The original grammar reference

What it is

The English edition is the reference the other editions grew from: 314 grammar topics in eight sections — Parts of Speech, Verbal Forms, Sentence Structure, Syntax Rules, Mechanics, Punctuation, Phonics, and Imagery & Poetry — each with a clear, jargon-free definition and up to ten worked examples showing the rule in a real sentence. Over 3,100 examples in all, including correct-and-incorrect pairs where they help and the occasional joke to make a rule stick.

It reaches from articles and conjunctions to the perfect aspect, the subjunctive mood and parallel structure; main, subordinate, relative, adverbial and noun clauses; every punctuation mark from the full stop to the interrobang, with British and American conventions side by side; phonemes, graphemes, digraphs, the schwa and Received Pronunciation; and simile, metaphor, alliteration, rhyme and rhythm. It explains grammar — it is not a checker, and it never reads or rewrites your own text.

What you can do with it

• Search as you type across every topic, and filter by section.
• Custom list: keep the topics you use most on the home screen; the choice is saved on the device, so a teacher can set a class's list once.
• Five-question quiz built from the topics you have opened, with fresh questions, answer order and distractors on every retake.
• Read-aloud narrator: a professional English voice reads every title, definition and example — over 3,700 recordings — at 0.75×, 1× or 1.25× speed.
• Offline in the apps once activated; the whole catalogue and every recording travel with the app.

Who it suits

Secondary and sixth-form students, undergraduates, teachers preparing lessons, writers and editors who want the rule and an example in a moment, and adult learners who prefer a reference to a course. Younger pupils have the Key Stage 2 & 3 edition (or, in the United States, Grade 3 to 8), and learners who would rather read the explanation in their own language have the multilingual edition.

Try it first

Ten topics are open to everyone at trial.grammarindex.com, with no registration, and every app has the same preview. A licence key unlocks the full catalogue; the same key also opens the other three editions.