Dear Elvis Ho, greetings! congratulations on your upcoming opportunity. while you may want to purchase a grammar book, I do not believe that the comprehensive grammar of English is necessary. I teach at the college level, and as I am a linguist, I own all three of the Quirk & Greenbaum grammars (A concise grammar of English; a Grammar of English; A Comprehensive Grammar of English). But almost never do I consult the biggest volume of the Quirk series. SOMETIMES I do, but that is so rare. So, I'd say, no need to spend the huge money for that book at this point. Greenbaum, I believe, does a much smaller book called College Grammar, which is good. And you are right, the Quirk/Greenbaum references are very solid ones. I think you might appreciate having either Quirk & Greenbaum's Concise Grammar of English, or their Grammar of English. Also, as people on this list know, I'm mighty fond of Max Morenberg's DOING GRAMMAR (Oxford University Press). This would be another reference for you as teacher, accompanied, I'd expect by a handbook. A handbook I have liked very much is DECISIONS, by .... Rosen, published out of Allyn & Bacon. Rosen is the director of the Harvard Expository Writing [log in to unmask] But again, these would be more for your own reference, rather than for using with the schoolchildren. and now, i am off for a week in North Carolina! best wishes rebecca wheeler _________________ Rebecca S. Wheeler, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of English Department of English 50 Shoe Lane Christopher Newport University Newport News, VA 23606