It’s the 30th anniversary of Raymond Murphy’s English Grammar in Use. To celebrate, we’re taking a behind the scenes look at the history of the blue book that has helped millions of people learn English.
English Grammar in Use has been going for 30 years, so I’ve had a lot of opportunity to make any changes I’ve wanted to make, which is very nice for an author.
I wrote the book as a self-study resource for learners of English from anywhere in the world. I wrote for adults, and I wrote it for self-study: a book that people could use on their own outside a classroom. If they didn’t get the information they wanted or the practice they wanted in the class – about grammar, I mean – then they had this other source of information. I did this because students asked continually for grammar books, which is fair enough: a grammar book and a dictionary are their essential reference tools.
How much has Grammar in Use changed over the years?
There have been lots of changes: mainly small changes, and also additions. But the essence of the book is the same and the way it works is the same. It’s easy to use; it’s clear what you have to do. You’ve got the information on 1 page and the exercises on the facing page. And it’s written for students to use. That means writing in language which is naturally simple. It means getting rid of the words – not having too many words, not being wordy, and avoiding grammatical terminology. Because you don’t need grammatical terminology: grammar and language, they’re not academic things. We don’t need that. I like to present the language: this is how it is; this is how it works; here are some examples; now you have a go. That’s what it is. I don’t need to cloud that in lots of mystery. So I think that’s how it is the same as it was. I hope so, anyway.
How about the content of the book?
The essential content is the same. So really we’re talking more about details. On the left-hand pages I’ve tried to improve the wording of explanations. On the right hand pages, the exercises – I’ve tried to improve them, make them more appropriate to the task. So there are lots of changes on that scale. But in addition to that, there are whole new sections added to the book, additional exercises. There are exercises which cover more than one unit. Also a study guide, which is a kind of diagnostic test. So if a user wants to get some idea of what would be useful for him or for her to study, then they can use this multiple choice diagnostic test which we call a study guide. The look of the book has changed, as well. So originally, of course, it was black and white, and then 1-colour…or 2-colour, rather; and then 4-colour printing. And the general design of the book has been changed, and the art has been changed: that sort of thing.
And finally the book is being updated. Now that covers quite a lot of things, but in particular, sentences like: “I must go to the bank to get some money” – that doesn’t sound quite right these days. You’d be more inclined to just say: “I’m going to get some money…get some money out of an ATM or a cash machine”. But you wouldn’t normally talk about going to the bank to get some money. You still go to the bank, and you can get money in the bank, but normally you go to the bank to do more complicated things. It’s not a routine thing as it was in, say, 1970, 1980. Back then, developing photographs, somebody would say: “Oh, can I see your holiday photographs”, and you’d say: “Well, yeah, I’ll show them to you, but I haven’t had the film developed yet.” So that wouldn’t ring true; people would [think]: “That’s strange.”
It also works the other way. There are things you can say now which you couldn’t have said thirty years ago. So you might say: “I’ve lost my phone.” If you said that thirty years ago – “I’ve lost my phone” – that would be a rather strange thing to say. It’s a bit like saying: “I lost my fridge.” A phone is not something you can lose.
Are changes to standard English reflected?
In the course of the history of the book, standard English has changed. I should clarify that: it’s my perception of standard English. Because there isn’t any one perception of standard English. We have this sort of very vague idea of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in standard English. It’s not a question of right or wrong; it’s a question of what is appropriate in that particular version of English. So things have changed in the lifetime of the book, and I have changed the book accordingly. So a few things that I didn’t have in the original editions are now in the current editions.
Raymond Murphy continues his look back over 30 years in part two of the series – going global