Practical english usage 4th edition

Biography Michael Swan has written and coauthored a wide range of English language teaching and reference materials, informed by 20 years TESOL experience in Britain and abroad. He has published a number of articles on the principles and methodology of second language teaching, and is a regular speaker at international conferences.

M I C H A E L S W A N

Practical English

Usage

Fully Revised International Edition

O X F O R D

PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE

Michael Swan

PRACTICAL ENGLISH

USAGE

Fourth Edition

OXTORD

UNIVERSITY PRESS

O X FORD

U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS

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To John Eckersley, w ho first enco u rag ed my in terest in th is kind of thing

A ckn o w led gem en ts

I am grateful to all th e people who have h elped m e w ith th e p rep aratio n of

th is fo u rth edition I owe a p a rtic u la r debt to Professor Bas A arts of U niversity College, London, an d Dr C ath erin e Walter, of L inacre College, Oxford, who

b o th read all of th e m ateria l in draft, an d w hose d etailed co m m en ts an d

suggestions have su b stan tially im proved the book I am equally in d eb ted to Professor L oretta Gray of C entral W ashington University, w ho also read the

w hole text, an d w hose com prehensive advice on questions of A m erican usage

h as provided valuable su p p o rt for th is a sp ect of th e revision M any teach ers in different co u n trie s w ere good en o u g h to resp o n d to a req u est for suggestions for possible additions a n d im provem ents: m y th a n k s to th e individuals and org an isatio n s co ncerned My th a n k s also to m em b ers of th e staff of th e London School of English, w ho kindly p a rtic ip a te d in a very co n stru ctiv e w orkshop designed to explore ways of using th e book Several specialists have generously

sh a re d th eir know ledge of specific areas of language an d usage, and n u m ero u s teachers, stu d en ts an d colleagues have tak en th e trouble to m ake com m ents

an d suggestions reg ard in g p a rtic u la r entries T heir input, too, has benefited the book considerably I m ust also reacknow ledge m y debt to th e m an y co n su ltan ts

an d co rresp o n d en ts w hose help an d advice w ith th e p rep aratio n of earlier editions co n tin u e as a n im p o rta n t c o n trib u tio n to th e fourth

Any pedagogic g ra m m a ria n owes a n enorm ous debt to th e academ ic

linguists on w hose research he or she is parasitic T here is not enough space to

m ention all th e scholars of th e last h u n d re d years or so on w hose work I have

d raw n directly or indirectly, even if l had a com plete record of my borrow ings But I m ust at least pay hom age to two m o n u m en tal reference w orks of the

p resent generation: th e Comprehensive G ram m ar o f the English Language, by Quirk, G reenbaum , Leech an d Svartvik (Longm an, 1985), an d the Cambridge

G ram m ar o f the English Language, by H uddleston, P u llu m a n d others

(C am bridge U niversity Press, 2002) T heir authoritative accounts of the facts of English stru c tu re an d usage co n stitu te an essen tial source of in fo rm atio n for anyone w riting pedagogic g ra m m a r m aterials today

Finally, it is w ith p a rtic u la r pleasu re th a t I express m y gratitude, once again,

to the editorial, design an d pro d u ctio n team at Oxford U niversity Press, w hose professional expertise is m atc h ed only by th e ir co n cern to m ake an au th o r's task

as trouble-free as possible

page vi

Contents sum m ary

Page

Practical English Usage

Index

page vii

What is Practical English Usage?

Practical English Usage is a c om bined usage guide a n d learn er's g ram m ar It is

in te n d e d m ain ly for ad v an ced stu d en ts an d teachers of English as a foreign or second language; it m ay also be useful to teac h er tra in e rs a n d m aterials w riters

It is no t ad d resse d to native speakers of English, w ho n e e d a ra th e r different kind of reference book

A usage guide

Usage guides deal w ith problem points: w ords an d stru ctu res th a t people have difficulty w ith, or disagree about English, like all languages, is full of problem s for th e foreign learner Some of these points are easy to explain - for instance, the

form ation of questions, the difference betw een since an d for, or th e m ean in g of after all O ther problem s are m ore tricky, an d cause difficulty even for advanced

students an d teachers How exactly is th e present perfect used? W hen do we

use p ast tenses to be polite? W hat are th e differences betw een at, on an d in w ith expressions of place? We can say a chair leg - why not a cat leg? W hen can we use the expression do so? W hen is the used w ith superlatives? Is unless th e sam e as

i f not-1 W hat are th e differences betw een come an d go, betw een each an d every, betw een big, large an d great, or betw een fairly, quite, rather a n d pretty? Is it correct to say There’s three more bottles in the fridge11 How do you actually say

3 x 4 = 121 And so on, an d so on.

Practical English Usage is a guide to problem s of th is kind It deals w ith over

1,000 points w hich regularly cause difficulty to foreign students of English It will be useful, for exam ple, to a learn er who is not sure how to use a p articu la r structure, or who has m ade a m istake a n d w ants to find out w hy it is wrong It will also be helpful to a teacher who is looking for a clear explanation of a difficult language point There is very full coverage of gram m ar, as well as explanations

of a large n u m b er of com m on vocabulary problem s There are also som e entries designed to clarify m ore general questions (e.g formality, slang, th e n a tu re of stan d ard English an d dialects) w hich students and teachers m ay find them selves concerned w ith

Problem s are m ostly explained in short separate entries This m akes it possible to give a clear com plete treatm en t of each point, and enables th e user to concentrate

ju st on the question th a t he or she needs inform ation about In longer entries, basic inform ation is generally given first, followed by m ore detailed explanations and discussion of m ore advanced points

A complete student's grammar

The g ram m atical entries in Practical English Usage are grouped into 28 Sections,

each dealing w ith a m ajor g ram m atical topic (e.g present tenses, passives, nou n s and n o u n phrases, prepositions, relative clauses) So the book can be used not only as a guide to p a rticu lar usage problem s, b u t also as a system atic reference gram m ar For users who like to work in th is way, each Section begins w ith one or two pages giving a general introduction to th e gram m atical topic, together w ith a list of com m on m istakes th a t are dealt w ith in th e entries th a t follow

page viii

The g ram m ar Sections include a good deal of inform ation about th e stru ctu res used w ith p a rticu lar words In addition, the last th re e Sections of th e book deal specifically w ith vocabulary questions, an d include an A-Z guide to over 250 com m on w ord problem s of various kinds.

Approach and style

I have trie d to m ake th e p re se n tatio n as p ractical as possible Each entry

co n tain s a n e x p lan atio n of a problem , exam ples of co rrect usage, a n d (when

th is is useful) exam ples of ty p ical m istakes In som e cases, a n explan atio n

m ay be som ew h at different from th a t found in m an y le arn ers' gram m ars; this

is b ecau se th e ru les trad itio n ally given for c e rta in points (e.g co nditionals or

in d ire c t speech) are n o t always accu rate or helpful E xplanations are, as far

as possible, in sim ple everyday language W here it has b een necessary to use

g ram m atical term inology, I have generally preferred to use tra d itio n a l term s

th a t are sim ple a n d easy to u n d e rsta n d , except w here th is w ould be seriously

m isleading Some of th e se term s (e.g fu tu re tense) w ould be reg ard ed as

u n satisfacto ry by academ ic g ram m aria n s, b u t I am n o t w ritin g for specialists

T here is a glossary of th e term inology u sed in th e book on pages xx-xxix

The kind of English described

The explanations deal m a in ly w ith sta n d a rd everyday so u th e rn British

English, b u t co n trasts be tw een B ritish an d A m erican English are given d etailed atten tio n T here are also brief notes on several o th er v arieties (e.g A ustralian

an d In d ia n English) Info rm atio n ab o u t stylistic differences (e.g betw een form al a n d in fo rm al usage, or spoken a n d w ritten language) is provided w here

th is is appropriate

Correctness and rules

If people say th a t a form is not 'correct', th ey can m ea n several different things

They m ay for in stan ce be referring to a sentence like I have seen her yesterday,

w hich norm ally only occurs in th e English of foreigners They m ay be th in k in g

of a usage like less people (instead offew er people), w hich is com m on in stan d ard

