STUDENT'S GRAMMAR | OF THE | ENGLISH | _LANGUAGE _ Sidney Greenbaum. Randolph Quirk‘Pearson Bdvetion Limited, dinbrgh Gate Haro, Estes (M20 218. England ‘and associated companies throughout the world ‘Vis oor website: bap: ongman comictionaies ‘©R Quik, 8. Grenhaum, 6, Leech J. Svar 190 All righ reserved no part of is pbletion may be ‘produced. sored ina rrieal sytem, or anomie ‘any frm o by any means, eleconi, mechanic, ‘hotocopring. contin oF eherise, witout the prior writen permission of the Publishers First published 1950 “Twenty-igth impresion 2016 ISBN $76.0-582.059719 Paperback) SBN 979-082.07569-6 (Cased) ‘Setin Monopho Ties Pind in Cina (CTPSC28)Contents Preface 1 The English language 2 A general framework 3 Verbs and auxiliaries 4: The semantics ofthe verb phrase 5 Nouns and determiners 6 Pronouns 7 Adjectives and adverbs 8 ‘The semanties and grammar of adverbials 9. Prepositions and prepositional phrases 10 The simple sentence 11. Sentence types and discourse functions 12 Pro-forms and ellipsis 13 Coordination 14 The complex sentence 15 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses 16 Complementation of verbs and adjectives 17 The noun phrase 18 Theme, focus, and information processing 19. From sentence to text Bibliography Index. 129 158 188, a 287 262 283 236 363 04 4 416Preface Even before my co-author's sudden death in 1996 during alecture visit to ‘Moscow, a start had been made on assembling many important improve- ‘ments to our book. These have largely proceeded from experience in using The Student's Grammar and its splendid accompanying Wookbook by Sylvia Chalker (Longman 1992), and its a pleasurable duty to thank colleagues throughout the world for their valuable help ir sending their ‘comments and suggestions to the Survey of English Usage at University College London. Well over two hundred revisions, clarifications, and expansions have now been incorporated, and I hope that in consequence this revised version ofthe Grammar will be of enhanced value to teachers and their students, RANDOLPH QUIRK London October 1997rm 12 1 the English language The use of English English is the world’s most widely used language, A distinction is often ‘made that depends on how the language is learned: as a native language (or mother tongue), acquired when the speaker isa young child (generally in the home), or as a foreign language, acquired at some subsequent period. Overlapping with this distinction is that between its use asa first language, the primary language of the speaker, and as an additional language. In some countries (particularly of course where it is the dominant native language), English is used principally for internal Purposes as an intranational language, for speakers to communicate with ‘other speakers of the same country; in other countries such as Germany and Japan, it serves chiefly as an international language, the medium of ‘communication with speakers from other countries. But in numerous countries such as India, the Philippines, and Nigeria, ‘where English is for the most part a foreign language too, it nonetheless hhas prominent internal functions within these countries in addition to its. international rote, Such domestic use of “English as a foreign language’ is often called ‘English as a second language’ ‘The meanings of ‘grammar’ Syntax and inflections ‘We shall be sing ‘grammar’ in this book to include both snvraxcand that aspect of worroLocy (the internal structure of words) that deals with INFLECTIONS (oF ACCIDENC). The fact thatthe past cese of buy is bought {inflection and the fact that the nterrogative form of He bought itis Did he duy i? {syntax} are therefore both equally within grammar. Our usage corresponds to one of the common lay uses of the word in the English- speaking world. A teacher may comment John uses good grammar but his spelling is awful, ‘The comment shows that spelling is excluded from grammar; and if John ‘wrote interloper where the context demanded interpreter, the teacher ‘would say that he had used the wrong word, not that he had made a14 2 The English anguese ‘mistake in grammar. Butin theeducation systems of the English-speaking countries, i is possible also to use the term ‘grammar’ loosely so as to include both speling and lexicology “There isa further use of ‘grammar’ that derives from a period in which the teaching of Latin and Greek was widespread. Since the aspect of La grammar on which teaching has traditionally concentrated is the paradigms (or model sets) of inflections, it made sense for the learner to say: Latin has a good deal of grammar, but English has hardly any. ‘This meaning of ‘grammar’ has continued to be used by lay native speakers. In effect, grammar is identified with inflections. Rules and the native speaker ‘Yet another sense appears in the remark French has a well-defined grammar, but in English we'e free to speak as we like. Here ‘grammar’ is used as a virtual synonym of ‘syntax Such a comment by a native speaker probably owes a good deal to the fact that he does not feel the rules oP his own language ~ rules that he has acquired unconsciously —to be at all constraining; and ifever he happens to be called on to explain one such rule toa foreigner ae has very great difficulty. By contrast, the grammatical rules he leams for a foreign language seem much more rigid and they also seem clearer because they hhave been actually spelled out to him in the learning process But another important pointis revealed in this sentence, The distinction refers to ‘grammar’ not asthe observed patterns in the use of French but as ‘acodification of rules eompiled by the French (especially by the Académie