The English Verb: An Exploration of Structure and Meaning

by Michael Lewis

THE ENGLISH VERB is an exploration for teachers of the structure and meaning of the central verb system of English. Much that has been written about the grammar of English is detailed and can often seem confusing to the new teacher. Michael Lewis looks beyond the details and finds powerful general truths which help the teacher see English grammar as a coherent system.

Genres: Linguistics, Language

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Sandy Millin]

When I read this for the first time during my Delta course, it completely changed my vision of how English grammar worked. Reading it again now having had five years of processing those ideas and trying to work out how to apply them to the classroom reminded me of some of the key points I had forgotten, but also of the fact that Lewis expressly says 'I beg the reader not to impose the rather abstract explanations of this book on their unsuspecting students' in the last sentence of the book. That's what I plan to continue doing now...work out how to make the explanations rather less abstract and much more useful! At some point, the results will appear on my blog: http://sandymillin.wordpress.com.

[Clare Suss]

This book changed my (teaching) life. I've ust re- read it!

[Andrew Gillies]

Great book for EN language teachers and anyone learning English, including to interpreting level. Destroys a few myths about English verb grammar which has historically been calqued from Latin or French and which didn't really fit with the reality on the ground. For example, did you learn that there were 4 conditionals in English (if I do this then something will happen etc)? It's terribly wrong! Ditto for reported speech and others.

[Christopher Walker]

Michael Lewis's 'The English Verb' is not a book about teaching English exactly, but it contains much that is wise and useful for English teachers (by which I mean EFL teachers) to consider. However, the book is mostly an examination of the central semantic meanings of the different verb forms contained within the English language. Not for Michael Lewis the idea of 'rules and exceptions' - if there are exceptions to the rule, then the rule must be wrong. This iconoclastic approach - Lewis takes exception to many of the ways in which grammar is broached in other books - is revelatory, and will change the way that EFL teachers consider what - and how - they teach.

[Ian Sowers]

This was a re-read. I first read this when I was just starting out as a teacher, and it had a big influence on me. This time around, I found the discussion of modals unconvincing. Otherwise, though, it's pretty illuminating stuff.

[yengyeng]

This slim little volume does not claim to be a comprehensive grammar reference, like Swan, Parrott and Thomson & Martinet. Read this book if you ever lie awake at night wondering if there is a future tense in English, if it is possible to use "will" with reference to past time, if it is possible to use the past simple with reference to the present, if the present perfect can be used for actions in the "recent" past, and is "would" the conditional in English? The answers are no, yes, yes, no and no.

[Criss]

Lewis makes many pertinent points in the book, but many of them feel very disconnected from the current day-to-day reality of ESL/EFL classrooms. Some much needed ways of bridging the gap would be extremely beneficial, especially to newly qualified / in-training teachers.
This is not to say that there isn't a lot of wisdom in what he writes, but it is all too abstract (something even he brings up) and some of the examples did not age well.

[Nick]

Flying in the face of conventional wisdom, Lewis provides clear explanations of English grammar that make sense to language teachers and students. The world of English language teaching would be much better off if Lewis was the main source of pedagogical grammar. This never happened and students worldwide are worse off as a result.

[GwennieA]

Michael Lewis - If you read any ELT book this year, read something by Michael Lewis! He is like the physicist-teacher of linguistics + language education - ah-ha moments everywhere.

Question - Does anyone know any ELT coursebooks inspired by M.L.? thanks!


PS - If you're interested in M.Lewis, start with The Lexical Approach:The State of ELT and a Way Forward.

[Andrea]

Reading this book has been a real pleasure, I think it is full of new ideas and interesting thoughts about the English verb.

[Melissa]

This book will change the way you think about English.