English b u t regarded as w rong by som e people Or they m ay be talking about

form s like ain-l or 'double negatives’, w hich are use d in speech by m any British

a n d A m erican people, b u t w hich do not occur in th e stan d ard dialects an d are not usually w ritten This book is m ainly concerned w ith th e first kind of 'correctness';

th e differences betw een British or A m erican English an d 'foreign' English However, there is also inform ation about cases of divided usage in stan d ard English, an d about a few im p o rtan t dialect forms

The rules given in th is book are descriptive: they explain w hat actually h appens

in sta n d ard spoken an d w ritten English Some usage guides give p rescrip tiv e rules - rules devised by people who feel th a t th e language should be tidied up

or protected against corruption Such rules do not always correspond to actual

usage (the rule about not using less w ith p lu rals is an exam ple) In Practical English Usage, I avoid giving rules w hich do n o t describe th e language as it is

actually used, th o u g h I m en tio n th eir existence w here th is is useful

Vocabulary

page ix

What this book does not do

Practical English Usage is not a com plete guide to the English language As the

title suggests, its pu rp o se is practical: to give learners an d th e ir teachers th e m ost

im p o rtan t inform ation they n eed in order to deal w ith com m on language

problem s W ithin this fram ework, the explanations are as com plete and accurate

as I can m ake them However, it is not always helpful or possible in a book of this

k ind to deal w ith all the details of a com plex stru c tu ra l point; so readers m ay well find occasional exceptions to som e of the gram m atical rules given here Equally, the book does not aim to replace a dictionary W hile it gives inform ation about com m on problem s w ith the use of a n u m b er of words, it does not attem pt to describe other m eanings or uses of th e w ords beside those points th a t are selected for attention Nor does it attem p t to cover all th e vocabulary problem s th a t

learners m ay m eet: for this, an o th er com plete book w ould be needed

Changes in the fourth edition

After co n su ltatio n w ith users, th e alp h ab e tical o rg an isatio n w hich w as u sed in previous editions h as b e e n replaced by a th e m atic arra n g e m en t (see above), so

as to m ake it easier to search for inform ation A n u m b e r of am e n d m e n ts have also b een m ad e to p a rtic u la r en tries to reflect rece n t changes in th e language - for in stan ce, th e red u c ed frequency of som e m o d al verbs, th e d isa p p e a ra n ce of

shall, or cases w here British English is ad o p tin g A m erican usage.

How much do mistakes matter?

It depends on how m uch people need, or want, a high level of correctness w hen speaking or w riting another language For m any learners th is is im portant - for

instance for work, exam inations, or their ow n personal goals - and Practical English Usage will help them to approach standard British/American native-speaker usage

However, it it is im portant for such learners not to becom e obsessed w ith correctness,

or to worry every tim e they m ake a m istake It is quite unnecessary to speak or write

a language like a native speaker in order to com m unicate effectively, and very few adults in fact achieve a perfect com m and of another language For some learners,

on the other hand, accuracy is relatively unim portant: people can use English successfully for international com m unication even w hen their gram m ar differs considerably from native-speaker models However, too m any such differences can

m ake a speaker or w riter difficult to understand, so it is good even for these learners

to aim at a reasonable level of correctness

Note also th a t 'm istake' is a relative term The m istakes listed in this book are wrong

if produced by som eone aim ing to write standard British or A m erican English They would not necessarily be incorrect in som e other varieties of the language

How to find things: the Index

The best way to find inform ation about a particular point is to look in the Index at the end of the book Most points are indexed u nder several different nam es, so it is not difficult to locate the entry you need For instance, if you w ant to know about

using to instead of a whole infinitive, in structures like I hope to, I ’d like to, you

can find the num ber of the entry where this is explained by looking in the Index under ‘to’, ’infinitives', ‘ellipsis' or ‘leaving out words' (On the other hand, it would obviously not be helpful to look u nder ‘hope’ or ‘w an t’: the rule is a general one about infinitive structures, not about these two verbs in particular.)

page x

Using the Index

to (infinitive m ark er) 89.6; u s e d in ste a d of

w h o le in fin i^ " " ~>an 1■ ■'r' A

p ronunciatii

infinitives SECTIONS 8-10; in tro d u c tio n

88; progressive, perfect, passive an d negative infinitives 89; split infinitive

89.7; p erfe ct infinitives (e.g to h a ve left) 90; w ith o u t to 91; to in ste a d of w hole

infinitive 280.1; as subject, o b je c to r

c o m p le m e n t 92; infinitive o r -ing form 99; infinitive or -ing form w ith different

u se s 105; after v erb s 97; after v erb +

o b ject 98; after hear, see, etc + o b ject 110; 'after adj ectives 101; after easy, difficult,

impossible, etc 101.4; after superlatives

(e.g the youngest person to) 101.3;

a fter n o u n s a n d p ro n o u n s 102; after

280 ellipsis: infinitives /

1 to used instead o f w hole infinitive: We hope to.

We can use to instead of the whole infinitive of a repeated verb (and following

words), if the m eaning is clear.

‘Areyou and Gillian getting married?1 ‘We hope to.’

‘Let's go fo r a walk.’ 'I d o n ’t want to.’

I don't dance much now, but I used to a lot.

Sorry I shouted at you I didn't mean to.

'Somebody ought to clean up the bathroom.' ‘I'll ask Jack to.’

Be and have (used for possession) are not usually dropped.

There are more flowers than there used to be ( n o t than there used /<0 She hasn't been promoted yet, but she ought toi

You've got more freckles than you used to have.

in ad v ertisem en ts, in stru ct

in em ails, etc 290.2; in h e a

in infinitives (e.g I d o n 't w a n t to) 280.1;

in n o u n p h ra se s 278; in replies 275.1;

leaving o u t articles 142; leaving ou t

i f 244.4; leaving o u t p rep o sitio n s 214;

leaving o u t p re p o sitio n s b efo re th a t

210.1; leaving o u t th a t 265; o b ject relative

p ro n o u n 234.4; su b je ct relative p ro n o u n

237.19; ellipsis cau sin g c o m p re h e n sio n

p ro b le m s 2 8 5 6-7

than yo u used~tOi)

ellipsis (leaving o u t w ords) :

after adjectives 278.1; aftei

b efore q u e stio n tags 306.8

leave p re p o sitio n 213; + o b ject + infinitive

98; a n d fo rg e t 470; w ith p re p a ra to ry it (e.g I'll leave it to y o u to decide) 269.4;

w ith tw o o b jects 8.1

leave off ing 100.1

leaving out words see ellipsis left (= rem ain in g ) 509

leisurely adjective a n d ad v erb 194.1

page xi

How to find things: the Contents overview

Larger gram m a tic al topics (e.g 'sim ple p re se n t’, ‘articles’, ‘reflexive p ro n o u n s')

c a n also be found q u ite easily by looking th ro u g h th e C ontents O verview on pages x-xvi

INTRODUCTION

35 going to 36 present progressive for future

37 simple present for future 38 will

39 will, going to and present progressive: advanced points

40 future perfect 41 future progressive

42 be to + infinitive: I am to you are to , etc 43 future in the past

12 Determiners: a/an and the-, my, your, etc; this, that, etc

INTRODUCTION

133 articles: introduction 134 articles: basic information (A)

135 articles: basic information (B) 136 more about the 137 more about а/ап

138 no article with plural and uncountable nouns

139 the difference between some!any and no article 140 talking in general

141 the\ difficult cases 142 special rules and exceptions

143 possessive determiners: my, your, etc 144 this and that

145 this/that and i t things that have just been m entioned

INTRODUCTION

173 personal pronouns: basic information

174 personal pronouns: advanced points 175 singular they

176 possessive pronouns: mine, yours, etc 177 a friend o f mine, etc

178 reflexive pronouns: myself, etc

179 reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another

180 somebody, someone, anybody, anyone, etc

181 one, you and they, used for people in general

182 one (substitute word): a big one

However, m an y sm aller topics w ill no t show up in th e C ontents Overview,

b ecause th ey do not have th eir ow n sep arate entries So for in stan ce to find

w hat stru c tu re s ca n be u sed w ith expect or hope, or w h at is th e c o rrect plural form of phenom enon, it is b est to go to th e Index.

page xii

Contents overview

This overview gives a general picture of the topics covered in the book; it is not

a com plete guide to the contents References are to entry num bers To find inform ation about a particular point, consult the Index at the back of the book

Grammar

1 Verbs

INTRODUCTION

1 irregular verbs 2 active verb tenses 3 progressive structures

4 non-progressive verbs 5 progressive w ith always, etc

6 perfect structures 7 subjects, objects and com plem ents

8 verbs w ith two objects 9 verbs w ith bo th active and passive m eanings

10 verb + object + com plem ent: You m ake m e nervous.

