Log In
Or create an account -> 
Imperial Library
  • Home
  • About
  • News
  • Upload
  • Forum
  • Help
  • Login/SignUp

Index
Cover Copyright Title Page Series Page Dedication Series List Epigraphs Contents Introduction
1. The field of grammar 2. Who killed grammar? 3. Why study grammar? 4. Overview of the book
I. The Traditional Parts of Speech
5. How did we arrive at the canonical eight? Nouns
Traditional Classifications
6. Nouns generally 7. Common nouns 8. Proper nouns 9. Count nouns 10. Collective nouns 11. Expressions of multitude 12. Expressions of partition 13. Mass nouns
Properties of Nouns
14. Generally 15. Case 16. Number 17. Gender 18. Person
Plurals
19. Generally 20. Adding “‑s” or “‑es” 21. Plurals of proper nouns 22. Nouns ending in “‑f” or “‑fe”. 23. Nouns ending in “‑o” 24. Nouns ending in “‑y” 25. Nouns ending in “‑ics” 26. Compound nouns 27. Irregular plurals 28. Borrowed plurals 29. Plural form with singular sense 30. Plural-form proper nouns 31. Tricky anomalies
Case
32. Function 33. Common case, nominative function 34. Common case, objective function 35. Genitive case 36. The “of”-genitive 37. Genitives of titles and names 38. Joint and separate genitives
Agent and Recipient Nouns
39. Definitions; use 40. Appositives: definition and use
Conversions
41. Nouns as adjectives 42. Nouns as verbs 43. Adverbial functions 44. Other conversions
Pronouns
Definition and Uses
45. “Pronoun” defined 46. Antecedents of pronouns 47. Clarity of antecedent 48. Pronouns without antecedents 49. Sentence meaning
Properties of Pronouns
50. Four properties 51. Number and antecedent 52. Exceptions regarding number of the antecedent 53. Pronoun with multiple antecedents 54. Some traditional singular pronouns 55. Gender 56. Case 57. Pronouns in apposition 58. Nominative case misused for objective
Classes of Pronouns
59. Seven classes
Personal Pronouns
60. Form 61. Identification 62. Changes in form 63. Agreement generally 64. Expressing gender 65. Determining gender 66. Special rules 67. Case after linking verb 68. Case after “than” or “as–as” 69. Special uses 70. The singular “they”
Possessive Pronouns
71. Uses and forms 72. Possessive pronouns vs. contractions
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
73. Compound personal pronouns: “‑self” forms 74. Basic uses of reflexive and intensive pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns
75. Definition
Reciprocal Pronouns
76. Generally 77. Simple and phrasal pronouns
Interrogative Pronouns
78. Definition 79. Referent of interrogative pronouns
Relative Pronouns
80. Definition 81. Gender, number, and case with relative pronouns 82. Positional nuances 83. Antecedent 84. Remote relative clauses 85. Omitted antecedent 86. Relative pronoun and the antecedent “one” 87. Function of relative pronoun in clause 88. Genitive forms 89. “Whose” and “of which” 90. Compound relative pronouns 91. “Who” vs. “whom”
Indefinite Pronouns
92. Generally 93. The indefinite pronoun “one”
Adjectives
Types of Adjectives
94. Definition 95. Qualitative adjectives 96. Quantitative adjectives 97. Demonstrative adjectives 98. Possessive adjectives 99. Interrogative adjectives 100. Distributive adjectives 101. Indefinite adjectives 102. Pronominal adjectives 103. Proper adjectives 104. Compound adjectives 105. Relative adjectives
Articles as Limiting Adjectives
106. Definition 107. Definite article 108. Definite articles and proper names 109. Indefinite article 110. Indefinite article in specific reference 111. Choosing “a” or “an” 112. Articles with coordinate nouns 113. Effect on meaning 114. Omitted article and zero article 115. Article as pronoun substitute
Dates as Adjectives
116. Use and punctuation
Position of Adjectives
117. Basic rules 118. After possessives 119. Adjective modifying pronoun 120. Predicate adjective 121. Dangling participles 122. Distinguishing an adjective from an adverb or participle
Degrees of Adjectives
123. Generally 124. Comparative forms 125. Superlative forms 126. Forming comparatives and superlatives 127. Equal and unequal comparisons 128. Noncomparable adjectives
Special Types of Adjectives
129. Participial adjectives 130. Coordinate adjectives 131. Phrasal adjectives 132. Exceptions for hyphenating phrasal adjectives
