Raymond Murphy. 1998. Introduction.
Grammar in Use
Grammar in Use is a textbook for intermediate students of English who need to study and practice using the grammar of the language. It can be used as a classroom text or for self-study. It will be especially useful in cases where, in the teacher’s view, existing course materials do not provide adequate coverage of grammar.
The book is intended mainly for intermediate students (that is, students who have already studied the basic structures of English). It concentrates on those structures which intermediate students want to use but which often cause difficulty. The book will probably be most useful at middle- and upper-intermediate levels (where all or nearly all of the material will be relevant), and can serve both as a basis for review and as a means of practicing new material. The book will also be useful for more advanced students who still make a lot of grammatical mistakes and who need a book for reference and practice. The book is not intended to be used by beginning-level students.
How the book is organized
The book consists of 124 units, each of which concentrates on a particular point of grammar. Some areas (for example, the present perfect or the use of articles) are covered in more than one unit. In each unit there are explanations and examples (left-hand page) and exercises (right-hand page), except for Unit 112, which is a double unit.
At the beginning of the book the Contents pages provide a full list of units, and there is a detailed Index at the end for easy reference.
There are also four Appendixes at the end of the book: “List of Present and Past Tenses,” “Regular and Irregular Verbs,” “Spelling”, and “Short Forms.” It might be useful for the teacher to draw students’ attention to these.
Using the book
It is certainly not intended that anyone should work through this book from beginning to end. It is for the teacher to decide what to teach and in what order to teach it, so the book is best used selectively and flexibly.
The book can be used with the whole class or with individual students. When using the book with the whole class, it is suggested that teachers teach the grammar points concerned in whatever way they want. In this case the left-hand page is not used actively during the lesson but serves as a record of what has been taught and can be referred to by the student in the future. The exercises can then be done in class or as homework. Alternatively (and additionally), individual students can be directed to study certain units of the book by themselves if they have particular difficulties not shared by other students in their class.
A separate answer key is available for teachers and self-study users.