English grammar book for native speakers

[valikor]

Since I sometimes am asked to explain English grammar, I am currently looking for a book I could read (I'm a native English speaker) to help me learn or re-learn the proper grammatical vocabulary and many of the rules that native speakers implement subconsciously..

For example, today a friend said "I want to talk something about " When I corrected her grammar, she was confused and asked if she can say "I want to tell you something about ". I said that was okay. I then guessed that it is due to "tell" being used as a transitive verb, and "talk" being used as an intransitive verb.

Merriam Webster states that both words can be used as transitive and intransitive verbs. I don't know if what I said is correct. Even if it was correct, it was not very helpful because I am unable to articulate the necessary rules, etc, to a non-native speaker.

Does anyone know of any good resources? I'm not especially interested in a huge textbook, especially not with lots of exercises that I don't need.

Thanks!

David

[BrandeX]

You could review this site:

http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramtoc.html

There is also a specific section on transitive and intransitive verbs.

[roddy]

This might suit, as it's aimed at teachers and advanced learners. Cobuild stuff is usually very good (he half-remembered from his teaching days . . . )

[chrix]

There is a lot of books out there, starting with Quirk et al., a 1000 page grammar with a shorter student grammar version.

But whatever you get, stay away from Strunk and White

[perspectives]

I recommend An A - Z of English Grammar & Usage. Explanations in the book are clear, simple and sometimes with pictures or charts.