2 Be, have and do

INTRODUCTION

21 have: introduction 22 have: auxiliary verb 23 have: actions

24 have (got): possession, relationships and other states 25 be an d have

26 do: introduction 27 do: auxiliary verb 28 do: substitute verb ( / m ay do.)

29 do so /it/th a t

3 Present Tenses

INTRODUCTION

30 sim ple present: forms 31 sim ple present: use

34 present tenses: advanced points

4 Talking about the Future

INTRODUCTION

35 going to 36 p resen t progressive for future

39 will, going to an d present progressive: advanced points

40 future perfect 41 future progressive

42 be to + infinitive: I a m to , you are to , etc 43 future in the past

5 Past and Perfect Tenses

INTRODUCTION

44 sim ple past 45 past progressive

46 past form with present or future m eaning 47 present perfect: basic information

48 present perfect or past? 49 p resen t perfect or past: advanced points

C ontents overview • xiii

To find the answer to a specific question, see the Index ►

50 p resent perfect progressive

51 p resent perfect sim ple or progressive? 52 p resen t perfect or present?

53 past perfect: basic inform ation 54 past perfect: advanced points

55 past perfect: progressive 56 This is the first/la st etc

6 Passives

INTRODUCTION

57 passive structures and verb form s 58 by + agent

59 passive m odal structures: It can be done tomorrow.

60 get as passive auxiliary: He got caught.

61 verbs with two objects in the passive 62 verbs with prepositions in the passive

63 It was thought that 64 He is believed to be

67 W hen do we use passive structures?

7 Modal Auxiliary Verbs

INTRODUCTION

68 m odals: gram m ar, p ro nunciation and contractions

69 deduction (deciding th at som ething is certain): must, can't, etc

70 deduction (deciding th a t som ething is probable): should, ought to, etc

71 chances: may, m ight and could 72 m ay and might: som e special uses

73 strong obligation: must, will 74 strong obligation: have (got) to

75 have (got) to and m u st 76 w eaker obligation: should an d ought to

77 w eaker obligation: h a d better 78 expectations: supposed to

79 willingness: will, can

80 instructions and requests: will, would, can, could, might, shall

81 perm ission: can, could, may, might, be allowed to 82 ability: can and could

83 ability: advanced points 84 can and could w ith see, hear, etc

85 be able to 86 typical behaviour: can, could, may, might, will, would

87 typical behaviour: used to + infinitive

8 Infinitives, -ing forms and Past Participles

INTRODUCTION

88 infinitives: introduction 89 infinitives: forms

90 use of perfect infinitives: glad to have left

91 infinitives w ithout to: I saw you come in.

92 infinitive as subject or com plem ent 93 -m g forms: introduction

94 -ing form as subject, object or com plem ent

95 infinitive o r -in g form? 96 participles: -ing and -ed forms used like adjectives

9 Infinitives, -ing forms and Past Participles after Nouns, Verbs, etc

INTRODUCTION

97 infinitives after verbs: It's beginning to rain.

98 verb + object + infinitive: I w a n t you to listen 99 try a n d , go a n d , etc

100 -ing form s after verbs: I enjoy travelling.

101 infinitives after adjectives: pleased to see you

102 infinitives after nou n s and pronouns: m y decision to leave

103 -ing form s after nou n s and adjectives: tired o f listening

C ontents overview • xiv

104 -ing form s after prepositions: w ithout breaking eggs

105 infinitives or -ing forms: both possible with different uses

106 active an d passive infinitive with sim ilar m eaning

107 causative structures w ith m ake 108 causative and similar structures with get

109 causative an d sim ilar structures w ith have

110 hear, see, etc + object + verb form

10 Infinitives, -ing forms and Past Participles: Other Uses

INTRODUCTION

111 infinitives after question words: who t o , etc

112 infinitive of purpose: I sat dow n to rest 113 fo r to

11 Nouns and Noun Phrases; Agreement

INTRODUCTION

118 pronunciation of plurals

119 countable and unco u n tab le nouns: basic inform ation

120 countable and unco u n tab le nouns: advanced points

121 piece- and group-w ords: a blade o f grass; a bunch o f flowers

122 noun + complement: W hat can follow a noun?

125 nouns in com bination: m ilk chocolate

126 classifying expressions: n o u n + n o u n or preposition structure?

127 classifying expressions w i t h ’s: a child’s toy; cow's m ilk

128 singular expressions w ith plural verbs

129 plural expressions w ith singular verbs

130 m ixed singular and plural: o ther structures

131 distributive plural: Tell them to bring raincoats.

132 turning verbs into nouns: a cough, a taste

12 Determiners: a/an and the; my, your, etc; this, that, etc

INTRODUCTION

138 no article w ith plural and u ncountable nouns

145 th is/th a t and it: things th at have ju st been m entioned

13 Determiners: Quantifiers

INTRODUCTION

158 som e 159 any 160 any = ‘it d o esn ’t m atter w h o /w h ich /w h at’

C ontents overview • xv

To find the answer to a specific question, see the Index ►

161 som e and any: the m ain differences 162 a ny and every: the difference

170 least and few est 171 enough

172 quantifying expressions: a lot, lots, a great deal, the majority, etc

14 Pronouns

INTRODUCTION

173 personal pronouns: basic inform ation

178 reflexive pronouns: myself, etc

179 reciprocal pronouns: each other an d one another

180 somebody, someone, anybody, anyone, etc

181 one, you and they: used for people in general

182 one (substitute word): a big one

15 Adjectives

INTRODUCTION

186 adjectives after nouns and pronouns

187 adjectives: position after as, how, so, too 188 adjectives without nouns

189 gradable and non-gradable adjectives

190 m easurements: ‘m arked’ and ‘unm arked’ forms

16 Adverbs and Adverbials

INTRODUCTION

193 adverbs of m anner and adjectives 194 adverbs or adjectives: confusing cases

195 adverb particles: up, down, back, away, etc

200 m id-position: details 201 m anner, place and tim e

202 adverbials modifying adverbials: terribly sorry; right pa st m e

17 Comparison

INTRODUCTION

203 as as; as m u c h /m a n y as 204 com parative and superlative adjectives

205 com parative and superlative adverbs

206 using com paratives and superlatives 207 m uch older, by fa r the oldest, etc

208 com parison: advanced points

18 Prepositions

INTRODUCTION

209 prepositions at the ends of clauses 210 prepositions before conjunctions

211 - ing form s and infinitives

212 prepositions before particular w ords and expressions

C ontents overview • xvi

213 prepositions after particular w ords an d expressions

214 expressions w ithout prepositions

19 Basic Clause Types

INTRODUCTION

215 sentence structure: basic w ord order 216 questions: basic rules

217 negative structures: basic rules 218 negative questions

219 negative structures w ith think, hope, seem, etc

220 m ultiple negatives: I couldn't see nobody.

