About the Book

Grammar Express

Marjorie Fuchs and Margaret Bonner

Welcome to Grammar Express—the fast way to study and learn English grammar.

Grammar Express features

• Short, easy-to-use four-page units
  
• Grammar points presented and contextualized through cartoons, photos, and other illustrations
  
• Clear Grammar Charts showing the forms of the grammar point
  
• Chart Checks to help students use the grammar charts
  
• Clear Grammar Explanations and Examples
  
• Usage Notes telling students how English speakers use the grammar point
  
• Be careful! Notes showing typical mistakes students make
  
• Pronunciation Notes to help students pronounce words correctly
  
• A variety of exercise types to practice the grammar points
  
• SelfTests for students to check their own progress
  
• Appendices with helpful lists and information
  
• An Index to help students quickly find grammar points

Grammar Express is available with or without an Answer Key. The Answer Key allows students to check answers easily.

Units

Grammar Express has 76 units. Each unit has four pages—two pages of grammar presentation and two pages of practice. Here's how a typical unit looks:

Presentation

The grammar point is presented in three steps.

1. Illustration

• Each unit begins with an illustration—a cartoon, comic strip, photo with speech bubbles, newspaper headline—which introduces the grammar point in a real-life, real-language context. It also introduces the topic of the unit. (For example, in Unit 8 the cartoon introduces the grammar point used to, and the unit topic, fashion.)
  
  
• A Check Point helps students think about the meaning of the grammar point in the illustration.

2. Charts

• Grammar Charts show the forms of the grammar point. (Unit 8 shows used to in statements, questions, and short answers.)
  
  
• Chart Checks ask questions about the grammar charts. They help students notice important information about the forms and uses of the grammar point they are studying.
  
  
• An Express Check follows the Grammar Charts. This is a quick and easy way for a student to try out the forms in the charts.

3. Notes

• Grammar Notes present Grammar Explanations on the left and Examples on the right. Timelines show the meaning of verb forms. (For example, in Unit 8 the timeline for used to shows that it is used only for the past.)
  
  
• Usage Notes tell how English speakers use the grammar point. (In Unit 8 the Usage Note for used to explains that this form is more common in affirmative statements than in negative statements or questions.)
  
  
• Be careful! Notes point out typical mistakes that English students make. (One of the Be careful! Notes in Unit 8 tells the student not to confuse used to with be used to or get used to.)
  
  
• Pronunciation Notes explain how to correctly pronounce the grammar point in everyday speech. These notes use easy pronunciation spellings.
  
  
• Check it out! explains where to look in the book (appendices or other units) to find more information about the grammar point.
  
  

Practice

Two pages of exercises give students practice in understanding and using the grammar point. A typical unit has four exercises.

Exercise 1

The first exercise is always a "for recognition only" exercise. This means that the student has to find or understand the grammar point, but not use it yet. (For example, in Unit 8 the student reads a short magazine article about fashion, and then finds and underlines all the examples of used to that refer to past habits.)

Exercises 2 and 3

These exercises have students actively practice the grammar point. There are a variety of exercise types, including multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, describing pictures, combining sentences, and asking and answering questions. The exercises always show the grammar point in a context that is related to the unit topic. (In Unit 8, Exercise 2, students complete sentences about fashion in the past. Exercise 3 uses an old advertisement to ask and answer questions about sneakers.)

Exercise 4

This is always an editing exercise, where students have to find and correct typical mistakes made when English learners use the grammar point.

Tests

The 76 units of Grammar Express are divided into 15 parts. After each part there is a SelfTest. These tests help students review and see how well they have learned the material in the part. The SelfTests have multiple-choice questions similar to questions found on the TOEFL®, a test that is widely used for foreign students who want to attend college in the United States.

Appendices

Grammar Express has 28 Appendices with useful information, such as lists of common irregular verbs, verbs followed by the gerund, verbs followed by the infinitive, and spelling and pronunciation rules.

Answer Key

The Answer Key provides answers to the Check Points, Chart Checks, Express Checks, all the practice exercises, and the SelfTests.

Grammar Express has self-contained units that may be used in any order with any grammar course. It may be used as a self-study handbook or as a classroom text.