Functional Variation
133. Adjectives as nouns 134. Adjectives as verbs 135. Other parts of speech functioning as adjectives 136. The weakening effect of injudicious adjectives
Verbs
Definitions
137. Verbs generally 138. Transitive and intransitive verbs 139. Ergative verbs 140. Dynamic and stative verbs 141. Regular and irregular verbs 142. Linking verbs 143. Phrasal verbs 144. Principal and auxiliary verbs 145. Verb phrases 146. Contractions
Infinitives
147. Definition 148. Split infinitive 149. Uses of infinitive 150. Dangling infinitive
Participles and Gerunds
151. Participles generally 152. Forming present participles 153. Forming past participles 154. Participial phrases 155. Gerunds 156. Gerund phrases 157. Distinguishing between participles and gerunds 158. Fused participles 159. Dangling participles 160. Dangling gerunds
Properties of Verbs
161. Five properties
Voice
162. Active and passive voice 163. Progressive conjugation and voice
Mood
164. Generally 165. Indicative mood 166. Imperative mood 167. Subjunctive mood 168. Subjunctive vs. indicative mood 169. Present subjunctive 170. Past subjunctive 171. Past-perfect subjunctive
Tense
172. Generally 173. Present tense 174. Past indicative 175. Future tense 176. Present-perfect tense 177. Past-perfect tense 178. Future-perfect tense 179. Progressive tenses 180. Backshifting in reported speech
Tenses Illustrated
181. Conjugation of the regular verb “to call” 182. Conjugation of the irregular verb “to hide” 183. Conjugation of the verb “to be”
Person
184. Generally
Number
185. Generally 186. Agreement in person and number 187. Disjunctive compound subjects 188. Conjunctive compound subjects 189. Some other nuances of number involving conjunctions 190. Peculiar nouns that are plural in form but singular in sense 191. Agreement of indefinite pronouns 192. Relative pronouns as subjects 193. “There is”; “Here is” 194. False attraction to intervening matter 195. False attraction to predicate noun 196. Misleading connectives: “as well as,” “along with,” “together with,” etc. 197. Agreement in first and second person
Auxiliary Verbs
198. Generally 199. Modal auxiliaries 200. “Can” and “could” 201. “May” and “might” 202. “Must” 203. “Ought” 204. “Shall” 205. “Should” 206. “Will” and “would” 207. “Dare” and “need” 208. “Do” 209. “Have”
Adverbs
Definition and Formation
210. Generally 211. Sentence adverbs 212. Adverbial suffixes 213. Adverbs without suffixes 214. Distinguished from adjectives
Simple vs. Compound Adverbs
215. Standard and flat adverbs 216. Phrasal and compound adverbs
Types of Adverbs
217. Adverbs of manner 218. Adverbs of time 219. Adverbs of place 220. Adverbs of degree 221. Adverbs of reason 222. Adverbs of consequence 223. Adverbs of number 224. Interrogative adverbs 225. Exclamatory adverbs 226. Affirmative and negative adverbs 227. Relative adverbs 228. Conjunctive adverbs
Adverbial Degrees
229. Generally 230. Comparative forms 231. Superlative forms 232. Irregular adverbs 233. Noncomparable adverbs
Position of Adverbs
234. Placement as affecting meaning 235. Modifying words other than verbs 236. Modifying intransitive verbs 237. Adverbs and linking verbs 238. Adverb within verb phrase 239. Importance of placement 240. Adverbial objective 241. Adverbial clause 242. “Only”
Prepositions
Definition and Types
243. Generally 244. Simple, compound 245. Phrasal prepositions 246. Participial prepositions
Prepositional Phrases
247. Generally 248. Prepositional function 249. Placement 250. Refinements on placement 251. Preposition-stranding 252. Clashing prepositions 253. Elliptical phrases 254. Case of pronouns
Other Prepositional Issues
255. Functional variation 256. Use and misuse of “like”
Limiting Prepositional Phrases
257. Avoiding overuse 258. Cutting prepositional phrases 259. Cutting unnecessary prepositions 260. Replacing with adverbs 261. Replacing with genitives 262. Using active voice
Conjunctions
263. Definition and types 264. Types of conjunctions: simple and compound 265. Coordinating conjunctions 266. Correlative conjunctions 267. Copulative conjunctions 268. Adversative conjunctions 269. Disjunctive conjunctions 270. Final conjunctions 271. Subordinating conjunctions 272. Special uses of subordinating conjunctions 273. Adverbial conjunctions 274. Expletive conjunctions 275. Disguised conjunctions 276. “With” used loosely as a conjunction 277. Beginning a sentence with a conjunction 278. Beginning a sentence with “however” 279. Conjunctions and the number of a verb
