English grammar

English grammar is the way in which meanings are encoded into wordings in the English
language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and whole texts.

This article describes a generalized, present-day Standard English – a form of speech and
writing used in public discourse, including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government,
and news, over a range of registers, from formal to informal. Divergences from the grammar
described here occur in some historical, social, cultural and regional varieties of English,
although these are more minor than differences in pronunciation and vocabulary.

Modern English has largely abandoned the inflectional case system of Indo-European in favor of
analytic constructions. The personal pronouns retain morphological case more strongly than any
other word class (a remnant of the more extensive Germanic case system of Old English). For
other pronouns, and all nouns, adjectives, and articles, grammatical function is indicated only by
word order, by prepositions, and by the "Saxon genitive or English possessive" (-'s).[1]

Eight "word classes" or "parts of speech" are commonly distinguished in English: nouns,
determiners, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. Nouns form
the largest word class, and verbs the second-largest. Unlike nouns in almost all other Indo-
European languages, English nouns do not have grammatical gender.

Word classes and phrases

Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs form open classes – word classes that readily accept new
members, such as the noun celebutante (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles), and
other similar relatively new words.[2] The others are considered to be closed classes. For
example, it is rare for a new pronoun to enter the language. Determiners, traditionally classified
along with adjectives, have not always been regarded as a separate part of speech. Interjections
are another word class, but these are not described here as they do not form part of the clause
and sentence structure of the language.[2]

Linguists generally accept nine English word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, and exclamations. English words are not
generally marked for word class. It is not usually possible to tell from the form of a word which
class it belongs to except, to some extent, in the case of words with inflectional endings or
derivational suffixes. On the other hand, most words belong to more than one-word class. For
example, run can serve as either a verb or a noun (these are regarded as two different
lexemes).[3] Lexemes may be inflected to express different grammatical categories. The lexeme
run has the forms runs, ran, runny, runner, and running.[3] Words in one class can sometimes be
derived from those in another. This has the potential to give rise to new words. The noun
aerobics has recently given rise to the adjective aerobicized.[3]

Words combine to form phrases. A phrase typically serves the same function as a word from
some particular word class.[3] For example, my very good friend Peter is a phrase that can be
used in a sentence as if it were a noun, and is therefore called a noun phrase. Similarly, adjectival
phrases and adverbial phrases function as if they were adjectives or adverbs, but with other
types of phrases, the terminology has different implications. For example, a verb phrase consists
of a verb together with any objects and other dependents; a prepositional phrase consists of a
preposition and its complement (and is therefore usually a type of adverbial phrase); and a
determiner phrase is a type of noun phrase containing a determiner.

Nouns

Many common suffixes form nouns from other nouns or from other types of words, such as -age
(as in shrinkage), -hood (as in sisterhood), and so on,[3] although many nouns are base forms not
containing any such suffix (such as cat, grass, France). Nouns are also often created by
conversion of verbs or adjectives, as with the words talk and reading (a boring talk, the assigned
reading).

Nouns are sometimes classified semantically (by their meanings) as proper nouns and common
nouns (Cyrus, China vs. frog, milk) or as concrete nouns and abstract nouns (book, laptop vs.
embarrassment, prejudice).[4] A grammatical distinction is often made between count
(countable) nouns such as clock and city, and non-count (uncountable) nouns such as milk and
decor.[5] Some nouns can function both as countable and as uncountable such as the word
"wine" (This is a good wine, I prefer red wine).

Countable nouns generally have singular and plural forms.[4] In most cases the plural is formed
from the singular by adding -[e]s (as in dogs, bushes), although there are also irregular forms
(woman/women, foot/feet, etc.), including cases where the two forms are identical (sheep,
series). For more details, see English plural. Certain nouns can be used with plural verbs even
though they are singular in form, as in The government were ... (where the government is
considered to refer to the people constituting the government). This is a form of synesis; it is
more common in British than American English. See English plural § Singulars with collective
meaning treated as plural.

English nouns are not marked for case as they are in some languages, but they have possessive
forms, through the addition of -'s (as in John's, children's) or just an apostrophe (with no change
in pronunciation) in the case of -[e]s plurals and sometimes other words ending with -s (the dogs'
owners, Jesus' love). More generally, the ending can be applied to noun phrases (as in the man
you saw yesterday's sister); see below. The possessive form can be used either as a determiner
(John's cat) or as a noun phrase (John's is the one next to Jane's).

The status of the possessive as an affix or a clitic is the subject of debate.[6][7] It differs from the
noun inflection of languages such as German, in that the genitive ending may attach to the last
word of the phrase. To account for this, the possessive can be analysed, for instance as a clitic
construction (an "enclitic postposition"[8]) or as an inflection[9][10] of the last word of a phrase
("edge inflection").

Phrases

Noun phrases are phrases that function grammatically as nouns within sentences, for example
as the subject or object of a verb. Most noun phrases have a noun as their head.[5]

An English noun phrase typically takes the following form (not all elements need be present):

Determiner + Pre-modifiers + NOUN + Postmodifiers/Complement

In this structure:

the determiner may be an article (the, a[n]) or other equivalent word, as described in the
following section. In many contexts, it is required for a noun phrase to include some
 determiner.

pre-modifiers include adjectives and some adjective phrases (such as red, really lovely), and
noun adjuncts (such as college in the phrase the college student). Adjectival modifiers usually
come before noun adjuncts.

a complement or postmodifier[5] may be a prepositional phrase (... of London), a relative clause

(like ...which we saw yesterday), certain adjective or participial phrases (... sitting on the
beach), or a dependent clause or infinitive phrase appropriate to the noun (like ... that the world
is round after a noun such as fact or statement, or ... to travel widely after a noun such as
desire).

An example of a noun phrase that includes all of the above-mentioned elements is that rather
attractive young college student to whom you were talking. Here that is the determiner, rather
attractive and young are adjectival pre-modifiers, college is a noun adjunct, student is the noun
serving as the head of the phrase, and to whom you were talking is a post-modifier (a relative
clause in this case). Notice the order of the pre-modifiers; the determiner that must come first
and the noun adjunct college must come after the adjectival modifiers.

Coordinating conjunctions such as and, or, and but can be used at various levels in noun
phrases, as in John, Paul, and Mary; the matching green coat and hat; a dangerous but exciting
ride; a person sitting down or standing up. See § Conjunctions below for more explanation.

Noun phrases can also be placed in apposition (where two consecutive phrases refer to the
same thing), as in that president, Abraham Lincoln, ... (where that president and Abraham Lincoln
are in apposition). In some contexts, the same can be expressed by a prepositional phrase, as in
the twin curses of famine and pestilence (meaning "the twin curses" that are "famine and
pestilence").

Particular forms of noun phrases include:

phrases formed by the determiner the with an adjective, as in the homeless, the English (these
are plural phrases referring to homeless people or English people in general);

phrases with a pronoun rather than a noun as the head (see below);

phrases consisting just of a possessive;

infinitive and gerund phrases, in certain positions;

certain clauses, such as that clauses and relative clauses like what he said, in certain
positions.
Gender

A system of grammatical gender, whereby every noun was treated as either masculine, feminine
or neuter, existed in Old English, but fell out of use during the Middle English period. Modern
English retains features relating to natural gender, namely the use of certain nouns and
pronouns (such as he and she) to refer specifically to persons or animals of one or other
genders and certain others (such as it) for sexless objects – although feminine pronouns are
sometimes used when referring to ships (and more uncommonly some airplanes and analogous
machinery) and nation-states.