221 am biguous negatives

222 non-affirm ative words: anybody, ever, yet, etc 223 exclam ations

224 im peratives 225 let introducing im peratives

20 Conjunctions, Sentences and Clauses

INTRODUCTION

226 putting things together: and, but, or

227 not or; not nor; a n d not

228 em phatic coordination: both and; (n)either (n)or; not only

229 subordinate clauses: som e general points

230 who, which, what, etc after prepositions

231 tense sim plification in subordinate clauses

232 subjunctive: th a t she go, that they be, i f I were, etc

21 Relative Clauses

INTRODUCTION

233 relatives: basic inform ation

234 identifying an d non-identifying clauses:

the tall m an w h o ; M r Rogers, w h o

235 whose 236 w hat 237 relatives: advanced points

22 If

INTRODUCTION

238 ordinary structures 239 special structures with past tenses and would

240 i f I were you 241 unreal past situations 242 i f only 243 i f will

244 o ther points 245 o ther structures found in spoken English

246 other w ords a n d expressions w ith sim ilar uses 247 unless

248 in case an d if

23 Other Adverbial Clauses

INTRODUCTION

249 after: conjunction 250 before: conjunction

251 as, when and while: sim ultaneous events 252 whoever, whatever, etc

253 no m atter who, etc 254 whether or

255 as an d though: special w ord order

256 than- and as-clauses: leaving out subjects, etc

Contents overview • xvii

To find the answer to a specific question, see the Index ►

24 Noun Clauses, Direct and Indirect Speech

INTRODUCTION

257 direct speech: reporting verbs and word order

258 indirect speech: introduction 259 indirect speech: tenses

260 indirect speech: questions and answers 261 whether and if

262 indirect speech: infinitives 263 indirect speech: advanced points

264 that-clauses 265 leaving out that 266 interrogative (question-word) clauses

25 Information Structure

INTRODUCTION

267 inform ation structure: norm al order an d variations

268 preparatory it: subject 269 preparatory it: object

270 inversion: auxiliary verb before subject

271 inversion: full verb before subject

272 fronting: This question we have already discussed.

273 cleft sen ten ces: It was m y secretary who

274 cleft sentences: W hat I need is a rest.

275 ellipsis (leaving w ords out): introduction

276 ellipsis with and, b u t and or 277 ellipsis at the beginning of a sentence

278 ellipsis in n o u n phrases 279 ellipsis after auxiliary verbs

280 ellipsis: infinitives

26 Written Texts

INTRODUCTION

281 form ality 282 p ro n o u n s and o ther proform s

283 linking w ith conjunctions an d adverbs 284 discourse m arkers in w riting

285 reading com plicated structures 286 paragraphs 287 repetition

288 academ ic w riting 289 correspondence: letters

290 correspondence: emails, text m essages, etc 291 abbreviated styles

292 headlines 293 punctuation: full stop, question m ark and exclam ation m ark

294 punctuation: colon 295 punctuation: sem i-colon

296 punctuation: com m a 297 punctuation: dash

298 punctuation: quotation m arks

27 Speech and Spoken Exchanges

INTRODUCTION

299 spoken sentence structure 300 avoiding repetition: Wonderful, isn ’t it?

301 discourse m arkers in speech 302 declarative questions: That’s the boss?

303 rhetorical questions: Who cares?

304 echo questions: She's invited how many?

305 question tags: basic inform ation 306 question tags: advanced points

307 reply questions: Was it? D id you, dear? 308 short answers: Yes, he can, etc

309 so am I, neither do they, etc 310 politeness: using questions

311 politeness: distancing verb form s 312 politeness: softening expressions

313 pronunciation: stress and rhythm 314 pronunciation: intonation

315 pronunciation: weak an d strong forms

C ontents overview • xviii

28 Varieties of English

INTRODUCTION

316 stan d ard English and dialects 317 correctness 318 changes in English

319 A m erican and British English 320 other varieties of English

Vocabulary

29 Vocabulary Areas

INTRODUCTION

321 nationalities, countries and regions 322 num b ers 323 talking about age

324 dates 325 telling th e tim e 326 n am es and titles: Daniel; M r Lewis

327 nam es: Florence, Homer, etc 328 gender (references to m ales and females)

329 ‘social’ language 33 m eals 331 telephoning

332 idiom s, collocations an d form ulaic expressions

333 form al an d inform al vocabulary 334 slang

335 discrim inatory and offensive language

30 Word Formation and Spelling

INTRODUCTION

336 abbreviations 337 contractions: I'll, d o n ’t, etc 338 prefixes an d suffixes

339 -ic an d -ical 340 apostrophes 341 capital letters 342 hyphens

343 -ise and -ize 344 -able and -ible 345 -ly 346 final e

347 doubling final consonants 348 у a n d i 349 ch and tch, к and ck

350 ie a n d e i 351 spelling and pronunciation

31 Word Problems from A to Z 352-635

Contents overview • xix

To find the answer to a specific question, see the Index ►

L a n g u a g e te rm in o lo g y

The following w ords an d expressions are u se d in th is book to talk ab o u t g ram m ar

an d o th er aspects of language

abstract noun (the opposite of a concrete noun) the nam e of som ething

w hich we experience as an idea, n o t by seeing, touching, etc Examples: doubt; height; geography.

active An active verb form is one like breaks, told, will help (not like is broken,

was told, will be helped, w hich are passive verb forms) The subject of an

active verb is usually the person or thing th at does the action, or that is

responsible for w hat happens,

adjective a word like green, hungry, impossible, w hich is used w hen we

describe people, things, events, etc Adjectives are used in connection w ith

nouns and pronouns Examples: a green apple; S he’s hungry

adjective clause another nam e for relative clause

adverb a w ord like tomorrow, once, badly, there, also, w hich is used to say,

for example, w hen, w here or how som ething happens,

adverbial an adverb, or a longer expression w hich has a similar function to an

adverb in a clause Examples: I usually get up a t seven o ’clock on weekdays

adverbial clause a clause which functions as an adverbial Examples: On Sundays

I usually get up w hen I w ake up; I'll phone you i f l ha ve time

adverb particle a short adverb like up, out, off, often used as part of a phrasal

verb (e.g clean up, look out, tell off)

affirmative an affirmative sentence is one that m akes a positive statem ent -

n o t a negative sentence or a question C om pare I agree (affirmative); I d o n ’t agree (negative).

agent In a passive sentence, the agent is the expression that says who or w hat

an action is done by Example: This picture was probably painted by a child

article A, an and the are called 'articles! A !an is called the 'indefinite article';

the is called the 'definite article!

aspect Many gram m arians prefer to talk about progressive and perfective aspect,

rather th an progressive and perfect tense, since these form s express o ther ideas

besides tim e (e.g continuity, com pletion) However, in this book the term tense

is often used to include aspect, for the sake of simplicity,

attributive Adjectives placed before nouns are in ‘attributive position!

auxiliary verb a verb like be, have, do which is used with another verb to make

tenses, passive forms, etc Examples: She w as writing; Where ha ve you p u t itl

base form the form of a verb that has no endings or other changes, used for

exam ple in infinitives, im peratives and present tenses (except third person

singular) Examples: I ’d like to phone; Pass the salt

clause a stretch of language w hich contains a subject and a finite verb Sentences

consist of one or m ore clauses Examples: A lex c o u ld n ’t com e today I'll be

g la d when H arry gets back The w ord clause is also som etim es used for som e structures containing participles or infinitives Example: N o t kn o w in g w h a t to

do, I telephoned Robin See also co-ordinate clause, main clause, subordinate clause.

Language term inology • xx

cleft sentence a sentence in w hich special em phasis is given to one part (e.g

the subject or th e object) by using a structure w ith it or what Examples: It was you that caused the accident; W hat I need is a drink

collective noun a singular word for a group Examples: fa m ily; team

comparative the form of an adjective or adverb m ade with -er (e.g older,

faster); also the structure more + adjective/adverb, used in the sam e way

(e.g more useful, more politely)

complement 1 (predicative com plem ent) a part of a sentence that gives m ore

inform ation about the subject (after be, seem and som e o ther verbs), or, in som e structures, about the object Examples: You're the right person to help; She looks very kind; I hey elected him President.

2 a structure or w ords n e ed ed after a noun, adjective, verb or preposition

to com plete its m eaning Examples: the intention to travel; fu ll o f water;

try phoning; dow n the street

compound a com pound noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc is one that is

m ade of two or m ore parts Examples: bus driver; get on with; one-eyed

concrete noun (the opposite of an abstract noun) the nam e of som ething which we

can experience by seeing, touching, etc Examples: cloud; petrol; raspberry

conditional a clause or sentence containing «/(or a w ord with a similar meaning)

Examples: I f you try you'll understand; I w ould be surprised i f she knew;

Supposing the train had been late, w hat w ould you have done?

conjunction a word like and, but, although, because, when, if, which can be

used to join clauses together Example: I rang because I was worried

consonant for example, the letters b, c , d , f g an d their usual sounds (see

Phonetic alphabet, page xxx) See also vowel,

continuous the sam e as progressive.

contraction a short form in w hich a subject and an auxiliary verb, or

an auxiliary verb and the word not, are joined together into one word

Contractions are also m ade w ith non-auxiliary be an d have.

