Recommended Grammar books?

[Guest]

Is there a grammar book you would recommend? When I read the answer explanations in the Official Guide, I come across terms such as "main clause," "subordinate clause," "comparative form of an adjective," etc. I think it would be helpful to have a grammar book/guide handy to use as a reference because it seems like the answer explanations assume that you are familiar with the grammar concepts. Any recommendations? Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

You could probably browse your local bookstore and find any number of them. But I think the best option is just to browse the Internet for examples - just type in any of those grammar terms (in quotes) and you'll find more examples than you can shake a stick at. Some of them will be terrible, of course (that's the nature of uncensored mass communication), but many of them won't be, and you'll have access to unbelievable amounts of information for free. Some web pages will even feature online problem sets that you can complete, and grade, right there on the page.

[josephgreer]

I used one from college called The Handbook of Current English by Corder and Ruszkiewicz.

Some of the recommended usages, however, are not preferred by the GMAT. For example, the book favors using the pronoun "his or her" or "their" in the sentence: The students were asked to bring his or her books. vs. The students were asked to bring their books. If I understand correctly, the GMAT frowns on using 'their'.

[StaceyKoprince]

Yep, the GMAT doesn't hold with any newfangled grammar changes. :) Wikipedia is generally a good place to start - the ends of the posts have links to lots of other sources. Look for sources that end in ".edu" - those are often English professors.