Some aspects of gender usage in English have been influenced by the movement towards a
preference for gender-neutral language. Animals are triple-gender nouns, being able to take
masculine, feminine and neuter pronouns.[11] Generally there is no difference between male and
female in English nouns. However, gender is occasionally exposed by different shapes or
dissimilar words when referring to people or animals.[12]

Masculine Feminine Gender neutral

man woman adult

boy girl child

husband wife spouse

actor actress performer

rooster hen chicken

Many nouns that mention people's roles and jobs can refer to either a masculine or a feminine
subject, for instance "cousin", "teenager", "teacher", "doctor", "student", "friend", and
"colleague".[12]

Jane is my friend. She is a dentist.

Paul is my cousin. He is a dentist.

Often the gender distinction for these neutral nouns is established by inserting the words "male"
or "female".[12]

Sam is a female doctor.

No, he is not my boyfriend; he is just a male friend.

I have three female cousins and two male cousins.

Rarely, nouns illustrating things with no gender are referred to with a gendered pronoun to
convey familiarity. It is also standard to use the gender-neutral pronoun (it).[12]

I love my car. She (the car) is my greatest passion.

France is popular with her (France's) neighbors at the moment.

I traveled from England to New York on the Queen Elizabeth; she (Queen Elizabeth) is a great
ship.

Determiners

English determiners constitute a relatively small class of words. They include the articles the and
a[n]; certain demonstrative and interrogative words such as this, that, and which; possessives
such as my and whose (the role of determiner can also be played by noun possessive forms
such as John's and the girl's); various quantifying words like all, some, many, various; and
numerals (one, two, etc.). There are also many phrases (such as a couple of) that can play the
role of determiners.

Determiners are used in the formation of noun phrases (see above). Many words that serve as
determiners can also be used as pronouns (this, that, many, etc.).

Determiners can be used in certain combinations, such as all the water and the many problems.

In many contexts, it is required for a noun phrase to be completed with an article or some other
determiner. It is not grammatical to say just cat sat on table; one must say my cat sat on the
table. The most common situations in which a complete noun phrase can be formed without a
determiner are when it refers generally to a whole class or concept (as in dogs are dangerous
and beauty is subjective) and when it is a name (Jane, Spain, etc.). This is discussed in more
detail at English articles and Zero article in English.

Pronouns

Pronouns are a relatively small, closed class of words that function in the place of nouns or noun
phrases. They include personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns,
interrogative pronouns, and some others, mainly indefinite pronouns. The full set of English
pronouns is presented in the following table. Nonstandard, informal and archaic forms are in
italics.
 Independent Depend
Nominative Accusative Reflexive
genitive genit

(subject) (object) (possessive)

First- Singular I me myself mine my

person mine
(before
vowel)

me (es
BrE)

Plural we us ourselves
ours our
ourself

Second- Singular Standard you you yourself yours your

person (archaic
plural and
later formal)

Archaic thou thee thyself thine thy

informal thine
(before
vowel)

Plural Standard you you yourselves yours your

Archaic ye you yourselves yours your

Nonstandard ye
ye
yeerselves
yeers
yeer

you all
you all
y'all's (or y'all's (or y'all's (o
y'all
y'all
y'alls)
y'alls) y'alls)
youse
youse selves
etc. (see
above)

Third- Singular Masculine he him himself his

person Feminine she her herself hers her

Neuter it it itself its its

Epicene they them themselves

theirs their
themself
 Plural they them themselves theirs their

Generic Formal one one oneself one's

Informal you you yourself your your

Wh- Relative & For persons who whom

whose† whose
interrogative who

Non-
what what
personal

Relative only which which

each other

Reciprocal one
another

†
Interrogative only.

Personal

The personal pronouns of modern standard English are presented in the table above. They are I,
you, she, he, it, we, and they. The personal pronouns are so-called not because they apply to
persons (which other pronouns also do), but because they participate in the system of
grammatical person (1st, 2nd, 3rd).

The second-person forms such as you are used with both singular and plural reference. In the
Southern United States, y'all (you all) is used as a plural form, and various other phrases such as
you guys are used in other places. An archaic set of second-person pronouns used for singular
reference is thou, thee, thyself, thy, thine, which are still used in religious services and can be
seen in older works, such as Shakespeare's—in such texts, the you set of pronouns are used for
plural reference, or with singular reference as a formal V-form. You can also be used as an
indefinite pronoun, referring to a person in general (see generic you), compared to the more
formal alternative, one (reflexive oneself, possessive one's).

The third-person singular forms are differentiated according to the sex of the referent. For
example, she is used to refer to a female person, sometimes a female animal, and sometimes an
object to which female characteristics are attributed, such as a ship or a country. A male person,
and sometimes a male animal, is referred to using he. In other cases it can be used. (See Gender
in English.) The word it can also be used as a dummy subject, in sentences like It is going to be
sunny this afternoon.
The third-person form they is used with both plural and singular referents. Historically, singular
they was restricted to quantificational constructions such as Each employee should clean their
desk and referential cases where the referent's gender was unknown. However, it is increasingly
used when the referent's gender is irrelevant or when the referent is neither male nor female.

The possessive determiners such as my are used as determiners together with nouns, as in my
old man, some of his friends. The second possessive forms like mine are used when they do not
qualify a noun: as pronouns, as in mine is bigger than yours, and as predicates, as in this one is
mine. Note also the construction a friend of mine (meaning "someone who is my friend"). See
English possessive for more details.

Demonstrative

The demonstrative pronouns of English are this (plural these), and that (plural those), as in these
are good, I like that. Note that all four words can also be used as determiners (followed by a
noun), as in those cars. They can also form the alternative pronominal expressions this/that one,
these/those ones.

Interrogative

The interrogative pronouns are who, what, and which (all of them can take the suffix -ever for
emphasis). The pronoun who refers to a person or people; it has an oblique form whom (though
in informal contexts this is usually replaced by who), and a possessive form (pronoun or
determiner) whose. The pronoun what refers to things or abstracts. The word which is used to
ask about alternatives from what is seen as a closed set: which (of the books) do you like best?
(It can also be an interrogative determiner: which book?; this can form the alternative pronominal
expressions which one and which ones.) Which, who, and what can be either singular or plural,
although who and what often take a singular verb regardless of any supposed number. For more
information see who.

In Old and Middle English, the roles of the three words were different from their roles today. "The
interrogative pronoun hwā 'who, what' had only singular forms and also only distinguished
between non-neuter and neuter, the neuter nominative form being hwæt." [13] Note that neuter
and non-neuter refers to the grammatical gender system of the time, rather than the so-called
natural gender system of today. A small holdover of this is the ability of relative (but not
interrogative) whose to refer to non-persons (e.g., the car whose door won't open).
All the interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns, though what is quite limited
in its use;[1] see below for more details.

Relative

The main relative pronouns in English are who (with its derived forms whom and whose), which,
and that.[14]

The relative pronoun which refers to things rather than persons, as in the shirt, which used to be
red, is faded. For persons, who is used (the man who saw me was tall). The oblique case form of
who is whom, as in the man whom I saw was tall, although in informal registers who is commonly
used in place of whom.

