A New Form-Function Grammar of English

This book approaches the structure of English from a form-function perspective that is both theoretical and practical. It asks learners to consider meaning, structure, and use, in contrast to many grammars that focus mainly on structure, sometimes to the exclusion of use and even meaning. The book presents an extended introduction to areas of grammar that many would see as indispensable, such as participial and infinitive phrases. The analysis is achieved largely through form-function tree diagramming and extends the basic structures to include finite and nonfinite predicates.

K. Aaron Smith is Professor of English at Illinois State University and the author, with Susan Kim, of This Language, A River: A History of English (2017).