Frangaise) to show the French themselves how their language should be used. This is grammar as codified by grammasians: the Academy Grammar. Thereis no such Academy for the English language and so (our naive native speaker imagines) the English speaker has more Treedom in his usage. The codification of rules ‘The ‘caification’ sense of grammar is readily idemtiiee with the specific compilation ofa specific grammarian: Jespersen wrote a good grammar, and so did Kruisinga, And this sense naturally leads to the conerete use as in Did you bring your grammars? ‘Naturally, to0, the codification may refer to grammar inany ofthe senses already mentioned. It will also vary, however, according to the linguistic1s ‘The meanings of'grammar” 3 theory embraced by the authors, their idea of the nature of grammar rather than their statement of the grammar of a particular language: Chomsky developed a transformational grammar that differed considerably from earlier grammars, Thus, in the framework of formal linguistics, some grammarians speak of “the grammar” as embracing rules not only for syntax but for phonologi- cal, lexical, and semantic specification as well. Prescriptive grammar Finally we come to the use of ‘grammar’ in statements such as It’s bad grammar to end a sentence with a preposition. Here the term refers to a way of speaking or writing that isto be either preferred or avoided. Such statements pertain {0 PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR, 4 set of regulations that are based on what is evaluated as correct oF incorrect in the standard language. Since we do not have an Academy of the English Language, there is no one set of regulations that could be considered ‘authoritative’, Instead, evaluations are made by self-appointed authorities who, reflecting varying judgments of acceptability and appro: priateness, often disagree (though on usually very minor matters). Authorities on USAGE, in this restricted sense, primarily deal with DispuTED usage, a relatively small number of syntactic and lexical items that are controversial within the standard language. Their abjections may persuade some to avoid certain usages, at least in their formal writing. ‘Over the last two centuries prescriptive rules have accuriulated into a _general prescriptive tradition for formal writing that is embodied (with some variation) in school textbooks and student reference handbooks, and in usage guides for the general public, Asan occasional consequence of prescriptive pressures, ome speakers hhave mistakenly extended particular prescriptive rules in an attempt to avoid mistakes. A classic instance of such HYPERCORRECTION isthe use of whom as subject, asin the students whom I hope willoin us, thers are the pseudo-subjunctive were asin I wonder if he were here and the use of the subjective pronoun / in the phrase between you and I Our primary concern n this book is to describe the grammar of English But we occasionally refer to the prescriptive tradition not oly because it ‘may lead to hypercorrection but also because it may affect altitudes ‘towards particular uses that may in turn influence the preferences of some native speakers, at least in formal or more considered styles. It may lead some, for example, to replace their usual was by subjunctive were in If T was strong enough, I would help you, or to replace who by whom in the teacher who I most admired.16 7 44 The English enguege Varieties of English Types of variation There are numerous varieties of English, but we shall recognize in this ‘book five major types of variation, Any use of the language necessarily involves variation within all five types, although for purposes of analysis, wwe may abstract individual varieties: (@) region (b) social group (©) field of discourse (@) medium (@) attitude The first two types of variation relate primarily to the language user. People use a regional variety because they live in a region or have once lived in that region. Similarly, people use a social variety because oftheir afiiation with a social group. These varieties are relatively permanent for the language user. At the same time, we should be awarethat many people ‘can communicate in more than one regional or social variety and can therefore (consciously or unconsciously) switch varieties according to the situation. And of course people move to other regions or change their social affiliations, and may then adopt a new regional or social variety. ‘The last three types of variation relate to language use. People select the varieties according to the situation and the purpose of the communica- tion. The field of discourse relates to the activity in which they are ‘engaged; the medium may be spoken or written, generally depending on the proximity of the participants in the communication, and the attitude ‘expressed through language is conditioned by the retionship of the participants in the particular situation. A ComMON coRE is present in all, the varieties so that, however esoteric a variety may be, it has running through ita set of grammatical and other characteristics that are present in all the others. Its this fact that justifies the application of the name “English” to all the varieties, Roglonal variation Varieties according o region havea well-established label both in popular ‘and technical use: p1aLscrs. Geographical dispersion isin fact the classic basis for linguistic variation, and in the course of time, with poor ‘communications and relative remoteness, such dispersion results in dialects becoming so distinct that we regard them as different languages. ‘This latter stage was long ago reached with the Germanic dialects that are