A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar

Contents......Page 5
Notational conventions......Page 6
Preface......Page 7
1. Standard English......Page 9
2. Descriptive and prescriptive approaches to grammar......Page 12
3. Grammatical terms and definitions......Page 13
Exercises......Page 17
Chapter 2. A rapid overview......Page 19
1. Two kinds of sentence......Page 20
8.2 Futurity......Page 0
3. Subject and predicate......Page 21
4.1 Functions and categories......Page 22
4.2 Words and lexemes......Page 23
5.1 Nouns......Page 24
5.2 Verbs......Page 25
5.3 Adjectives......Page 26
5.5 Adverbs......Page 27
5.6 Prepositions......Page 28
5.8 Subordinators......Page 29
6.1 Complement and modifier......Page 30
6.3 Determiner......Page 31
7.2 Clause type......Page 32
7.4 Coordination......Page 33
7.5 Information packaging......Page 34
Exercises......Page 35
1.1 The verb paradigm......Page 37
1.2 Verb-forms and shape sharing......Page 41
2. Finite and non-finite clauses......Page 44
3.1 Distinctive properties of auxiliary verbs......Page 45
3.2 Modal auxiliaries......Page 47
3.3 Dually-classified verbs......Page 48
3.4 The general concept of auxiliary verb......Page 49
4. Perfective and imperfective interpretations......Page 50
5.1 The present tense......Page 52
5.2 The preterite......Page 54
6.1 The present perfect......Page 56
6.3 The perfect in clauses without primary tense......Page 58
7. Progressive aspect......Page 59
8. Mood......Page 61
8.1 Uses of modal auxiliaries......Page 62
8.3 The preterite forms of the modals......Page 65
8.4 Irrealis 'were'......Page 66
Exercises......Page 68
1. Introduction......Page 71
2.1 Distinctive syntactic properties of the subject in English......Page 75
2.2 Traditional errors in defining the subject......Page 76
3.1 Distinctive syntactic properties of the object in English......Page 78
3.2 Direct and indirect objects......Page 79
4. Predicative complements......Page 81
4.1 Syntactic differences between predicative complements and objects......Page 82
4.3 Ascriptive and specifying uses of the verb 'be'......Page 84
5. Five canonical clause structures......Page 85
6. Adjuncts......Page 86
6.3 Modifiers and supplements......Page 87
Exercises......Page 88
1. Introductory survey......Page 90
2.2 Count and non-count nouns......Page 93
2.3 Subject-verb agreement......Page 96
3. Determiners and determinatives......Page 98
3.1 Definiteness......Page 99
4. Complements......Page 101
5. Internal modifiers......Page 103
7.1 Three kinds of fused head......Page 105
7.2 Fused determiner-heads......Page 106
7.3 Fused modifier-heads......Page 107
8. Pronouns......Page 108
8.1 Deictic and anaphoric uses of pronouns......Page 109
8.2 Personal pronouns......Page 110
8.3 Inflection......Page 113
9.1 Genitive NPs as subject-determiner......Page 116
Exercises......Page 118
1.1 Distinctive properties of prototypical adjectives......Page 120
1.2 Adjectives vs nouns......Page 121
1.3 Adjectives vs verbs......Page 123
1.4 Adjectives vs determinatives......Page 125
1.6 The structure of adjective phrases......Page 126
1.7 Predicative complements and predicative adjuncts......Page 127
1.8 Adjectives restricted to attributive or predicative function......Page 128
1.9 Other functions of AdjPs......Page 129
2.1 Adverbs as modifiers of categories other than the noun......Page 130
2.2 Adverbs vs adjectives......Page 131
2.3 The structure o f AdvPs......Page 132
Exercises......Page 133
1. The traditional class of prepositions......Page 135
2. Extending the membership of the class......Page 136
2.1 Prepositions vs subordinators......Page 137
2.2 Prepositions vs adverbs......Page 138
3.1 Prepositions vs adjectives......Page 141
3.2 Prepositions vs verbs......Page 143
4. Grammaticised uses of prepositions......Page 144
5. Preposition stranding......Page 145
6.1 Complements......Page 147
6.2 Modification......Page 149
7.2 The complements of prepositional verbs......Page 150
7.4 Verbal idioms......Page 152
8. Prepositional idioms and fossilisation......Page 154
Exercises......Page 155
1. Negative and positive clauses......Page 157