Examples: I'm; who've; lo h n ’ll; can’t

co-ordinate clause one of two or m ore clauses of equal 'value' th at are connected

Examples: Shall I com e to y o u r place or w o u ld y o u like to com e to mine?;

I t ’s cooler to d a y a n d there's a b it o f a w ind See also clause, main clause, subordinate clause.

co-ordinating conjunction a conjunction that joins co-ordinate clauses or other

co-ordinate structures Examples: and, but, or

countable noun a n o u n like car, dog, idea, w hich can have a plural form, and

declarative question a question which has the sam e gram m atical form as a

statem ent Example: That's your girlfriend?

definite article the.

defining relative see identifying relative,

demonstrative this, these, that, those.

determiner one of a group of w ords that begin noun phrases D eterm iners

include a/a n , the, my, this, each, either, several, more, both, all

direct object see object.

Language term inology • xxi

direct speech speech reported ‘directly! in the words used by the original

speaker (m ore or less), w ithout any changes of tense, pronouns, etc Example:

She looked a t m e an d said, 'This is m y m o n e y ’ See also indirect speech,

discourse marker a word or expression which shows the connection betw een

w hat is being said and the w ider context A discourse m arker may, for

example, connect a sentence w ith w hat com es before or after, or it may show

the speaker’s attitude to w hat h e /sh e is saying Examples: on the other hand; frankly; as a m atter o f fact

duration how long som ething lasts The preposition fo r can be used w ith an

expression of tim e to indicate duration,

ellipsis leaving out words w hen their m eaning can be understood from the context.

Examples: (It’s a) Nice day, isn't it?; It was better than I expected (it would be)

emphasis giving special im portance to one part of a word or sentence

(for exam ple by pronouncing it m ore loudly; by w riting it in capital letters;

by using do in an affirmative clause; by using special w ord order),

emphatic pronoun reflexive pronoun (myself, yourself, etc) used to em phasise

a n o u n or pronoun Examples: I'll tell him myself, I w ouldn’t sell this to the president him self See also reflexive pronoun,

ending som ething added to the end of a word, e.g -er, -ing, -ed

finite verb Verbs which show tim e (e.g goes, went) are often called ‘finite’ in

gram m ars; o ther form s (e.g written, playing) are called 'non-finite!

first person see person.

formal the style used w hen talking politely to strangers, on special occasions,

in som e literary writing, in business letters, etc For example, com m ence is a

m ore form al w ord th an start

frequency Adverbials of frequency say how often som ething happens Examples:

often; never; daily; occasionally; every three days

fronting moving a part of a clause to the beginning in order to give it special

em phasis Example: Jack I like, b u t his wife I can't stand

full verb a verb that is not an auxiliary verb Examples: work, remove, explain future a verb tense m ade with the auxiliary will (or som etim es shall) + infinitive

w ithout to Example: I w ill arrive on Tuesday evening

future perfect a verb tense m ade with shall/will + have + past participle.

Example: I w ill have fin is h e d by lunchtime

future progressive (or future continuous) a verb tense m ade with

shall!will + be + .ing Example: I w ill be needing the car this evening

gender the use of different gram m atical forms to show the difference betw een

m asculine, fem inine and neuter, or betw een h u m an an d no nhum an

Examples: he; she; it; who; which

gerund the form of a verb ending in -ing, used like a noun (for example, as the

subject or object of a sentence) Examples: S m o kin g is bad fo r you; I hate getting up early See also present participle,

gradable Pretty, hard or cold are gradable adjectives: things can be m ore or

less pretty, hard or cold Adverbs of degree (like rather, very) can be used w ith gradable words Perfect or dead are not gradable words: we do not usually say that som ething is m ore or less perfect, or very dead.

Language term inology • xxii

grammar the rules that show how words are com bined, arranged or changed

to show certain kinds of m eaning,

hypothetical Some words and structures (e.g m odal verbs, (/-clauses) are used for

hypothetical situations - that is to say, situations which may not happen, or are

imaginary Example: W hat would you do i f you had six m onths free?

identifying (or defining) relative clause a relative clause which identifies a

n o u n - w hich tells us w hich person or thing is being talked about Example:

There’s the w om an w ho tried to steal y o u r cat (The relative clause who tried

to steal your cat identifies the w om an - it tells us w hich w om an is m eant.)

imperative th e form of a verb used to give orders, m ake suggestions, etc.

Examples: B ring m e a pen; H ave a good holiday

indefinite article a/an

indirect object see object.

indirect speech a structure in which we report w hat som ebody said by making

it part of our own sentence (so th at the tenses, w ord order, p ronouns and other w ords m ay be different from those used by the original speaker)

Com pare: He said ‘I ’m tired’ (the original speaker’s w ords are reported in direct speech) and He said th a t he w as tired (the original speaker's w ords are

rep o rted in indirect speech),

infinitive the base form of a word (usually w ith to), used after another verb,

after an adjective or noun, or as th e subject or com plem ent of a sentence

Examples: I w a n t to go hom e; It’s easy to sing-, I've got a plan to sta rt a

business-, To err is hum an, to fo rg ive divine

informal the style used in ordinary conversation, personal letters, etc, when there is

no special reason to speak politely or carefully I'll is m ore informal than I will; get

is used mostly in an informal style; start is a m ore informal word than commence

-ing form the form of a verb ending in -ing Examples: finding-, keeping-,

running See also gerund, present participle,

initial at the beginning Sometimes is an adverb that can go in initial position

in a sentence Example: Som etim es I wish I had a different job

intensifying making stronger, m ore emphatic Very and terribly are intensifying

adverbs

interrogative Interrogative structures and words are used for asking

questions In an interrogative sentence, there is an auxiliary verb (or n o n ­

auxiliary be) before th e subject (e.g Can you swim?-, Are you ready?).

What, who and where are interrogative words,

intonation the ‘m elody’ of spoken language: the way the m usical pitch of the

voice rises and falls to show m eaning, sentence structure or m ood,

intransitive An intransitive verb is one that cannot have an object or be used

in the passive Examples: smile; fall; come; go

inversion a structure in w hich an auxiliary or other verb com es before its

subject Examples: Never h a d she seen such a mess; Here com es John

irregular n o t following the norm al rules, or not having the usual form An

irregular verb has a past tense a n d /o r past participle th at does not end in -ed (e.g swam , taken); children is an irregular plural.

Language term inology • xxiii

linking verb (or copular verb) be, seem, feel and other verbs w hich link a subject

to a com plem ent that describes it Examples: My m other is in Jexsey^tlaseems unhappy; This fe e ls soft

main clause, subordinate clause Some sentences consist of a m ain clause and

one or m ore subordinate clauses A subordinate clause acts like a p art of the

m ain clause (e.g like a subject, or an object, or an adverbial) Examples:

Where she is doesn't m atter (the subordinate clause Where she is is the subject

of the m ain clause); I told you th a t I d id n ’t care (the subordinate clause that I

d id n ’t care is the direct object in the m ain clause); You'll fin d friends w herever

y o u go (the subordinate clause wherever yo u go acts like an adverb in the

m ain clause: com pare You'll fin d friends anyw here)

main verb A verb phrase often contains one or m ore auxiliary verbs together with

a m ain verb The m ain verb is the verb w hich expresses the central m eaning; auxiliary verbs m ostly add gram m atical inform ation (for instance, they m ay

show th at a verb is progressive, future, perfect or passive) Examples: is going; will explain; has arrived; w ould have been forgotten

manner an adverbial of m ann er describes how som ething happens Examples:

well; suddenly; fast; w ithout an y delay

mid-position If an adverbial is in m id-position in a sentence, it is with the verb.

