English Grammar: The Basics
- Length: 226 pages
- Edition: 1
- Language: English
- Publisher: Routledge
- Publication Date: 2021-05-26
- ISBN-10: 0367633663
- ISBN-13: 9780367633660
- Sales Rank: #0 (See Top 100 Books)
English Grammar: The Basics offers a clear, non-jargonistic introduction to English grammar and its place in society. Rather than taking a prescriptive approach, this book helps the reader become aware of the social implications of choices they make to use standard or non-standard (regional/dialect) forms.
Readers will consider:
- what grammar is and how it fits into the structure of language;
- how grammar functions in the school curriculum, the press, broadcasting and social media, as well as how these outlets reflect and reinforce our attitudes towards grammar;
- differences between speech and writing, as well as between formality and informality;
- major different approaches to theorising and describing grammar from important grammarians, including Noam Chomsky and Michael Halliday.
Featuring a glossary of key terms and practical tips and insights from the author’s 50+ years of language teaching experience around the world, this book is for anyone who has ever found themselves questioning the ‘rules’ of the English language.
Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements Introduction to the reader 1. Everyone knows what grammar is … don’t they? A word for all seasons What grammar is (and what it isn’t) A rough definition Traffic lights and sunrises The rules of the road Universal rules Where do the conventions come from? Prescriptions for the best medicine Grammatical standard-bearers Gathering more evidence I heard it on the radio At the click of a mouse Corpus evidence Describing English Grammar and grammars Varieties of English Dialects Other types of variation This book: What it offers and what it doesn’t The many-headed hydra The basics What else is in the chapters? 2. From words to sentences Taking words apart What’s in a word? Morphemes Different types of morphemes Morphemes and words: Building the system How do words fit into grammar? Words and phrases Phrases and clauses What is a clause? Who does what? Participants and processes Clauses: Different shapes, different meanings Grammar and meaning What sort of mood are you in? Affirmative and negative Clauses: Who’s doing what, where, when and how? Subjects and objects Complements A peaceful agreement: Concord Adverbials: Mobility rules! Are you running a business? Or just running? Let’s hear your voice: Active and passive ‘In-between’ passives Clauses joining forces: Building sentences What is a sentence? Joining up 1: Three little words Joining up 2: Subordinate clauses Conditions Non-finite clauses Taking care of the relatives Relative clauses: Common difficulties Who knows what? Who said what? Reported clauses Chains or Russian dolls? A place for everything: Word-order Into focus Sometimes at the beginning? Or at the end maybe? This section you must read Scaling the heights Is there life beyond the sentence? Bigger links mean bigger chains Linking expressions Taking an axe to the sentence: Clefts 3. The grammar toolbox A toolbox full of words What are nouns for? Naming the world How much coffee makes a coffee? What else can nouns do? Building with nouns Verbs: Being, doing, happening Who does what and to whom? Main verbs, auxiliaries and modals Auxiliary ‘be’: Marking aspect Auxiliary ‘have’: Marking aspect Auxiliary ‘be’: Marking voice Aspect and voice: Using the tools together Auxiliary ‘do’: Yes or no? Auxiliary ‘do’ for emphasis Substitute ‘do’ Modal verbs: What’s true, what’s right That could be true … to a degree ‘You must come to dinner sometime!’ We use small verbs as tag verbs, don’t we … or do we? Might I ask you a question? How long is a piece of string? Colouring in the world: Adjectives and adverbs What’s it like and how did it go? Adjectives: Telling it like it is Adverbs: How did it go? Adverbs as adverbials Conclusion 4. The grammar toolbox continued The other word classes Small words get everywhere Pronouns Getting personal Me and my sister: Subject and object pronouns Reflexive pronouns: Grammatical selfies Each other and one another Is anyone out there? What it’s all about: Clefts Someone or other did it The ones which matter: Relative pronouns Interrogative pronouns: What are they for? Demonstrative pronouns: This is important, that’s not Determiners Articles: Where’s the cat? Interrogative determiners Possessive determiners Conjunctions: Getting it together Coordinating Subordinating Correlative Prepositions What are they for? Prepositions: Should we leave them stranded? No, nay, never … What about all those other small words? Conclusion 5. Theories and thinkers Putting their thinking caps on It stands to reason: Logic and rules Structuralism Noam Chomsky and his grammar Colourless green ideas Transformations From the depths to the surface Bearing everything in mind: Cognitive grammar The mind and the world Symbols and concepts Constructions Use it and never lose it Out of the mind: Neo-Firthians Grammar and context Michael Halliday Functions and systems Grammar in society Conclusion: Theory and theories 6. Word of mouth: Grammar in action In a manner of speaking Speaking and writing: A grammar for every occasion You thinking what I’m thinking? This book, you never know what it’s going to say next … Heads or tails? Pronouns, they work hard, they do Mark my words Taking chunks out of the language We’re beginning to see a pattern here ‘I see him yesterday’: Dialect grammars English grammar around the world Listen up and check this out! Conclusion 7. Grammar policy, grammar politics and grammar police Moral panic The lost generation Grammar in the lockdown What did traditional grammar look like? Policing the grammar: Terminology (Dis-)United States Australia: Whole language or bits and pieces? The UK: From grammar to comprehensive A balancing act Grammar makes a comeback From balance to moral panic Mr Gove and Mr Gwynne Conclusion 8. Grammar in the public eye The grammatical landscape Less or fewer? Putting a (full) stop to punctuation Punctuation and grammar Full stops The rise and fall of the semi-colon Endangered species? The apostrophe Sound–spelling grammatical confusions Pronouns: Not so closed after all? Adverbials: Why do people get affronted? Telling it like it is The linguistic landscape: Being creative with grammar Conclusion Glossary of grammar terms References Index
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