Having found existing English grammar textbooks either too simple or too technical, Depraetere and Langford created one in the middle in order to meet their students' concrete needs but also demonstrate that there is a logical system underlying the rules they were learning by rote memorization. They cover getting started: forms and functions, the verb and its complements, the noun and the noun phrase, aspect and tense, modals and modality, and discourse. Annotation ©2019 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
With more than 50 years of teaching experience between them, Ilse Depraetere and Chad Langford present a grammar pitched precisely at advanced learners of English who need to understand how the English language really works without getting lost in the complex specifics. Now fully updated and revised throughout, the second edition of this book pulls from linguistic theory all the relevant notions that will enable the language student to fully grasp English grammar. After introducing form and function, the authors cover verbs, nouns, aspect and tense, modality and discourse. Readers are led through the underlying principles of language use, with the book presupposing only a basic grasp of linguistic terminology and focusing on the critical issues. Full of challenging exercises and supported by a companion website featuring an extensive answer key, a glossary and further exercises for study, this is the reference grammar of choice for both native and non-native English speakers.