The possessive form of who is whose (for example, the man whose car is missing); however the
use of whose is not restricted to persons (one can say an idea whose time has come).

The word that as a relative pronoun is normally found only in restrictive relative clauses (unlike
which and who, which can be used in both restrictive and unrestrictive clauses). It can refer to
either persons or things, and cannot follow a preposition. For example, one can say the song that
[or which] I listened to yesterday, but the song to which [not to that] I listened yesterday. The
relative pronoun that is usually pronounced with a reduced vowel (schwa), and hence differently
from the demonstrative that (see Weak and strong forms in English). If that is not the subject of
the relative clause, it can be omitted (the song I listened to yesterday).

The word what can be used to form a free relative clause – one that has no antecedent and that
serves as a complete noun phrase in itself, as in I like what he likes. The words whatever and
whichever can be used similarly, in the role of either pronouns (whatever he likes) or determiners
(whatever book he likes). When referring to persons, who(ever) (and whom(ever)) can be used in
a similar way (but not as determiners).

"There"

The word there is used as a pronoun in some sentences, playing the role of a dummy subject,
normally of an intransitive verb. The "logical subject" of the verb then appears as a complement
after the verb.

This use of there occurs most commonly with forms of the verb be in existential clauses, to refer
to the presence or existence of something. For example: There is a heaven; There are two cups
on the table; There have been a lot of problems lately. It can also be used with other verbs: There
exist two major variants; There occurred a very strange incident.

The dummy subject takes the number (singular or plural) of the logical subject (complement),
hence it takes a plural verb if the complement is plural. In informal English, however, the
contraction there's is often used for both singular and plural.[15]

The dummy subject can undergo inversion, Is there a test today? and Never has there been a man
such as this. It can also appear without a corresponding logical subject, in short sentences and
question tags: There wasn't a discussion, was there? There was.

The word there in such sentences has sometimes been analyzed as an adverb, or as a dummy
predicate, rather than as a pronoun.[16] However, its identification as a pronoun is most
consistent with its behavior in inverted sentences and question tags as described above.

Because the word there can also be a deictic adverb (meaning "at/to that place"), a sentence like
There is a river could have either of two meanings: "a river exists" (with there as a pronoun), and
"a river is in that place" (with there as an adverb). In speech, the adverbial there would be given
stress, while the pronoun would not – in fact, the pronoun is often pronounced as a weak form, /
ðə(r)/.

Reciprocal

The English reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. Although they are written with a
space, they're best thought of as single words. No consistent distinction in meaning or use can
be found between them. Like the reflexive pronouns, their use is limited to contexts where an
antecedent precedes it. In the case of the reciprocals, they need to appear in the same clause as
the antecedent.[1]

Other

Other pronouns in English are often identical in form to determiners (especially quantifiers), such
as many, a little, etc. Sometimes, the pronoun form is different, as with none (corresponding to
the determiner no), nothing, everyone, somebody, etc. Many examples are listed as indefinite
pronouns. Another indefinite (or impersonal) pronoun is one (with its reflexive form oneself and
possessive one's), which is a more formal alternative to generic you.[17]

Verbs
The basic form of an English verb is not generally marked by any ending, although there are
certain suffixes that are frequently used to form verbs, such as -ate (formulate), -fy (electrify),
and -ise/ize (realise/realize).[18] Many verbs also contain prefixes, such as un- (unmask), out-
(outlast), over- (overtake), and under- (undervalue).[18] Verbs can also be formed from nouns and
adjectives by zero derivation, as with the verbs snare, nose, dry, and calm.

Most verbs have three or four inflected forms in addition to the base form: a third-person
singular present tense form in -(e)s (writes, botches), a present participle and gerund form in -ing
(writing), a past tense (wrote), and – though often identical to the past tense form – a past
participle (written). Regular verbs have identical past tense and past participle forms in -ed, but
there are 100 or so irregular English verbs with different forms (see list). The verbs have, do and
say also have irregular third-person present tense forms (has, does /dʌz/, says /sɛz/). The verb
be has the largest number of irregular forms (am, is, are in the present tense, was, were in the
past tense, been for the past participle).

Most of what are often referred to as verb tenses (or sometimes aspects) in English are formed
using auxiliary verbs. Apart from what are called the simple present (write, writes) and simple
past (wrote), there are also continuous (progressive) forms (am/is/are/was/were writing), perfect
forms (have/has/had written, and the perfect continuous have/has/had been writing), future
forms (will write, will be writing, will have written, will have been writing), and conditionals (also
called "future in the past") with would in place of will. The auxiliaries shall and should sometimes
replace will and would in the first person. For the uses of these various verb forms, see English
verbs and English clause syntax.

The basic form of the verb (be, write, play) is used as the infinitive, although there is also a "to-
infinitive" (to be, to write, to play) used in many syntactical constructions. There are also
infinitives corresponding to other aspects: (to) have written, (to) be writing, (to) have been writing.
The second-person imperative is identical to the (basic) infinitive; other imperative forms may be
made with let (let us go, or let's go; let them eat cake).

A form identical to the infinitive can be used as a present subjunctive in certain contexts: It is
important that he follow them or ... that he be committed to the cause. There is also a past
subjunctive (distinct from the simple past only in the possible use of were instead of was), used
in some conditional sentences and similar: if I were (or was) rich ...; were he to arrive now ...; I
wish she were (or was) here. For details see English subjunctive.

The passive voice is formed using the verb be (in the appropriate tense or form) with the past
participle of the verb in question: cars are driven, he was killed, I am being tickled, it is nice to be
pampered, etc. The performer of the action may be introduced in a prepositional phrase with by
(as in they were killed by the invaders).

The English modal verbs consist of the core modals can, could, may, might, must, shall, should,
will, would, as well as ought (to), had better, and in some uses dare and need.[19] These do not
inflect for person or number,[19] do not occur alone, and do not have infinitive or participle forms
(except synonyms, as with be/being/been able (to) for the modals can/could). The modals are
used with the basic infinitive form of a verb (I can swim, he may be killed, we dare not move, need
they go?), except for ought, which takes to (you ought to go). Modals can indicate the condition,
probability, possibility, necessity, obligation and ability exposed by the speaker's or writer's
attitude or expression.[20]

The copula be, along with the modal verbs and the other auxiliaries, form a distinct class,
sometimes called "special verbs" or simply "auxiliaries".[21] These have different syntax from
ordinary lexical verbs, especially in that they make their interrogative forms by plain inversion
with the subject, and their negative forms by adding not after the verb (could I ...? I could not ...).
Apart from those already mentioned, this class may also include used to (although the forms did
he use to? and he didn't use to are also found), and sometimes have even when not an auxiliary
(forms like have you a sister? and he hadn't a clue are possible, though becoming less common).
It also includes the auxiliary do (does, did); this is used with the basic infinitive of other verbs
(those not belonging to the "special verbs" class) to make their question and negation forms, as
well as emphatic forms (do I like you?; he doesn't speak English; we did close the fridge). For
more details of this, see do-support.

Some forms of the copula and auxiliaries often appear as contractions, as in I'm for I am, you'd
for you would or you had, and John's for John is. Their negated forms with following not are also
often contracted (see § Negation below). For detail see English auxiliaries and contractions.

