English Grammar: Language as Human Behavior

For undergraduate and graduate level courses in English grammar, syntax, and writing; also appropriate for a course in teaching English at the secondary level. Approaching grammar as a process and not a product, this text engages students in a conversation about English that will help them reflect on how their language works and understand the social judgments that accompany language use-making them feel they are active participants in shaping their language rather than passive victims of grammar rules that someone imposes on them. Employing the terminology of traditional grammar combined with the insights gained by modern linguistic analysis, it describes English as an instrument of communication, and lays the necessary groundwork for thinking about language so that students can extend what they learn to new situations and apply their knowledge of language in ways most useful to them. Three different types of exercises support the learning and review processes and motivate students to think, talk, and write about English with increasing confidence and sophistication as the term progresses.

PREFACE xiii Chapter 1 WHY STUDY ENGLISH GRAMMAR? 1 Native Speakers and Grammar Study 1 Standard English 2 Judgments About English 4 The Legacy of the Eighteenth Century 7 Reflections 8 Chapter 2 HOW DO WE STUDY ENGLISH GRAMMAR? 10 Why Do People Disagree About Grammar? 10 Who Is the Authority? 10 What Role Do Traditional Dictionaries Play? 10 Online Grammar Sources 12 Why Is There No One Standard? 13 Why Do Languages Change? 14 What Are the Common Elements of English? 16 Constituent Structure 16 Rules and Regularities 19 Reflections 20 Chapter 3 NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES 21 What Are Nouns? 21 What Are Some Common Subcategories of Nouns? 23 What Makes Up a Noun Phrase? 26 Determiners 27 Predeterminers and Postdeterminers 29 What Are the Functions of Noun Phrases? 30 Subject 30 Direct Object 32 Indirect Object 33 Object of a Preposition 35 Complement 35 Verbal Nouns and Noun Phrases 36 Compounds 38 Reflections 40 Practice Exercises 42 Chapter 4 VERBS AND VERB PHRASES 46 What Are Verbs? 46 What About the Exceptions? 50 What Are Some Common Subcategories of Verbs? 53 What Is Verb Tense? 57 What Makes Up a Verb Phrase? 63 What Are Nonfinite Verb Phrases? 66 Compounds 66 What Is SubjectVerb Agreement? 67 Reflections 72 Practice Exercises 76 Chapter 5 PRONOUNS 80 What Are Pronouns? 80 Personal Pronouns 81 Reflexive Pronouns 88 Reciprocal Pronouns 91 Demonstrative Pronouns 91 Relative Pronouns 92 Interrogative Pronouns 94 Universal and Indefinite Pronouns 95 Reflections 97 Practice Exercises 99 Chapter 6 ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS 1 03What Are Adjectives? 103 How Do Adjectives Modify Nouns? 106 What Are Adjective Phrases? 108 What Are Adverbs? 109 Is All Well and Good? 112 What Are Adverb Phrases? 115 Reflections 116 Practice Exercises 117 Chapter 7 PREPOSITIONS AND PARTICLES 120 What Are Prepositions? 120 What Are Prepositional Phrases? 121 What Are Particles? 125 Reflections 127 Practice Exercises 128 Chapter 8 NEGATION 131 What Is Negation in Grammar? 131 Verb Negation 131 Negation of Indefinites 133 Noun Negation 135 Adjective and Adverb Negation 136 Negation of Compounds 137 Reflections 139 Practice Exercises 140 Chapter 9 VOICE 144 What Is Grammatical Voice? 144 How Is the Passive Voice Formed? 146 How Are Grammatical Relations Determined in the Passive Voice? 147 Why Do We Need the Passive Voice? 149 What Is a Truncated Passive? 150 Reflections 152 Practice Exercises 153 Chapter 10 DISCOURSE FUNCTION 156 What Is Discourse Function? 156 Declaratives 157 Interrogatives 158 YesNo Questions 158 Wh Questions 160 Tag Questions 164 Minor Question Types 167 Imperatives 169 Exclamatives 170 Crossover Functions of Clause Types 171 Reflections 174 Practice Exercises 175 Chapter 11 COMBINING CLAUSES INTO SENTENCES: COORDINATION 179 How Is a Sentence Different from a Clause? 179 Sentence Building Through Coordination 179 Clause Coordination and Ellipsis 183 Reflections 185 Practic