如何搞定英文语法（三）

How to Master English Grammar (3)

> By Li Xiaolai · 2008-01-11 · [Original (web archive)](https://web.archive.org/web/20111113105647/http://www.lixiaolai.com/archives/263.html) (Chinese)
> Our translation from the Chinese original.

If you want to master English grammar, relying on what's taught in school definitely won't work. Why won't it work? Can't be bothered to explain; it just won't, believe it or not. You can only rely on yourself. On your own reading ability, your ability to carry out a plan, and the patience that can be slowly cultivated.

The first book I want to introduce is 《剑桥中级英语语法》 (*Cambridge Intermediate English Grammar*). The author is [Raymond Murphy](http://www.cambridge.org/elt/ms_images/inuse/murphy.jpg). Published by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. This book's original title is *English Grammar in Use*; heaven knows how they managed it, but FLTRP could translate "English in Use" (practical English) as "英语在用" ("English is in use"). Many years ago, my father found me a photocopied edition of the first edition from who knows where. Later I bought quite a few copies to give to people I knew; it was [this one](http://www.douban.com/subject_search?search_text=%E5%89%91%E6%A1%A5%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD%E8%AF%AD%E6%B3%95), already the second edition. [Translator's note: the original writes 已经使第二版了 ("already made the second edition"), a slip for 已经是第二版了, "already the second edition"; translated by the intended sense] Now there are several editions in bookshops; have a look [here](http://www.douban.com/subject_search?search_text=%E5%89%91%E6%A1%A5%E4%B8%AD%E7%BA%A7%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD%E8%AF%AD%E6%B3%95). Cambridge recently published the [third edition](http://www.cambridge.org/elt/elt_projectpage.asp?id=2500613) of the book. There are [already downloads](http://lib.verycd.com/2005/05/05/0000049424.html) on verycd.com. The word "intermediate" (中级) in the Chinese title is probably because, besides this book, Raymond Murphy also wrote *Basic Grammar in Use*; and Oxford also published, as part of the series, another book, *Advanced Grammar in Use* (by Martin Hewings). [Translator's note: the *Grammar in Use* series, including *Advanced Grammar in Use*, is published by Cambridge University Press, not Oxford; translated as written]

Many grammar books before this were stuffed with all kinds of sentences made up out of thin air merely to demonstrate grammar rules, such as "Birds sing." This book is different. Its strength is that all its example sentences are real, the most commonly used, carefully selected sentences from daily life. So in fact this book is not only a grammar workbook; readers can even use it as a very good textbook for spoken English. Every sentence in it is worth memorizing.

Doing substitution drills is the most effective way to master grammar. For example, you see a sentence like this in the book: "I've lost my key." You may find that if you were asked to say the same thing, you might say "I lost my key," or even, if your grammar isn't solid, "I lose my key."—that is, this is a grammar point you need to learn. At this point the Chinese term "现在完成时" (present perfect tense) actually has no real meaning for you. Even if you understand and memorize this term, so what? When speaking English, you can't be calculating in your head all the time, "Which tense should I be using?"—there are 16 tenses in all! So repeatedly doing substitution drills is what works: "I've lost my \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_." Fill in words, for example: "job", "money", "house", "bike", "girl friend"…… After substituting into this sentence six or seven times in a row, "I've lost my" has already become a single whole string in your head; later, when you want to express yourself, what comes out of your mouth easily is "I've lost my…", and what you need to think about is what exactly the thing is that you lost—not, which tense should I use?

This book introduces more than 100 important grammar points: each odd-numbered page introduces one unit, and each even-numbered page is fill-in-the-blank exercises on the previous page. If you read 2–3 units a day and complete the exercises that follow, you can get through it once in a little over two months. The vast majority of people, even having made up their minds, will never get through it even once in their whole lives. Keeping at it for two months is no easy thing. In fact, doing it once isn't enough. You have to force yourself to do it over at least three times—about half a year in total. Believe me, this half year isn't long. If you really do it three times or more, you'll have earned everything back. Believe me, it is precisely because the vast majority of people haven't figured out this one little thing that they take one training course after another, spend who knows how much money, and in the end still have to solve the problem they never solved before—it still takes half a year, and they still can't do it. Of course, the ones I've seen the most of, and the most pitiable, are those people—they will never believe that all their problems come from never being willing to patiently get the most basic things clear and understood.

Personally I feel that methods like "learning English by watching movies" or "learning English by listening to songs" aren't very reliable. Read the books you ought to read (in the original), look up what you don't understand in a dictionary, check a grammar book for what you still don't understand, and ask someone about what you really can't figure out—this is the proper way. Going to an English corner is even more bullshit. At an English corner, almost no Chinese people say correct sentences. The British and Americans say correct sentences, but are basically busy answering questions that can be answered in two or three words, like "How are you?" and "Where you came (usually said as come) from?" Why is doing grammar exercises better than methods like "learning English by watching movies" or "learning English by listening to songs"? Because you can only learn to use a language well in a correct context. For second-language learners, a grammar book is a 100% correct context. In a grammar book every sentence is correct and carefully categorized. So don't hate grammar books, and still less hate grammar workbooks, especially this one.

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