Phrases

A verb together with its dependents, excluding its subject, may be identified as a verb phrase
(although this concept is not acknowledged in all theories of grammar[22]). A verb phrase headed
by a finite verb may also be called a predicate. The dependents may be objects, complements,
and modifiers (adverbs or adverbial phrases). In English, objects and complements nearly
always come after the verb; a direct object precedes other complements such as prepositional
phrases, but if there is an indirect object as well, expressed without a preposition, then that
precedes the direct object: give me the book, but give the book to me. Adverbial modifiers
generally follow objects, although other positions are possible (see under § Adverbs below).
Certain verb–modifier combinations, particularly when they have independent meaning (such as
take on and get up), are known as "phrasal verbs".

For details of possible patterns, see English clause syntax. See the Non-finite clauses section of
that article for verb phrases headed by non-finite verb forms, such as infinitives and participles.

Adjectives

English adjectives, as with other word classes, cannot in general be identified as such by their
form,[23] although many of them are formed from nouns or other words by the addition of a
suffix, such as -al (habitual), -ful (blissful), -ic (atomic), -ish (impish, youngish), -ous (hazardous),
etc.; or from other adjectives using a prefix: disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen, overtired.

Adjectives may be used attributively, as part of a noun phrase (nearly always preceding the noun
they modify; for exceptions see postpositive adjective), as in the big house, or predicatively, as in
the house is big. Certain adjectives are restricted to one or other use; for example, drunken is
attributive (a drunken sailor), while drunk is usually predicative (the sailor was drunk).

Comparison

Many adjectives have comparative and superlative forms in -er and -est,[24] such as faster and
fastest (from the positive form fast). Spelling rules which maintain pronunciation apply to
suffixing adjectives just as they do for similar treatment of regular past tense formation; these
cover consonant doubling (as in bigger and biggest, from big) and the change of y to i after
consonants (as in happier and happiest, from happy).

The adjectives good and bad have the irregular forms better, best and worse, worst; also far
becomes farther, farthest or further, furthest. The adjective old (for which the regular older and
oldest are usual) also has the irregular forms elder and eldest, these generally being restricted to
use in comparing siblings and in certain independent uses. For the comparison of adverbs, see
Adverbs below.

Many adjectives, however, particularly those that are longer and less common, do not have
inflected comparative and superlative forms. Instead, they can be qualified with more and most,
as in beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful (this construction is also sometimes used even for
adjectives for which inflected forms do exist).
Certain adjectives are classed as ungradable.[24] These represent properties that cannot be
compared on a scale; they simply apply or do not, as with pregnant, dead, unique. Consequently,
comparative and superlative forms of such adjectives are not normally used, except in a
figurative, humorous or imprecise context. Similarly, such adjectives are not normally qualified
with modifiers of degree such as very and fairly, although with some of them it is idiomatic to
use adverbs such as completely. Another type of adjective sometimes considered ungradable is
those that represent an extreme degree of some property, such as delicious and terrified.

Phrases

An adjective phrase is a group of words that plays the role of an adjective in a sentence. It
usually has a single adjective as its head, to which modifiers and complements may be
added.[25]

Adjectives can be modified by a preceding adverb or adverb phrase, as in very warm, truly
imposing, more than a little excited. Some can also be preceded by a noun or quantitative phrase,
as in fat-free, two-meter-long.

Complements following the adjective may include:

prepositional phrases: proud of him, angry at the screen, keen on breeding toads;

infinitive phrases: anxious to solve the problem, easy to pick up;

content clauses, i.e. that clauses and certain others: certain that he was right, unsure where
they are;

after comparatives, phrases or clauses with than: better than you, smaller than I had imagined.

An adjective phrase may include both modifiers before the adjective and a complement after it,
as in very difficult to put away.

Adjective phrases containing complements after the adjective cannot normally be used as
attributive adjectives before a noun. Sometimes they are used attributively after the noun, as in a
woman proud of being a midwife (where they may be converted into relative clauses: a woman
who is proud of being a midwife), but it is wrong to say *a proud of being a midwife woman.
Exceptions include very brief and often established phrases such as easy-to-use. (Certain
complements can be moved to after the noun, leaving the adjective before the noun, as in a
better man than you, a hard nut to crack.)
Certain attributive adjective phrases are formed from other parts of speech, without any
adjective as their head, as in a two-bedroom house, a no-jeans policy.

Adverbs

Adverbs perform a wide range of functions. They typically modify verbs (or verb phrases),
adjectives (or adjectival phrases), or other adverbs (or adverbial phrases).[26] However, adverbs
also sometimes qualify noun phrases (only the boss; quite a lovely place), pronouns and
determiners (almost all), prepositional phrases (halfway through the movie), or whole sentences,
to provide contextual comment or indicate an attitude (Frankly, I don't believe you).[27] They can
also indicate a relationship between clauses or sentences (He died, and consequently I inherited
the estate).[27]

Many English adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding the ending -ly, as in hopefully,
widely, theoretically (for details of spelling and etymology, see -ly). Certain words can be used as
both adjectives and adverbs, such as fast, straight, and hard; these are flat adverbs. In earlier
usage more flat adverbs were accepted in formal usage; many of these survive in idioms and
colloquially. (That's just plain ugly.) Some adjectives can also be used as flat adverbs when they
actually describe the subject. (The streaker ran naked, not **The streaker ran nakedly.) The
adverb corresponding to the adjective good is well (note that bad forms the regular badly,
although ill is occasionally used in some phrases).

There are also many adverbs that are not derived from adjectives,[26] including adverbs of time,
of frequency, of place, of degree and with other meanings. Some suffixes that are commonly
used to form adverbs from nouns are -ward[s] (as in homeward[s]) and -wise (as in lengthwise).

Most adverbs form comparatives and superlatives by modification with more and most: often,
more often, most often; smoothly, more smoothly, most smoothly (see also comparison of
adjectives, above). However, a few adverbs retain irregular inflection for comparative and
superlative forms:[26] much, more, most; a little, less, least; well, better, best; badly, worse, worst;
far, further (farther), furthest (farthest); or follow the regular adjectival inflection: fast, faster,
fastest; soon, sooner, soonest; etc.

Adverbs indicating the manner of an action are generally placed after the verb and its objects
(We considered the proposal carefully), although other positions are often possible (We carefully
considered the proposal). Many adverbs of frequency, degree, certainty, etc. (such as often,
always, almost, probably, and various others such as just) tend to be placed before the verb (they
usually have chips), although if there is an auxiliary or other "special verb" (see § Verbs above),
then the normal position for such adverbs is after that special verb (or after the first of them, if
there is more than one): I have just finished the crossword; She can usually manage a pint; We are
never late; You might possibly have been unconscious. Adverbs that provide a connection with
previous information (such as next, then, however), and those that provide the context (such as
time or place) for a sentence, are typically placed at the start of the sentence: Yesterday we went
on a shopping expedition.[28] If the verb has an object, the adverb comes after the object (He
finished the test quickly). When there is more than one types of adverb, they usually appear in the
order: manner, place, time (His arm was hurt severely at home yesterday).[29]

A special type of adverb is the adverbial particle used to form phrasal verbs (such as up in pick
up, on in get on, etc.) If such a verb also has an object, then the particle may precede or follow
the object, although it will normally follow the object if the object is a pronoun (pick the pen up or
pick up the pen, but pick it up).