Example: I have never been to Africa

misrelated participle (also called hanging or dangling participle) a participle

w hich appears to have a subject w hich is n o t its own Example: Looking out o f the window, the m ountains appeared very close (This seem s to say that the

m ountains were looking out of the window.) The structure is usually avoided

in careful w riting because of the danger of m isunderstanding,

modal auxiliary verb one of the verbs can, could, may, might, must, will, shall,

would, should, ought

modify An adjective is said to 'm odify' the n oun it is with: it adds to or defines

its m eaning Examples: a fin e day; m y new job An adverb can modify a verb (e.g run fa st), an adjective (e.g com pletely ready) or o ther w ords or expressions

In sports car, the first n o u n m odifies the second,

negative a negative sentence is one in w hich the word not is used w ith the

verb Example: I d id n ’t know

nominal relative clause a relative clause (usually introduced by what) which

acts as the subject, object or com plem ent of a sentence Example: I gave him

w h a t he needed.

non-affirmative (also called non-assertive) The words some, somebody,

somewhere, etc are used m ost often in affirmative sentences In other kinds of sentence they are often replaced by any, anybody, anywhere, etc Words like any, anybody, etc are called 'non-affirm ative' or non-assertive' forms O ther non-affirm ative form s are y e t an d ever

non-identifying (or non-defining) relative clause a relative clause w hich does

not identify the n o u n it refers to (because we already know w hich person or

thing is m eant) Example: There’s H annah Smith, w ho tried to steal m y cat (The relative clause, who tried to steal m y cat, does no t identify the p erso n -

relative clause.

Language term inology • xxiv

noun a w ord like oil, memory, arm, w hich can be usecFwith an article Nouns

are m ost often the nam es of people or things Personal n am es (e.g George) and place n am es (e.g Birm ingham ) are called ‘pro p er no u n s’; they are

m ostly used w ithout articles,

noun phrase a group of w ords (e.g article + adjective + noun) which acts as

the subject, object or com plem ent in a clause Example: the last bus

number the way in w hich differences betw een singular and plural are shown

gram m atically The differences betw een house an d houses, mouse and mice, this and these are differences of num ber,

object a n o u n phrase or p ronoun that norm ally com es after the verb in an

active clause The direct object m ost often refers to a person or thing (or

people or things) affected by the action of the verb In the sentence Take the dog fo r a walk, the dog is the direct object The indirect object usually refers to

a person (or people) w ho receive(s) the direct object In the sentence A nna gave m e a w atch, the indirect object is me, a n d the direct object is a watch.

participle see present participle and past participle.

participle clause a clause-like structure which contains a participle, not a verb

tense Examples: D iscouraged b y his fa ilu re, he resigned fro m his job; H aving

a couple o f hours to spare, I went to see a film

passive A passive verb form is m ade with be + past participle Examples:

is broken; was told; will be helped (but n o t breaks, told, will help, w hich are

active verb forms) The subject of a passive verb form is usually the person or

thing that is affected by the action of the verb Com pare: 7hey sent Lucas to prison fo r fiv e years (active) and Lucas was sent to prison fo r fiv e years

past participle a verb form like broken, gone, stopped, w hich can be used to

form perfect tenses and passives, or as an adjective (The m eaning is not necessarily past, in spite of the nam e.)

past perfect a verb tense m ade with h ad + past participle Examples: I h a d

forgotten; The children h a d arrived; She h a d been working; It h a d been raining The first two exam ples are sim ple p ast perfect; the last two

(with had been + .ing) are past perfect progressive (or continuous),

past progressive (or continuous) a verb tense m ade with was/were + .ing.

Examples: I w as going; They were stopping

past simple see simple past.

perfect a verb form m ade with the auxiliary have + past participle Examples:

I have forgotten; She h a d failed; h a vin g arrived; to have fin ish ed

perfect conditional should/w ould have + past participle Examples:

I sh o u ld / w o u ld h a ve agreed; He w o u ld have know n

perfect infinitive (to) have+ past participle Example: to have arrived

perfect participle a structure like having lost, having arrived

person the way in which, in grammar, we show th e difference betw een the

person(s) speaking (first person), the person(s) spoken to (second person), and the person, people or thing(s) spoken about (third person) The differences betw een I, you, a n d he/she, or betw een am , are an d is, are differences of person,

personal pronouns the w ords I, me, you, he, him, etc.

Language term inology • xxv

phrase two or m ore words that function together as a group Examples: dead

tired; the silly old w om an; w ould have been repaired; in the country

phrasal verb a verb form that is m ade up of two parts: verb + adverb particle.

Examples: fill up; run over; take in

plural a gram m atical form used to refer to m ore th an one person cirHi'mg'

possessive a form used to show possession and similar ideas Examples:

John's; our; mine.

possessive pronoun My, your, his, her, etc are possessive pronouns (they stand

for ‘the speaker’s,’ ‘the h e a re r’s! 'th a t p e rso n ’s’, etc) Mine, yours, his, hers, etc are also possessive pronouns, for the sam e reason My, your, etc are used

before nouns, so they are not only pronouns, b u t also determ iners (They are

often called 'possessive adjectives! b u t this is not correct.) Mine, yours, etc are

used w ithout following nouns,

postmodifier a word that com es after the word which it modifies, e.g invited

predicative Adjectives placed after a verb like be, seem, look are in predicative

position Examples: The house is enorm ous; She looks happy See also

attributive.

prefix a form like ex-, anti- or un-, w hich can be added to the front of a word

to give an additional or different m eaning Examples: ex-wife, anti-British, unhappy See also suffix,

premodifier a word that com es before the word w hich it modifies, e.g invited

preparatory subject, preparatory object W hen the subject of a sentence is an

infinitive or a clause, we usually p u t it tow ards the end of the sentence and

use the p ro n o u n it as a preparatory subject Example: I t is im portant to get enough sleep It can also be used as a preparatory object in certain structures Example: He m ade it clear th a t he disagreed There is used as a kind of

p reparatory subject in there i s and sim ilar structures Example: There is somebody a t the door

preposition a word like on, off, of, into, norm ally followed by a no un or

pronoun

prepositional verb a verb form that is m ade up of two parts:

verb form + preposition Examples: insist on; care for; listen to

present participle the form of a verb ending in -ing, used as an adjective,

a verb or part of a verb Examples: a crying baby; O pening his newspaper,

he started to read; She was running (The m eaning is n o t necessarily present,

present perfect a verb tense m ade with have/has + past participle Examples:

I have forgotten; The children have arrived; I've been w orking all day;

It has been raining The first two exam ples are sim ple present perfect; the last two (with have been + .ing) are present perfect progressive (or present perfect

continuous)

present progressive (or continuous) a verb tense m ade with am /are/is + .ing.

Examples: I a m going; She is staying fo r two weeks

present simple see simple present.

progressive (or continuous) A verb form m ade with the auxiliary be + .ing

Examples: to be going; We were wondering; I'll be seeing you.

Language term inology • xxvi

progressive (or continuous) infinitive a form to be going) to be waiting.

pronoun a word like it, yourself, their, w hich is usecTInstead of a m ore precise

n o u n or n o u n ph rase (like the cat, Tom's self, the fam ily's) The w ord pronoun

can also be used for a determ iner w hen this includes the m eaning of a

following n o u n w hich has be en left out Example: I ’ll take these

proper noun or proper name a n o u n (m ost often with no article) which is the

nam e of a particular person, place, organisation, etc Examples: Alex, Brazil; the European Union

quantifier a determ iner like many, few , little, several, w hich is used in a noun

phrase to show how m u ch or how m any we are talking about,

question tag an expression like do you? or isn't it?, consisting of an auxiliary

verb (or non-auxiliary be or have) + pron o u n subject, p u t on to the end of a sentence Examples: You d o n ’t eat meat, do you?; It's a nice day, isn’t it?

reflexive pronoun myself, yourself, himself, etc Example: I cut m yself shaving

this morning See also emphatic pronoun,

regular following the norm al rules or having the usual form Hoped is a

relative clause a clause w hich modifies a noun, usually introduced by a

relative p ro n o u n like who or which Example: I like people w ho like me.

relative pronoun a pronoun used to connect a relative clause to its noun.

