Congratulations! You’ve decided to learn New Testament Greek. Excited? You betcha. Ready to jump right in and come to grips with the Greek alphabet? Absolutely.

May I respectfully suggest that you pause for a moment, take a deep breath and think…grammar. But I hate grammar! I know, but grammar is the superstructure of a language. Without it, words are just a pile on the floor and to make matters worse, they’re Greek words.

May I recommend that before you jump straight into Greek that you spend a little time refreshing your English grammar. There are many similarities and some important differences between Greek and English grammar and this little bit of time will reap rewards.

Fortunately, there are a number of resources out there to help you and one in particular that even makes this chore a little entertaining.

With chapter titles such as “Principal Parts and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek by Samuel Lamerson is a slim volume that compares elements of English grammar with similar elements in Greek Grammar in a diverting style.

If your English grammar has grown a little rusty over the years or you were one of those people whose gaze wandered heavenward whenever the teacher took down the grammar textbook from the shelf, this is a great little read that will get you prepared to meet Greek grammar face-to-face for the first time.

Title: English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek

Author: Samual Lamerson
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2004
Pages: 110

Samual Lamerson is assistant professor of New Testament at Know Theological Seminary in Fort Laudedale, Florida.

His light hearted approach belies a serious intent to get you across the basics of English grammar while at the same time introducing you to the comparable aspects of Greek grammar.

Each brief chapter begins with a devotional relevant to its content, continues with an introduction to the grammatical aspect under consideration, provides a definition of that aspect and concludes with a short series of exercises.

Lamerson looks at generic grammatical elements such as nouns, verbs and verb tenses, pronouns, the article, participles, infinitives and imperatives and introduces several elements of grammar that are unique to Greek such as inflections, deponent verbs and contract verbs.

The introduction to the book includes suggestions on how to use the book and tips for studying Greek including the three gems: work daily, work hard, work smart.

The lessons are coordinated with Basics of Biblical Grammar by William Mounce and the book concludes with three appendices:

a glossary of terms used throughout the book
tips for remembering vocabulary
sentence diagramming for fun and profit

I would highly recommend you get a copy of this little book (available in paperback and eBook editions) and read it before commencing your NT Greek studies. Grammar can be a dry old thing to learn but this book makes it a little bit of fun and will get you on familiar terms with concepts that you will be meeting pretty early on in your studies.

If you read and enjoy this book and would like to flex your English grammar muscles even further, there are a number of titles on the market that go into much more detail. These are full on English grammar textbooks that are not tied or keyed in any way to Greek grammar but they will take you to places you never dreamed existed. Many of these places, however, are exotic and will have very little relevance to your Greek studies.