Phrases

An adverb phrase is a phrase that acts as an adverb within a sentence.[30] An adverb phrase may
have an adverb as its head, together with any modifiers (other adverbs or adverb phrases) and
complements, analogously to the adjective phrases described above. For example: very sleepily;
all too suddenly; oddly enough; perhaps shockingly for us.

Another very common type of adverb phrase is the prepositional phrase, which consists of a
preposition and its object: in the pool; after two years; for the sake of harmony.

Prepositions

Prepositions form a closed word class,[27] although there are also certain phrases that serve as
prepositions, such as in front of. A single preposition may have a variety of meanings, often
including temporal, spatial and abstract. Many words that are prepositions can also serve as
adverbs. Examples of common English prepositions (including phrasal instances) are of, in, on,
over, under, to, from, with, in front of, behind, opposite, by, before, after, during, through, in spite of
or despite, between, among, etc.

A preposition is usually used with a noun phrase as its complement. A preposition together with
its complement is called a prepositional phrase.[31] Examples are in England, under the table,
after six pleasant weeks, between the land and the sea. A prepositional phrase can be used as a
complement or post-modifier of a noun in a noun phrase, as in the man in the car, the start of the
fight; as a complement of a verb or adjective, as in deal with the problem, proud of oneself; or
generally as an adverb phrase (see above).

English allows the use of "stranded" prepositions. This can occur in interrogative and relative
clauses, where the interrogative or relative pronoun that is the preposition's complement is
moved to the start (fronted), leaving the preposition in place. This kind of structure is avoided in
some kinds of formal English. For example:

What are you talking about? (Possible alternative version: About what are you talking?)

The song that you were listening to ... (more formal: The song to which you were listening ...)

Notice that in the second example the relative pronoun that could be omitted.

Stranded prepositions can also arise in passive voice constructions and other uses of passive
past participial phrases, where the complement in a prepositional phrase can become zero in the
same way that a verb's direct object would: it was looked at; I will be operated on; get your teeth
seen to. The same can happen in certain uses of infinitive phrases: he is nice to talk to; this is the
page to make copies of.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between items, phrases, clauses and
sentences.[32] The principal coordinating conjunctions in English are: and, or, but, nor, so, yet, and
for. These can be used in many grammatical contexts to link two or more items of equal
grammatical status,[32] for example:

Noun phrases combined into a longer noun phrase, such as John, Eric, and Jill, the red coat or
the blue one. When and is used, the resulting noun phrase is plural. A determiner does not
need to be repeated with the individual elements: the cat, the dog, and the mouse and the cat,
dog, and mouse are both correct. The same applies to other modifiers. (The word but can be
used here in the sense of "except": nobody but you.)

Adjective or adverb phrases combined into a longer adjective or adverb phrase: tired but
happy, over the fields and far away.

Verbs or verb phrases combined as in he washed, peeled, and diced the turnips (verbs
conjoined, object shared); he washed the turnips, peeled them, and diced them (full verb
phrases, including objects, conjoined).
 Other equivalent items linked, such as prefixes linked in pre- and post-test counselling,[33]
numerals as in two or three buildings, etc.

Clauses or sentences linked, as in We came, but they wouldn't let us in. They wouldn't let us in,
nor would they explain what we had done wrong.

There are also correlative conjunctions, where as well as the basic conjunction, an additional
element appears before the first of the items being linked.[32] The common correlatives in
English are:

either ... or (either a man or a woman);

neither ... nor (neither clever nor funny);

both ... and (they both punished and rewarded them);

not ... but, particularly in not only ... but also (not exhausted but exhilarated, not only football
but also many other sports).

Subordinating conjunctions make relations between clauses, making the clause in which they
appear into a subordinate clause.[34] Some common subordinating conjunctions in English are:

conjunctions of time, including after, before, since, until, when, while;

conjunctions of cause and effect, including because, since, now that, as, in order that, so;

conjunctions of opposition or concession, such as although, though, even though, whereas,

while;

conjunctions of condition: such as if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, in case (that);

the conjunction that, which produces content clauses, as well as words that produce
interrogative content clauses: whether, where, when, how, etc.

Subordinating conjunction generally comes at the very start of its clause, although many of them
can be preceded by qualifying adverbs, as in probably because ..., especially if .... The conjunction
that can be omitted after certain verbs, as in she told us (that) she was ready. (For the use of that
in relative clauses, see § Relative pronouns above.)

Case

Although English has largely lost its case system, personal pronouns still have three
morphological cases that are simplified forms of the nominative, objective and genitive
cases:[35]
 The nominative case (subjective pronouns such as I, he, she, we, they, who, whoever), used for
the subject of a finite verb and sometimes for the complement of a copula.

The oblique case (object pronouns such as me, him, her, us, it, us, them, whom, whomever),
used for the direct or indirect object of a verb, for the object of a preposition, for an absolute
disjunct, and sometimes for the complement of a copula.

The genitive case (possessive pronouns such as my/mine, his, her(s), our(s), its, our(s), their,
theirs, whose), used for a grammatical possessor. This is not always considered to be a case;
see English possessive § Status of the possessive as a grammatical case.

Most English personal pronouns have five forms: the nominative and oblique case forms, the
possessive case, which has both a determiner form (such as my, our) and a distinct independent
form (such as mine, ours) (with two exceptions: the third person singular masculine and the third
person singular neuter it, which use the same form for both determiner and independent [his car,
it is his]), and a distinct reflexive or intensive form (such as myself, ourselves). The interrogative
personal pronoun who exhibits the greatest diversity of forms within the modern English
pronoun system, having definite nominative, oblique, and genitive forms (who, whom, whose)
and equivalently coordinating indefinite forms (whoever, whomever, and whosever).

Forms such as I, he, and we are used for the subject ("I kicked the ball"), whereas forms such as
me, him and us are used for the object ("John kicked me").[36]

Declension

Nouns have distinct singular and plural forms; that is, they decline to reflect their grammatical
number; consider the difference between book and books. In addition, a few English pronouns
have distinct nominative (also called subjective) and oblique (or objective) forms; that is, they
decline to reflect their relationship to a verb or preposition, or case. Consider the difference
between he (subjective) and him (objective), as in "He saw it" and "It saw him"; similarly, consider
who, which is subjective, and the objective whom.

Further, these pronouns and a few others have distinct possessive forms, such as his and
whose. By contrast, nouns have no distinct nominative and objective forms, the two being
merged into a single plain case. For example, chair does not change form between "the chair is
here" (subject) and "I saw the chair" (direct object). Possession is shown by the clitic -'s attached
to a possessive noun phrase, rather than by declension of the noun itself.[37]
 Negation

As noted above under § Verbs, a finite indicative verb (or its clause) is negated by placing the
word not after an auxiliary, modal or other "special" verb such as do, can or be. For example, the
clause I go is negated with the appearance of the auxiliary do, as I do not go (see do-support).
When the affirmative already uses auxiliary verbs (I am going), no other auxiliary verbs are added
to negate the clause (I am not going). (Until the period of early Modern English, negation was
effected without additional auxiliary verbs: I go not.)

Most combinations of auxiliary verbs etc. with not have contracted forms: don't, can't, isn't, etc.
(Also the uncontracted negated form of can is written as a single word cannot.) On the inversion
of subject and verb (such as in questions; see below), the subject may be placed after a
contracted negated form: Should he not pay? or Shouldn't he pay?

Other elements, such as noun phrases, adjectives, adverbs, infinitive and participial phrases, etc.,
can be negated by placing the word not before them: not the right answer, not interesting, not to
enter, not noticing the train, etc.