Who, whom , whose, which and that can be used as relative pronouns, and som etim es also when, where an d why Examples: There's the m an w ho wants

to buy m y car; This is the room w hich needs painting; Do you remember the day w hen we met?

reply question a question (sim ilar in structure to a question tag) used to reply

to a statem ent, for instance, to express interest Example: ‘I've been invited to spend the weekend in London.' ‘H ave you, dear?'

second person see person.

sentence a group of words that typically expresses a statem ent, com m and,

question or exclam ation A sentence consists of one or m ore clauses, and usually has at least one subject and verb In writing, it begins w ith a capital letter and ends w ith a full stop, question m ark or exclam ation mark,

short answer an answ er consisting of a subject and an auxiliary verb (or n o n ­

auxiliary be or have) Examples: ‘Has anybody phoned the police?' ‘Jack has '; ' W ho’s ready fo r more?' I a m ’

simple past (or past simple) a past verb tense that has no auxiliary verb in the

affirmative Examples: I stopped; You heard; We knew

simple present (or present simple) a present verb form that has no auxiliary

verb in the affirmative Examples: He goes there often; I know; Ilik e chocolate

simple a verb form that is not progressive.

singular a gram m atical form used to talk about one person, thing, etc, or about an

uncountable quantity or mass Examples: me; bus; water; is; much; this See also

plural.

slang a word, expression or special use of language found mainly in very

inform al speech, often in the usage of particular groups of people Examples:

thick (= stupid); lose o ne’s cool (= get upset); sparks (= electrician).

Language term inology • xxvii

split infinitive a structure in which an adverb com es betw een to and the rest

of the infinitive Example: to easily understand Some people consider split

infinitives 'incorrect,' b u t they are com m on in standard usage,

standard A standard form of a language is the one that is m ost generally

accepted for use in governm ent, the law, business, education and literature

I'm not is standard English; I a in ’t is non-standard,

statement a sentence which gives inform ation; not a question Examples:

I ’m cold; D aniel d id n ’t come hom e last night

stress the way in w hich one or m ore parts of a word, phrase or sentence are

m ade to sou n d m ore im p o rtan t th an the rest, by using a louder voice a n d /o r

higher pitch In the word particular, the m ain stress is on the second syllable (parTlcular); in th e sentence W here’s the new secretary? there are three

stresses (WHERE’S the NEWSEcretary?)

strong form, w eak form C ertain words can be pronounced in two ways:

slowly an d carefully w ith the vowel th at is w ritten (strong form), or w ith a

can (/к аеп /, /к э п /) , was ( / w d z / , /w a z /) ,/o r (/fo:(r)/, Д э (г )/)

subject a no u n phrase or pro n o un th at norm ally com es before the verb in an

affirmative clause It often says (in an active clause) who or w hat does the

action th at the verb refers to Examples: Ellie gave m e a wonderful smile;

Oil flo a ts on water See also object,

subjunctive a verb form (not very com m on in British English) used in certain

structures Examples: I f l were y o u ; It’s im portant that he be inform ed immediately; We prefer that he p a y in cash

subordinate clause a clause w hich functions as part of another clause, for

exam ple as subject, object or adverbial in the m ain clause of a sentence

Examples: I thought th a t y o u understood; W h a t I need is a drink; I ’ll follow you w herever y o u go See also clause, main clause,

subordinating conjunction a conjunction that joins a subordinate clause to the

rest of its sentence Examples: when, if, because

suffix a form like -ology, -able or -ese, w hich can be added to the end of a

w ord to give an additional or different m eaning Examples: climatology;

understandable; Chinese See also prefix,

superlative the form of an adjective or adverb m ade with the suffix -est

(e.g oldest, fastest); also the structure m ost + adjective/adverb, used in the sam e way (e.g m ost intelligent, m ost politely)

syllable The w ord cat has one syllable, cattle has two, cataract has three and

category has four A syllable norm ally has a vowel, and usually one or m ore

consonants before a n d /o r after the vowel Som etim es the consonant sounds

I, m and n can act as syllables (for instance in the w ords bottle / ’b o tl/, capitalism /'kaepitaliz(a)m /, button /'b A tn /)

tag a short phrase (e.g pronoun subject + auxiliary verb) added on to the end

of a sentence, especially in speech Examples: He likes to talk, Josh does; You can’t swim, can you?; Very noisy, those kids See also question tag

tense a verb form that shows the tim e of an action, event or state, by a change in

its form a n d /o r the use of an auxiliary Examples: worked, saw, will go; is sitting

third person see person.

transitive a transitive verb is one that can have an object Examples: eat

(a meal); drive (a car); give (a present) See also intransitive.

Language term inology • xxviii

uncountable noun a n oun which has no plural form and cannot normally be

u sed w ith the article a la n Examples: mud) rudeness; furniture

verb a word like ask, wake, play, be, can Most verbs refer to actions, events or

verb phrase a verbal structure that has m ore than one part Example: would have

been forgotten.

vowel the letters a, e, i, о, и and their com binations, and their usual sounds

weak form see strong form.

Language term inology • xxix

Phonetic alp hab et

It is necessary to use a special alphabet to show the pronunciation of English words, because the ordinary English alphabet does n o t have enough letters

to rep resen t all the sounds of the language The following list contains all the letters of the phonetic alphabet used in this book, w ith exam ples of the words

in w hich the sounds they refer to are found

Vow els and diphthongs (double vowels)

i: seat /si:t/, feel /fill/

i s it/s it/, i n / i n /

e set /set/, any /'e n i/

ae sat /saet/, m atch /maetJV

a: m arch /ma:tJV, a fte r/'спйэ(г)/

d pot /p o t/, gone /д и п /

d: p o rt /p o :t/, law / b : /

и good /g o d /, could /k u d /

u: food /fu :d /, group /g ru :p /

л m uch /m A tf/, front /frAnt/

з: tu rn Л з:п/, w ord /w 3 :d /

э away /a'w ei/, collect /ko'lekt/,

until /a n 'til/

ei take /teik/, wait /w eit/

ai m ine /m a in /, light /la it/

3i oil /oil/, boy /b o i/

occasion /э 'к е !з п /

The sign (') shows stress (► 313)

Phonetic alphabet • xxx

Practical English Usage

Section 1 Verbs

INTRODUCTION

forms

Verbs are the central elem ent in sentences M ost of the things we say are built

around them English verbs have up to five one-w ord forms (except be, which

has eight) These are:

• the base form: the one found in dictionaries, for example go, write, play This

is used for present tense forms after I, we, you (singular and plural) and they,

in infinitives, and in imperatives.

We go skating on Saturdays I m ust w rite to Laura.

Please play something.

• the third person singular present, for example goes, writes, plays

• the past tense, for example went, wrote, played

• the past participle, for example gone, written, played Note that in regular

verbs the past participle is the sam e as the past tense

• the -ing form, for example going, writing, playing D epending on how it is

used, the -ing form m ay be called a ‘present participle' or a 'gerund' (► 93.1) Verb forms w hich show tim e (e.g goes, went) are often called finite in

gram m ars; other forms (e.g written, playing) are non-finite.

tenses

Tenses are verb forms th at show the tim e of actions and situations, either as

single words or including auxiliary verbs (see below)

We w ent home, (simple past tense)

H ave you written to Jamie? (present perfect tense)

For a list of active tenses, ► 2.3 For passive tenses, and an explanation of active

and passive structures, ► 57

auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary ('helping') verbs are used with other verbs to add various kinds of

m eaning Be, have and do help to make progressive (or 'co n tin u o u s’) and perfect

structures, questions and negatives (see below and ► Section 2)

Modal auxiliary verbs [must, can, could, will, would, may, might, shall, should

and ought) are used with other verbs to add ideas such as futurity, certainty,

probability, obligation and perm ission For details, ► Section 7

What can follow a verb?

Different non-auxiliary verbs can be followed by different kinds of w ords and

structures This is partly a m atter of meaning: after a verb like eat or break, for instance, it is norm al to expect a noun; after try or stop, it is natural to expect a

verb It is also partly a m atter of gram m atical rules that have nothing to do with

meaning Before an object, w ait is followed by for; expect has no preposition One can tell somebody something, b u t one cannot explain somebody something One hopes to see somebody, b u t one looks forw ard to seeing somebody One advises somebody to see the doctor, b u t one does not suggest somebody to see the doctor One thinks that som ething will happen, b u t one does not i

gram m ar • Section 1 Verbs

Unfortunately, there are no simple rules in this area; it is necessary to learn, for each verb, w hat kind of structures can follovvlr'A good dictionary will normally give this information.