now Dutch, English, German, Swedish, ete, bt it has not been reached {and may not necessarily ever be reached, given the modern ease and range ‘ofcommunication) with the dialects of English that haveresulted from the regional separation of communities within the British Isles and (since the18 Varia of englen 5 voyages of exploration and settlement in Shakespeare’ time) elsewhere in the world, Itis pointless to ask how many dialects of English there are: there are indefinitely many, depending on how detailed we wish to be in our observations. But they are of course more obviously nurterous in long- settled Britain than in areas more recently settled by Enalish speakers, such as North America or, still more recently, Australia and New Zealand. The degree of generality in our observation depends crucially "upon our standpoint as well as upon our experience, An Englishman will hhear an American Southerner primarily as an American, and only as a Southerner in addition if further subclassification is called for and if his ‘experience of American English dialects enables him to make it. To an ‘American the same speaker will be heard frst as a Southerner and then (subject to similar conditions) as, say, a Virginian, and then perhaps as a Piedmont Virginian ‘Social variation Within each of the dialects there is considerable variation in speech according to education, socioeconomic group, and ethnic group, Some \ifferences correlate with age and sex. Much (if not most) ef the variation does not involve categorical distinctions; rather it is a matter of the frequency with which certain linguistic features are found in the groups. There is an important polarity between uneducated and educated speech in which the former can be identified with the nonstandard regional dialect most completely and the latter moves away from regional ‘usage to a form of English that cuts across regional boundaries. An ‘outsider (Who was not a skilled dialectologist) might not readily find a New Englander who sad see for saw, 2 Pennsylvanian who said seen, and 2 Virginian who said seed. These are forms that tend to be replaced by sai with schooling, and in speaking toa stranger a dialect speaker would tend to use ‘schoo!’ forms, On the other hand, there is no simple equation of regional and uneducated English. Just as educated English [ saw cuts across regional boundaries, so do many features of uneducated use: a prominent exampleis the double negative as in J don’t wantno eake, which hhas been outlawed from all educated English by the prescriptive grammar tradition for over two hundred years but which continuesto thrive as an emphatic form in uneducated speech wherever English is spoken, Educated English naturally tends to be given the additional prestige of government agencies, the professions, the political parties the press, the law court, and the pulpit -any institution which must attempt to address itself toa public beyond the smallest dialectal community. Itis codified in dictionaries, grammars, and guides to usage, and itis taugkt in the school system at all levels. is almost exclusively the language of printed matter. Because educated English is thus accorded implicit social and political sanction, it comes to be referred to as STANDARD ENGLISH, ad provided we19 © The Enalsh language remember that this does not mean an English that has been formally standardized by official action, as weights and measuresare standardized, the term is useful and appropriate. In contrast with standard English, forms that are especially associated with uneducated (rather than dialectal) use are generally called NONSTANDARD. Standard English The degre of acceptance of single standard of English throughout the world, across @ multiplicity of politcal and social systems, isa truly remarkable phenomenon: the more so since the extet af the wniformity involved has if anything, inzeased in the present century. Uniformity i arcatest in orthography, which is from most viewpoints the least important typeof linguistic organization. Although printing housesin all English-speaking countries retain a tiny element of individual decision (eg: realize|reatise,judementiudgrtnt, theres basically a single speling and punetuation system thoughout: with two minor subsystems. The one is the subsystem with British orientation (used in most English-speaking countries other than the United States), with dstinetiv forms in only a small classof words, colour, ene levelled, ete. The other isthe American subsystem, with colo, center, leveled, et In grammar and vocabulary, standard English presents somewhat Iss of a monolithic character, but even so the wotld-wde agreement is extraordinary and as has boen suggested carlier~ seems actually t be increasing under the impact of closer worid communication and the Spread of identical material and nonmateral culture. The uniformity i especially close in neutral or formal sys of written English on subject attr no of obviously localized interest: in such ercumstances one can frequently goon for pag fter page without encountering feature which ‘oil identify the English as belonging to one ofthe national standards National standards of English British and American English What we are calling national standards should be seen asdistinet from the standard English which we have been discussing and which we should think of as being supranational, embracing what iscommon toall. Again, as with orthography, there are two national standards that are over- \whelmingly predominant both in the number of distinctive usages and in the degree to which these distinctions are institutionalized: American English (AmE) and British English