When other negating words such as never, nobody, etc. appear in a sentence, the negating not is
omitted (unlike its equivalents in many languages): I saw nothing or I didn't see anything, but not
(except in non-standard speech) *I didn't see nothing (see Double negative). Such negating
words generally have corresponding negative polarity items (ever for never, anybody for nobody,
etc.) which can appear in a negative context but are not negative themselves (and can thus be
used after a negation without giving rise to double negatives).

Clause and sentence structure

A typical sentence contains one independent clause and possibly one or more dependent
clauses, although it is also possible to link together sentences of this form into longer
sentences, using coordinating conjunctions (see above). A clause typically contains a subject (a
noun phrase) and a predicate (a verb phrase in the terminology used above; that is, a verb
together with its objects and complements). A dependent clause also normally contains a
subordinating conjunction (or in the case of relative clauses, a relative pronoun, or phrase
containing one).

Word order
English word order has moved from the Germanic verb-second (V2) word order to being almost
exclusively subject–verb–object (SVO). The combination of SVO order and use of auxiliary verbs
often creates clusters of two or more verbs at the center of the sentence, such as he had hoped
to try to open it. In most sentences, English marks grammatical relations only through word
order. The subject constituent precedes the verb and the object constituent follows it. The
Object–subject–verb (OSV) may on occasion be seen in English, usually in the future tense or
used as a contrast with the conjunction "but", such as in the following examples: "Rome I shall
see!", "I hate oranges, but apples I'll eat!".[38]

Questions

Like many other Western European languages, English historically allowed questions to be
formed by inverting the positions of the verb and subject. Modern English permits this only in the
case of a small class of verbs ("special verbs"), consisting of auxiliaries as well as forms of the
copula be (see subject–auxiliary inversion). To form a question from a sentence which does not
have such an auxiliary or copula present, the auxiliary verb do (does, did) needs to be inserted,
along with inversion of the word order, to form a question (see do-support). For example:

She can dance. → Can she dance? (inversion of subject she and auxiliary can)

I am sitting here. → Am I sitting here? (inversion of subject I and copula am)

The milk goes in the fridge. → Does the milk go in the fridge? (no special verb present; do-
support required)

The above concerns yes-no questions, but inversion also takes place in the same way after other
questions, formed with interrogative words such as where, what, how, etc. An exception applies
when the interrogative word is the subject or part of the subject, in which case there is no
inversion. For example:

I go. → Where do I go? (wh-question formed using inversion, with do-support required in this
case)

He goes. → Who goes? (no inversion, because the question word who is the subject)

Note that inversion does not apply in indirect questions: I wonder where he is (not *... where is
he). Indirect yes-no questions can be expressed using if or whether as the interrogative word:
Ask them whether/if they saw him.
Negative questions are formed similarly; however, if the verb undergoing inversion has a
contraction with not, then it is possible to invert the subject with this contraction as a whole. For
example:

John is going. (affirmative)

John is not going. / John isn't going. (negative, with and without contraction)

Isn't John going? / Is John not going? (negative question, with and without contraction
respectively)

See also English auxiliaries and contractions § Contractions and inversion.

Dependent clauses

The syntax of a dependent clause is generally the same as that of an independent clause, except
that the dependent clause usually begins with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun
(or phrase containing such). In some situations (as already described) the conjunction or relative
pronoun that can be omitted. Another type of dependent clause with no subordinating
conjunction is the conditional clause formed by inversion (see below).

Other uses of inversion

The clause structure with an inverted subject and verb, used to form questions as described
above, is also used in certain types of declarative sentences. This occurs mainly when the
sentence begins with adverbial or other phrases that are essentially negative or contain words
such as only, hardly, etc.: Never have I known someone so stupid; Only in France can such food be
tasted.

In elliptical sentences (see below), inversion takes place after so (meaning "also") as well as
after the negative neither: so do I, neither does she.

Inversion can also be used to form conditional clauses, beginning with should, were
(subjunctive), or had, in the following ways:

should I win the race (equivalent to if I win the race);

were he a soldier (equivalent to if he were a soldier);

were he to win the race (equivalent to if he were to win the race, i.e. if he won the race);
 had he won the race (equivalent to if he had won the race).

Other similar forms sometimes appear but are less common. There is also a construction with
subjunctive be, as in be he alive or dead (meaning "no matter whether he is alive or dead").

Use of inversion to express a third-person imperative is now mostly confined to the expression
long live X, meaning "let X live long".

Imperatives

In an imperative sentence (one giving an order), there is usually no subject in the independent
clause: Go away until I call you. It is possible, however, to include you as the subject for
emphasis: You stay away from me.

Elliptical constructions

Many types of elliptical construction are possible in English, resulting in sentences that omit
certain redundant elements. Various examples are given in the article on Ellipsis.

Some notable elliptical forms found in English include:

Short statements of the form I can, he isn't, we mustn't. Here the verb phrase (understood from
the context) is reduced to a single auxiliary or other "special" verb, negated if appropriate. If
there is no special verb in the original verb phrase, it is replaced by do/does/did: he does, they
didn't.

Clauses that omit the verb, in particular those like me too, nor me, me neither. The latter forms
are used after negative statements. (Equivalents including the verb: I do too or so do I; I don't
either or neither do I.)

Tag questions, formed with a special verb and pronoun subject: isn't it?; were there?; am I not?

History of English grammars

The first published English grammar was a Pamphlet for Grammar of 1586, written by William
Bullokar with the stated goal of demonstrating that English was just as rule-based as Latin.
Bullokar's grammar was faithfully modeled on William Lily's Latin grammar, Rudimenta
Grammatices (1534), used in English schools at that time, having been "prescribed" for them in
1542 by Henry VIII. Bullokar wrote his grammar in English and used a "reformed spelling system"
of his own invention; but much English grammar, for much of the century after Bullokar's effort,
was written in Latin, especially by authors who were aiming to be scholarly. John Wallis's
Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae (1685) was the last English grammar written in Latin.

Even as late as the early 19th century, Lindley Murray, the author of one of the most widely used
grammars of the day, was having to cite "grammatical authorities" to bolster the claim that
grammatical cases in English are different from those in Ancient Greek or Latin.

English parts of speech are based on Latin and Greek parts of speech.[39] Some English
grammar rules were adopted from Latin, for example John Dryden is thought to have created the
rule no sentences can end in a preposition because Latin cannot end sentences in prepositions.
The rule of no split infinitives was adopted from Latin because Latin has no split
infinitives.[40][41][42]

See also

Disputes in English grammar

English prefixes

Subject–object–verb

Notes and references

1. Payne, John; Huddleston, Rodney (2002). "Nouns and noun phrases". In Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum,
Geoffrey (eds.). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge
University Press. pp. 479–481. ISBN 0-521-43146-8. "We conclude that both head and phrasal genitives
involve case inflection. With head genitives it is always a noun that inflects, while the phrasal genitive
can apply to words of most classes."

2. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 296

3. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 297

4. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 298

5. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 299

6. Hudson, Richard (2013). "A cognitive analysis of John's hat". In Börjars, Kersti; Denison, David; Scott,
Alan (eds.). Morphosyntactic Categories and the Expression of Possession. John Benjamins Publishing
Company. pp. 123–148. ISBN 9789027273000.
 7. Börjars, Kersti; Denison, David; Krajewski, Grzegorz; Scott, Alan (2013). "Expression of Possession in
English". In Börjars, Kersti; Denison, David; Scott, Alan (eds.). Morphosyntactic Categories and the
Expression of Possession. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 149–176. ISBN 9789027273000.

8. Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; Svartvik, Jan (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar
of the English Language (https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00quir/page/328) . Harlow:
Longman. p. 328 (https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00quir/page/328) . ISBN 978-0-582-
51734-9. "[the -s ending is] more appropriately described as an enclitic postposition'"

9. Greenbaum, Sidney (1996). The Oxford English Grammar. Oxford University Press. pp. 109–110. ISBN 0-
19-861250-8. "In speech the genitive is signalled in singular nouns by an inflection that has the same
pronunciation variants as for plural nouns in the common case"

10. Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; Svartik, Jan (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of
the English Language (https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00quir) . Longman. p. 319 (https://
archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00quir/page/319) . "In writing, the inflection of regular nouns is
realized in the singular by apostrophe + s (boy's), and in the regular plural by the apostrophe following
the plural s (boys')"

11. Siemund, Peter (2008). Pronominal Gender in English: A Study of English Varieties form a Cross-
Linguistic Perspective. New York: Routledge.

12. NOUN GENDER (https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/noun-gender/) EF

Education First

13. Hogg, Richard, ed. (1992). The Cambridge history of the English language: Volume I. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. p. 144.

14. Some linguists consider that in such sentences to be a complementizer rather than a relative pronoun.
See English relative clauses: Status of that.

15. Fowler 2015, p. 813

16. For a treatment of there as a dummy predicate, based on the analysis of the copula, see Moro, A., The
Raising of Predicates. Predicative Noun Phrases and the Theory of Clause Structure, Cambridge Studies
in Linguistics, 80, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

17. "One Definition" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/one) . dictionary.com. Retrieved 18 June

2015.

18. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 301

19. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 303

20. "Modal verbs and modality - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary" (https://dictionary.cambrid
ge.org/grammar/british-grammar/modal-verbs-and-modality) . dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved
2020-09-24.
21. C.D. Sidhu, An Intensive Course in English, Orient Blackswan, 1976, p. 5.

22. Dependency grammars reject the concept of finite verb phrases as clause constituents, regarding the
subject as a dependent of the verb as well. See the verb phrase article for more information.

23. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 308

24. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 309

25. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 310

26. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 311

27. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 313

28. esl.about.com (http://esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/a/adverb_placement.htm)

29. "Adverbs and adverb phrases: position - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary" (https://diction
ary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position) .
dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2020-09-24.

30. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 312

31. Carter & McCarthy 2006, pp. 314–315

32. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 315

33. British Medical Association, Misuse of Drugs, Chapter 4, "Constraints of current practice."

34. Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 316

35. The Chambers Dictionary, 11th edition

36. Finkenstaedt, Thomas; Dieter Wolff (1973). Ordered profusion; studies in dictionaries and the English
lexicon. C. Winter.

37. James Clackson (2007) Indo-European linguistics: an introduction (https://books.google.com/books?id

=DJDjNp6wODoC&pg=PA90) , p.90

38. Crystal, David (1997). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-55967-7.

39. Stamper, Kory (2017-01-01). Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=3komDgAAQBAJ&q=dryden) . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 27–28.
ISBN 9781101870945.

40. "From 'F-Bomb' To 'Photobomb,' How The Dictionary Keeps Up With English" (https://www.npr.org/templ
ates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=524618639) . NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-04-21.

41. Stamper, Kory (2017-01-01). Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=3komDgAAQBAJ&q=latin) . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 47. ISBN 9781101870945.
42. Stamper, Kory (2017-01-01). Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=3komDgAAQBAJ&q=split) . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 44. ISBN 9781101870945.

Further reading

Grammar books
Aarts, Bas (2011). Oxford Modern English Grammar (https://archive.org/details/oxfordmodern
engl00aart/page/410) . Oxford University Press. p. 410 (https://archive.org/details/oxfordmo
dernengl00aart/page/410) . ISBN 978-0-19-953319-0.

Biber, Douglas; Johansson, Stig; Leech, Geoffrey; Conrad, Susan; Finegan, Edward (1999).
Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited. p. 1203. ISBN 0-
582-23725-4.

Biber, Douglas; Leech, Geoffrey; Conrad, Susan (2002). Longman student grammar of spoken
and written English. Pearson Education Limited. p. 487. ISBN 0-582-23726-2.

Bryant, Margaret (1945). A functional English grammar. D.C. Heath and company. p. 326.

Bryant, Margaret; Momozawa, Chikara (1976). Modern English Syntax. Seibido. p. 157.

Carter, Ronald; McCarthy, Michael (2006), Cambridge Grammar of English: A Comprehensive

Guide, Cambridge University Press, p. 984, ISBN 0-521-67439-5 A CD-Rom version is included.

Celce-Murcia, Marianne; Larsen-Freeman, Diane (1999). The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL

teacher's course, 2nd ed (https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780838447253/page/854) .
Heinle & Heinle. p. 854 (https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780838447253/page/854) .
ISBN 0-8384-4725-2.

Chalker, Sylvia; Weiner, Edmund, eds. (1998). The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar.
Oxford University Press. p. 464. ISBN 0-19-280087-6.

Cobbett, William (1883). A Grammar of the English Language, In a Series of Letters: Intended
for the Use of Schools and of Young Persons in General, but more especially for the use of
Soldiers, Sailors, Apprentices, and Plough-Boys (https://archive.org/details/agrammarenglish0
5cobbgoog) . New York and Chicago: A. S. Barnes and Company.

Cobbett, William (2003) [1818]. A Grammar of the English Language (Oxford Language
Classics). Oxford University Press. p. 256. ISBN 0-19-860508-0.

Curme, George O., College English Grammar, Richmond, VA, 1925, Johnson Publishing
company, 414 pages . A revised edition Principles and Practice of English Grammar was
published by Barnes & Noble, in 1947.

Curme, George O. (1978) [1931, 1935]. A Grammar of the English Language: Volumes I (Parts of
Speech) & II (Syntax). Verbatim Books. p. 1045. ISBN 0-930454-03-0.

Declerck, Renaat (1990). A Comprehensive Descriptive Grammar of English. Kaitakusha,Tokyo.

p. 595. ISBN 4-7589-0538-X. Declerck in his introduction (p.vi) states that almost half his
grammar is taken up by the topics of tense, aspect and modality. This he contrasts with the 71
pages devoted to these subjects in The Comprehensive Grammar of English. Huddleston and
Pullman say they profited from consulting this grammar in their Cambridge Grammar of the
English Language. (p. 1765)

Dekeyser, Xavier; Devriendt, Betty; Tops, Guy A. J.; Guekens, Steven (2004). Foundations of
English Grammar For University Students and Advanced Learners. Uitgeverij Acco, Leuven,
Belgium. p. 449. ISBN 978-90-334-5637-4.

Fowler, H.W. (2015), Butterfield, Jeremy (ed.), Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage,
Oxford University Press, p. 813, ISBN 978-0-19-966135-0

Greenbaum, Sidney (1996). Oxford English Grammar. Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press. p. 672. ISBN 0-19-861250-8.

