Navigating English Grammar A Guide to Analyzing Real Language

An engaging and fresh take on the rules and politics of English grammar, written in lively prose. It goes a step further than most books on grammar by providing an overview of the field, with a discussion of historical and current debates about grammar, and how we define, discuss, and approach it.

• Presents a novel, inquiry-based approach to understanding speakers' unconscious knowledge of English grammar
• Makes lucid connections, when relevant, with current linguistic theory
• Integrates language change and variation into the study of grammar
• Examines historical sources of socially evaluative perceptions of grammar, as 'good' or 'bad', and notions of language authority
• Provides syntactic explanations for many modern punctuation rules
• Explores some of the current controversies about grammar teaching in school and the role of Standard English in testing and assessment

Acknowledgments xv

1 What is Grammar and How Do We Study It? 1

2 Nouns 23

3 Noun Phrases 41

4 Verbs 67

5 Verb Phrases 85

6 The Clause 113

7 Adjectives 147

8 Adverbs 171

9 Prepositions and Particles 187

10 Independent, Coordinate, and Subordinate Clauses 209

11 More on Complementation and Modification 243

Epilogue: Navigating Real Language 273

Index 275

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