For m ore about nouns and verbs with objects, ► 7.

For two-part verbs with adverb particles and prepositions (e.g pick up, look at), ► 12-13.

For m ore about verbs followed by verbal structures, ► 15-16.

Do you know what's wrong with these, and why?

© I laid dow n and w ent to sleep ► 1.2

© She switched off it ► 12.4

© W hat are you thinking of the governm ent? ► 4.3

О I’m seeing w hat you m ean ► 4.3

О Is raining again ► 7.1

© Is th at the light off w hich you switched? ► 12.4

© You never listen m e ► 13.1

© Listen to! ► 13.1

© About w hat are you thinking? ► 13.3

© He gave you it ► 8.3

© Who did you buy it? ► 8.4

© I’d like him to explain us his decision ► 8.6

© Please describe us your wife ► 8.6

© Sing us ► 8.7

© He painted red the wall ► 10.1

© She m ade that she disagreed clear ► 10.5

© You surprised! ► 7.2

© Do sit that chair ► 7.2

© The problem appears impossibly ► 11.3

© Isabel sudden appeared in the doorway ► 11.3

© He fell unconsciously on the floor ► 11.5

© He pulled his belt tightly and started off ► 11.5

© She crossed the garden dancing ► 14

CONTENTS OF THIS SECTION

passive m eanings

gram m ar • Section 1 Verbs

irregular verbs

common irregular verbs

This is a list of the m ore com m on irregular verbs Students should check thatthey know all of them For a com plete list, see a good dictionary

gram m ar • 1 irregular verbs

gram m ar • 1 irregular verbs

Infinitive Simple past Past paf£i£Lple

find (= get back

som ething lost)

fly (= move in the air)

flee (= run away)

Simple past

fellfeltfilledfoundfounded

flowedflewfled

w ind /w aind/ (= turn,

tighten a spring, etc)

w ound /w uind/

(= injure in a battle)

leftlivedraisedrosestruckstroked

w o u n d /w ao n d /

w ounded

Past participle

fallenfeltfilledfoundfounded

flowedflownfledlaidlainlied

leftlivedraisedrisenstruckstroked

w ound /w aond/

w ounded

notes

• Note the standard AmE pronunciations of ate (/eit/) and shone (/Joon/)

let/ for ate is substandard in AmE (but a standard variant in BrE).

• B um , dream, kneel, lean, learn, smell, spell, spill and spoil are all generally

regular in American English In British English, irregular past tenses and

participles w ith -t are also quite com m on.

• Dive is regular in British English, b u t can be irregular in American:

dive - dived/dove (Idovv/) - dived

• The old past participle drunken is used as an adjective in som e expressions (e.g a drunken argument, drunken driving), b u t these are not very common.

gram m ar • 1 irregular verbs

• Fit and quit are usually irregular in American English

f i t - f i t - fit, quit - quit - quit

• The Am erican past participle of get is either got or gotten (► 472.6).

• H ang is regular w hen used to m ean ‘execute by hanging'.

• Prove (regular) has an irregular past participle proven w hich is som etim es used instead of proved, especially as an adjective (e.g a proven liar).

• Says is pronounced /sez/.

• Speed can also have regular forms, especially in the expression speeded up.

• Spit has both spit and spat as past tense and participle in American English.

• Sung and sunk are som etim es used instead of sang and sank.

2 active verb tenses

1 present, future and past; simple, progressive and perfect

English verbs can refer to present, future or past time,

present: I'm w atching you

future: She will see you tomorrow

past: Who sa id that?

For each kind of time, there are three possibilities with m ost verbs:

sim ple; progressive or c o n tin u o u s (be + -ing ► 3); and perfect

(have + past participle ► 6)

simple present: I start

present progressive: I a m starting

present perfect: I have started

Some gram m arians use the word ‘ten se’ only for simple forms like goes or went; for forms like is going or has gone they prefer to talk about progressive or perfect

‘aspect’, and they say that English has ‘no future tense' These are principally questions of terminology, not gram m atical fact, and have no practical

im portance In Practical English Usage the term 'tense' is used for all verb forms

and structures that indicate time

2 tenses and time

There is not a direct relationship betw een verb forms and time For example, a

past verb like w ent is n o t only used to talk about past events (e.g We w en t to Morocco last January), but also about unreal or uncertain present or future events (e.g It would be better i f we w ent hom e now) And present verbs can be used to talk about the future (e.g I ’m seeing Daniel tomorrow) Also, progressive

and perfect forms express ideas that are not simply concerned w ith tim e - for example continuation, com pletion, present im portance

gram m ar • 2 active verb tenses

Verbs Section 1

table of active verb tenses

This is a list of all the active affirmative forms of an ordinary English verb, with their nam es, examples, and very brief descriptions of typical uses For m ore inform ation about the forms and their uses, see the entries for each tense in

► Sections 3 -5

form/infinitive, but -5 on third person singular

(e.g I/y o u /w e / they work; he/she works)

It always rains in November.

‘general’ time; perm anent situations (► 31)

present

progressive

a m /a re /is .ing I can't talk to you

now; I'm working.

actionscontinuing at the

m om ent of speaking (► 32)

participle

I have w orked with children before, so I know

w hat to expect.

past action with som e present connection (► 47)

present perfect

progressive

ha ve/h a s been .ing

It has been raining all day.

continuation up

to the present (► 50)

(I/w e shall also

possible)

It will rain tomorrow.

information about the future(► 38)

(I/w e shall also

possible)

This time tomorrow I'll be lying on the beach.

continuing situation at a particular future tim e (► 41)

participle

(I/w e shall also

possible)

I w ill have fin ish e d the repairs by this evening.

com pletion by a particular future tim e (► 40)

w orking here fo r ten years.

continuity up to a particular future tim e (► 40)

past events (► 44)

gram m ar • 2 active verb tenses

NAME CONSTRUCTION EXAMPLE TYPICAL USE

w as com ing out

o f the supermarket.

action continuing

at a particular past tim e (► 45)

participle

I couldn’t get in because I h a d lost

m y keys.

action before a particular past tim e (► 53)past perfect

progressive

h a d been .ing I was tired

because I h a d been w orking all day.

continuation up

to a particular past tim e (► 55)

For irregular past tenses and past participles, ► 1 For question forms, ► 216 For negatives, ► 217 For the use of present forms to talk about the future, ► 35-37.

For past verbs with present or future meanings, ► 46 For subjunctives (e.g that she go), ► 232.

For passive verb forms, ► 57 For infinitives, ► 89 For imperatives, ► 224 For -ing forms, ► 93.

For auxiliary verbs, ►IS For verb forms constructed with modal auxiliary verbs, ► 68.1.

3 progressive structures _ _

1 construction

Progressive verb structures (also called ‘continuous’) are m ade with be + -ing.

I a m w aiting fo r the shops to open, (present progressive)

Your suit is being cleaned, (present progressive passive)

She phoned while I was cooking, (past progressive)

Will you be going out this evening? (future progressive)

I'd like to be lying on the beach now (progressive infinitive)

Progressive and perfect forms can be com bined

I didn't know how long she h a d been sitting there, (past perfect progressive)

2 term inology and use

A progressive does not simply show the tim e of an event It also shows how the speaker sees the event - generally as ongoing and tem porary, not com pleted or perm anent (Because of this, gram m ars often talk about 'progressive aspect’ rather than 'progressive tenses’.) Compare:

- I've read your email, (com pleted action)

I’ve been reading a lot o f thrillers recently, (not necessarily com pleted)

- The Rhine runs into the North Sea (perm anent)

We’ll have to phone the plum ber - water's running dow n the kitchen wall

(tem porary)

W hen a progressive is used to refer to a short m om entary action, it often suggests repetition

Why are you ju m p in g up a n d down?

The door was banging in the wind.

gram m ar • 3 progressive structures