Greenbaum, Sidney (1990). A Student's Grammar of the English Language. Addison Wesley
Publishing Company. p. 496. ISBN 0-582-05971-2.

Halliday, M. A. K.; Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. (revised by) (2004). An Introduction to

Functional Grammar, 3rd. edition (https://books.google.com/books?id=JM3KAgAAQBAJ) .
London: Hodder Arnold. p. 700. ISBN 0-340-76167-9.

Huddleston, Rodney D. (1984) Introduction to the Grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. (1988) English Grammar: An outline. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D.; Pullum, Geoffrey K., eds. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the
English Language. Cambridge University Press. p. 1860. ISBN 0-521-43146-8.

Huddleston, Rodney D.; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A student's introduction to English

grammar. Cambridge University Press. p. 320. ISBN 0-521-61288-8.

Jespersen, Otto. (1937). Analytic Syntax. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard, 1937. 170 p.
Jespersen, Otto. (1909–1949). A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Vols. 1–7).
Heidelberg: C. Winter.

Jespersen, Otto (1933). Essentials of English Grammar: 25th impression, 1987. London:
Routledge. p. 400. ISBN 0-415-10440-8.

Jonson, Ben (1756). "The English grammar: Made by Ben Jonson for the benefit of all
strangers, out of his observation of the English language now spoken and in use". The Works
of Ben Jonson: Volume 7 (https://books.google.com/books?id=SaM_AAAAYAAJ) . London: D.
Midwinter et al.

Kolln, Martha J. (2006). Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects, 5th
edition. Longman. p. 336. ISBN 0-321-39723-1.

Kolln, Martha J.; Funk, Robert W. (2008). Understanding English Grammar (8th ed.). Longman.
p. 453. ISBN 978-0-205-62690-8.

Korsakov, A. K. (Andreĭ Konstantinovich). 1969. The use of tenses in English. Korsakov, A. K.

Structure of Modern English pt. 1. oai:gial.edu:26766 at http://www.language-
archives.org/item/oai:gial.edu:26766

Maetzner, Eduard Adolf Ferdinand, 1805–1892. (1873). An English grammar; methodical,

analytical, and historical. J. Murray, London.Three Volumes, translated by Clair James Grece
from the German edition Englische Grammatik: Die Lehre von der Wort- und Satzfügung.
Professor Whitney in his Essentials of English Grammar recommends the German original
stating "there is an English version, but it is hardly to be used." (p. vi)

Meyer-Myklestad, J. (1967). An Advanced English Grammar for Students and Teachers.

Universitetsforlaget-Oslo. p. 627.

Morenberg, Max (2002). Doing Grammar, 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
p. 352. ISBN 0-19-513840-6.

Poutsma, Hendrik. A grammar of late modern English, Groningen, P. Noordhoff, 1914–29, 2 pt.
in 5 v. Contents: pt. I. The sentence: 1st half. The elements of the sentence, 1928. 2d half. The
composite sentence, 1929.--pt. II. The parts of speech: section I, A. Nouns, adjectives and
articles, 1914. section I, B. Pronouns and numerals, 1916. section II. The verb and the
particles, 1926.

Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; & Svartvik, Jan. (1972). A Grammar of
Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman.
 Quirk, Randolph (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Harlow:
Longman. p. 1779 (https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00quir/page/1779) .
ISBN 0-582-51734-6.

Schibsbye, Knud (1970). A Modern English Grammar: Second edition. London: Oxford
University Press. p. 390. ISBN 0-19-431327-1. This book is a translation of Schibsbye's three
volume Engelsk Grammatik published between 1957 and 1961. Schibsbye was a student of
Jespersen's and co-author of the sixth volume –Morphology –of Jespersen's seven volume
Modern English Grammar.

Sinclair, John, ed. (1991) Collins COBUILD – English Grammar London: Collins ISBN 0-00-
370257-X second edition, 2005 ISBN 0-00-718387-9. Huddleston and Pullman say they found
this grammar 'useful' in their Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. (p. 1765) A CD-
Rom version of the 1st edition is available on the Collins COBUILD Resource Pack ISBN 0-00-
716921-3

Sledd, James. (1959) A short introduction to English grammar Chicago: Scott, Foresman.

Strang, Barbara M. H. (1968) Modern English structure (2nd ed.) London: Arnold.

Thomson, A. J. (Audrey Jean); Martinet, A. V. (Agnes V.) (1986). A practical English

grammar:Fourth Edition (https://archive.org/details/practicalenglish00thom/page/384) .
Oxford University Press. p. 384 (https://archive.org/details/practicalenglish00thom/page/38
4) . ISBN 0-19-431342-5.

Visser, F. Th. (Fredericus Theodorus) (2003). An historical syntax of the English language. Brill.
ISBN 90-04-07142-3. 4th impression. pts. 1–2. Syntactical units with one verb.--pt.3. 1st half.
Syntactical units with two verbs.--pt.3. 2d half. Syntactical units with two and more verbs.

Whitney, William Dwight, (1877) Essentials of English Grammar, Boston: Ginn & Heath.

Zandvoort, R. W. (1972) A Handbook of English Grammar (2nd ed.) London: Longmans.

Peter Herring (2016), The Farlex Grammar Book http://www.thefreedictionary.com/The-Farlex-

Grammar-Book.htm

Monographs
Adams, Valerie. (1973). An introduction to modern English word-formation. London: Longman.

Bauer, Laurie. (1983). English word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fries, Charles Carpenter. (1952). The structure of English; an introduction to the construction of
English sentences. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1985/94). Spoken and written language. Deakin University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. (1976). An introduction to English transformational syntax. Longman.

Huddleston, Rodney D. (2009). The Sentence in Written English: A Syntactic Study Based on an
Analysis of Scientific Texts. Cambridge University Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-521-11395-3.

Jespersen, Otto (1982). Growth and Structure of the English Language. Chicago and London:
University of Chicago Press. p. 244. ISBN 0-226-39877-3.

Jespersen, Otto (1992). Philosophy of Grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago
Press. p. 363. ISBN 0-226-39881-1.

Jespersen, Otto (1962). Selected Writings. London: Allen & Unwin. p. 820.—includes
Jespersen's monographs Negation in English and Other Languages, and A System of Grammar.

Kruisinga, E. (1925). A handbook of present-day English. Utrecht: Kemink en Zoon.

Leech, Geoffrey N. (1971). Meaning and the English verb. London: Longman.

Marchand, Hans. (1969). The categories and types of present-day English word-formation (2nd
ed.). München: C. H. Beck.

McCawley, James D. (1998). The syntactic phenomena of English (2nd ed.). Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press.

Onions, C. T. (Charles Talbut), (1904, 1st edition) An advanced English syntax based on the
principles and requirements of the Grammatical society. London: Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner
& co. A new edition of An advanced English syntax, prepared from the author's materials by B.
D. H. Miller, was published as Modern English syntax in 1971.

Palmer, F. R. (1974). The English verb. London: Longman.

Palmer, F. R. (1979). Modality and the English modals. London: Longman.

Plag, Ingo. (2003). Word-formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scheurweghs, Gustave. (1959). Present-day English syntax: A survey of sentence patterns.

London: Longmans.

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: English Grammar

 Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: English Grammar Worksheets

The Internet Grammar of English (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/) at UCL

The Englicious (http://www.englicious.org) website for school teachers developed by UCL

English Grammar (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar) at the British Council

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