2. Subclausal negation......Page 158
3. Clausal negation......Page 159
3.1 Verbal negation......Page 160
3.2 Non-verbal clausal negation......Page 161
4. Non-affirmative items......Page 162
5. Scope of negation......Page 164
Exercises......Page 166
1. Clause type and speech acts......Page 167
2. Interrogatives and questions......Page 169
2.1 The form of closed interrogatives......Page 170
2.2 Polar questions and alternative questions......Page 171
2.4 The form of open interrogatives......Page 172
2.5 Open questions and their answers......Page 174
2.7 Echo questions......Page 175
3.1 The structure of exclamative clauses......Page 176
3.2 Exclamative what and how......Page 177
4.2 First person imperatives......Page 178
4.3 Uses of the imperative......Page 179
5. Minor clause types......Page 180
Exercises......Page 181
1. Subordinate clauses......Page 182
3.1 The subordinator that......Page 183
3.3 The mandative construction......Page 184
4. Interrogative content clauses......Page 185
4.3 Interrogatives as complement......Page 186
4.4 Interrogatives as adjunct......Page 187
5. Exclamative content clauses......Page 188
Exercises......Page 189
1. Relative clauses as modifiers of nouns......Page 191
2. Integrated vs supplementary relatives......Page 195
3. Relative words in integrated and supplementary relative clauses......Page 197
4. Fused relatives......Page 199
Exercises......Page 201
1. Comparative and superlative grade......Page 203
2. More and most......Page 205
3. Less and least......Page 206
4. Comparison of equality......Page 207
5. Non-scalar comparison......Page 208
6. Comparative clauses......Page 209
Exercises......Page 211
2. The form of non-finite clauses......Page 212
2.1 Subordinators in to-infinitivals: 'to' and 'for'......Page 213
2.2 Subjectless non-finites......Page 214
2.3 Non-finites with an overt subject......Page 217
3. The functions of non-finite clauses......Page 219
3.1 To-infinitivals......Page 220
3.3 Gerund-participials......Page 221
4.1 Introduction......Page 222
4.2 The simple catenative construction......Page 224
4.3 The complex catenative construction......Page 228
5. Verbless clauses......Page 230
Exercises......Page 231
1. Coordination as a non-headed construction......Page 233
2.2 Bare coordinates must be syntactically similar......Page 235
3. The order of coordinates......Page 238
4. The marking of coordination......Page 239
5. Layered coordination......Page 240
6. Main-clause and lower-level coordination......Page 241
8. Non-basic coordination......Page 242
8.3 Right nonce-constituent coordination......Page 243
8.5 End-attachment coordination......Page 244
Exercises......Page 245
1. Introduction......Page 246
2.1 The system of voice......Page 248
2.2 Differences between active and passive clauses......Page 249
2.4 Lexical restrictions......Page 251
2.6 Prepositional passives......Page 252
2.8 Bare passives......Page 253
2.9 Adjectival passives......Page 254
3.1 Subject extraposition......Page 255
3.2 Internal complement extraposition......Page 256
4. Existential clauses......Page 257
5. The it-cleft construction......Page 259
6. Pseudo-clefts......Page 262
7. Dislocation......Page 263
8. Preposing and postposing......Page 264
9. Reduction......Page 266
9.1 Reduction of NPs......Page 267
9.2 Reduction of clauses, VPs and other phrases......Page 268
Exercises......Page 269
1. Inflectional morphology and lexical morphology......Page 272
2. Basic concepts in inflectional morphology......Page 273
3.1 Consonant doubling......Page 277
3.3 Final y replacement......Page 279
3.4 Alternation between ·s and ·es......Page 280
4.2 The 3rd person singular present tense......Page 281
4.3 The preterite and past participle......Page 282
5.1 Plural formation......Page 285
5.2 Genitive formation......Page 287
6. Grade......Page 288
7.1 The structure of words......Page 289
7.2 Morphological operations......Page 291
7.3 Productivity and lexicalisation......Page 295
Exercises......Page 297
Further reading......Page 299
Glossary......Page 303
D......Page 317
M......Page 318
S......Page 319
W......Page 320