This textbook provides a thorough and precise account of all the major areas of English grammar. For practical reasons the author concentrates on Standard English and only selected aspects of its regional variation. The book is written for students who may have no previous knowledge of linguistics and little familiarity with 'traditional' grammar. All grammatical terms, whether traditional or more recent, are therefore carefully explained, and in the first three chapters the students is introduced to the theoretical concepts and methodological principles needed to follow the later descriptive...

This elementary textbook provides a succinct step-by-step account of all the most important and central English construction and categories. Rodney Huddleston's earlier work, An Introduction to the Grammar of English, was praised by reviewers for its clarity, and that is a particular strength of this new textbook as well. The book draws on descriptive and theoretical advances made in modern linguistics, but any significant departures from traditional grammar are pointed out. An important feature of the book is that it explains the major grammatical categories at both a language-particular...