit
59
Catalogue No.
Chapter/Unit
Connectors and Conjunctions
Title
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Phrasal Verbs
Title
English Grammar in Use
Exercises on Phrasal Verbs
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Phrasal Verbs in Context
Practice your Prepositions
Articles
Title
English Grammar in Use
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
The Article Book
Ways to Grammar
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Title
English Grammar in Use
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Ways to Grammar
Conditionals
Title
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Subject – Verb Agreement
Title
Oxford Practice Grammar
Question Forms
Title
 lrc pv 1997-9
English Grammar in Use
Longman English Grammar Practice
Oxford Practice Grammar
Ways to Grammar
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G210
E/PRT/G290
E/PRT/G230
48 - 49
13 (esp. 13.5 – 13.8)
22 - 24
30
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/G220
E/PRT/G260
E/PRT/G290
Chapter/Unit
2
108 - 109
2B
81, 89
Catalogue No.
E/PRT/G310
E/PRT/WG160
E/PRT/WA260
E/PRT/WA270
Chapter/Unit
6
pp.2 - 10
pp.8 - 16
passim
Word Order
Title
English Grammar in Focus
English Grammar in Use
Grammar in Context
Oxford Practice Grammar
Paragraph Structure
Title
English Grammar in Focus
Independent Writing
The Process of Composition
The Process of Paragraph Writing
Notes about the Books
English Grammar in Focus
Intermediate level and above. Designed for Cantonese students of English in tertiary education. Deals
with the most common written and spoken errors made by these students. Clear and simple explanations
and examples with useful exercises.
Oxford Practice Grammar
Intermediate level and above. Clear and simple explanations and examples and plenty of exercises.
Similar to English Grammar in Use.
English Grammar in Use
Intermediate level. A self-study grammar book. Clear and simple explanations of grammar points and
plenty of practice exercises. Similar to Oxford Practice Grammar.
Longman English Grammar Practice
Intermediate level. Another self-study grammar book. Short and simple explanations of grammar points,
some examples and plenty of exercises. Almost identical to English Grammar in Use and Oxford
Practice Grammar.
Collins Cobuild Student’s Grammar
Intermediate level. Plenty of examples from ‘real English usage’, explanations and exercises. Very
similar in format to Longman English Grammar Practice, English Grammar in Use and Oxford
Practice Grammar.
Grammar in Context
Cambridge Proficiency level. Reference and practice grammar book. Detailed and complex
explanations and examples with exercises.
Ways to Grammar
Intermediate level and above. Tries to make you aware of what you already know about a grammar
point before giving you simple explanations and exercises. If you can understand the examples and do
the exercises, do you need to memorise the grammatical explanation?
 lrc pv 1997-9
Practice your Prepositions
Lower to intermediate level. Lots of exercises on different categories of prepositions.
Working with English Prepositions
Intermediate level and above. Reference and practice book. Lists of prepositions at the end. Lots of
exercises with answer key.
Practice your Tenses
Lower to intermediate level. Lots of exercises on the various tenses.
Exercises on Phrasal Verbs
Intermediate level. Lots of lists of, and exercises on, phrasal verbs.
Phrasal Verbs in Context
Intermediate level and above. An excellent book for self-study involving a great cartoon story that helps
you use phrasal verbs in context.
The Article Book
Basic to quite advanced level. It takes you through all the main rules about using articles and provides
you with plenty of practice exercises and an answer key.
The Process of Composition
A very thorough book that takes you through all aspects of writing academic essays. But there is no
answer key, so it is useful for getting an overview of the process but not for getting feedback.
The Process of Paragraph Writing
Everything you ever wanted to know about writing paragraphs in English. Again, there is no answer key
so use it as a source of information and not for feedback.
Independent Writing
A well-planned book that takes you through all the main stages of researching planning, writing and
revising academic essays.
Other Grammar Books
Essential English Usage and Grammar
E/PRT/G300.1 - 300.5
A series of five books. Very old-fashioned. Locally produced. Lots of grammar rules and plenty of
unimaginative exercises.
Grammar Dimensions
E/PRT/G320.1 - 320.4
Series of four books going from basic to advanced level. Thorough detailed explanations and examples
and plenty of exercises, but not all of them are designed for self-study. Main advantage is that you can
choose the level of difficulty you want. If, for example, you cannot understand the use of perfect tenses
in Book 3, you can look at the less complex explanation and exercises in Book 2. Answers to the
exercises are provided in the Teacher’s Manuals.
Longman Advanced Grammar
E/PRT/G250
Advanced level. Uses short literary texts to create exercises on various grammar points. Difficult to use
as a systematic self-study grammar practice book.
 lrc pv 1997-9