grammar book after Ching and Rimmmington Basic and Intermediate

[dlee85]

I'm coming up to the end of Basic Chinese - A Grammar and Workbook by Y P Ching & D Rimmington and was wondering if this and the next book in the series covers all possible grammar. Or should I be looking for an 'advanced' book.

[anonymoose]

I don't think any book covers absolutely all possible grammar, but the pair of books you mention are very comprehensive. By the time you finish the second book, you will be more than ready to handle native-level material. Of course, it will be difficult to begin with, because vocabulary will still be a problem, but if you have managed to internalise and retain all the grammar in those two books, you will already be amply equipped.

If you still want another book, the same authors also have a Comprehensive Grammar. This covers all the things in the Basic and Intermediate books, sometimes in more depth, which is useful, but note that it is a reference book, which assumes you already know Chinese to a certain extent, and is not a replacement for their Grammar and Workbooks (which incidentally, are the books I used to learn Chinese, and I think they are excellent).

[WestTexas]

I 100% have a boner for their comprehensive grammar book. I think it's great.

[Lugubert]

I wasn't particularly fond of the Essential, but I'm quite happy with the Comprehensive.

[creamyhorror]

I like the Comprehensive, but I had a look through Ross & Ma's Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar and think it has a more learner-friendly presentation than the somewhat technical Comprehensive. Both are reference books.

[character]

There is a workbook available for Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar.

[joapsx]

I am aware that there is a new second edition of Basic Chinese: A grammar and workbook: Could a gentle soul here tell me if there are any major differences between the new edition and the old edition please?

[chanming]

I have this book plus I added another one to my collection: BASIC PATTERNS OF CHINESE GRAMMAR A Student's Guide to Correct Structures and Common Errors by Qin Xue Herzberg & Larry Herzberg. They help me a lot.

[Elizabeth_rb]

The Intermediate volume is pretty good and covers the more obscure stuff. There isn't as much grammar in Chinese as in many other languages (by which I don't mean sentence patterns, I mean grammar book stuff), so materials often seem a bit thin on the ground! Prof Rimmington and Dr Yip have really covered all there is (and are among my old teachers from Leeds uni!) =)