Interjections
280. Definition 281. Usage generally 282. Functional variation 283. Words that are exclusively interjections 284. Punctuating interjections 285. “O” and “oh”
II. Syntax
Sentences, Clauses, and Their Patterns
286. Definition 287. Statements 288. Questions 289. Some exceptional types of questions. 290. Directives 291. Exceptional directives 292. Exclamations
The Four Traditional Types of Sentence Structures
293. Simple sentence 294. Compound sentence 295. Complex sentence 296. Compound-complex sentence
English Sentence Patterns
297. Importance of word order 298. The basic SVO pattern 299. All seven patterns 300. Variations on ordering the elements 301. Constituent elements 302. Identifying the subject 303. Identifying the predicate 304. Identifying the verb 305. Identifying the object 306. Identifying complements 307. Inner and outer complements 308. Identifying the adverbial element
Clauses
309. In general 310. Relative clauses 311. Appositive clauses 312. Conditional clauses
Ellipsis
313. Generally 314. Anaphoric and cataphoric ellipsis 315. Whiz-deletions
Negation
316. Negation generally 317. The word “not” 318. The word “no” 319. Using negating pronouns and adverbs 320. Using “neither” and “nor” 321. Words that are negative in meaning and function 322. Affix negation 323. Negative interrogative and imperative statements 324. Double negatives 325. Other forms of negation 326. “Any” and “some” in negative statements
Expletives
327. Generally 328. Expletive “it” 329. Expletive “there”
Parallelism
330. Generally 331. Prepositions 332. Paired joining terms 333. Auxiliary verbs 334. Verbs and adverbs at the outset 335. Longer elements
Cleft Sentences
336. Definition 337. Types 338. Uses
Traditional Sentence Diagramming
339. History and description 340. Benefits of diagrams 341. Using diagrams 342. Criticisms 343. How diagrams work 344. Baseline 345. Subject 346. Predicate 347. Direct object 348. Objective complement 349. Indirect object 350. Subjective complement 351. One-word modifiers 352. Prepositional phrases 353. Adjective clauses 354. Adverbial clauses 355. Noun clauses 356. Infinitives 357. Participles 358. Gerunds 359. Appositives 360. Independent elements 361. Conjunctions 362. Diagramming compound sentences 363. Diagramming complex sentences 364. Diagramming compound-complex sentences
Transformational Grammar
Overview
365. Definition 366. Scope of section 367. Terminology of transformational grammar 368. Tools of transformational grammar 369. Universal symbols in rules 370. Tree diagrams
Base Rules in Transformational Grammar
371. Parts of speech 372. Sentence basics
Nouns and Noun Phrases
373. Functions of noun phrases 374. Simple noun phrases
Determiners
375. Types of determiners 376. Numeric and nonnumeric determiners 377. Multiple determiners 378. Determiners in noun phrases 379. Prearticles 380. Noun phrases with determiner and prearticle
Noun-Phrase Modifiers
381. Modifiers 382. Compound nouns 383. Combined rules 384. Number, person, and possession
Verb Phrases
385. Introduction 386. Functions of verb phrase 387. Principal verbs 388. Auxiliaries 389. Auxiliary verbs 390. “Have” 391. Multiple auxiliaries 392. “Be” as a principal verb
Different Types of Principal Verbs
393. Generally 394. Middle verbs 395. Special subtypes
Adverbials
396. Adverbials with principal verbs 397. Simple adverbs 398. Functions of simple adverbs 399. Prepositional phrase as adverbial 400. Noun phrase as adverbial 401. Adverbials of place, time, and manner 402. Number and tense of verbs
Transformations
403. Deep and surface structure 404. Transformational rules 405. Surface transformation 406. Simple-question transformation 407. Imperative transformation 408. Active- to passive-voice transformation and back again
Spotting Ambiguities
409. Identification 410. Lexical ambiguity 411. Surface-structure ambiguity 412. Deep-structure ambiguity 413. Active- and passive-voice diagrams
III. Word Formation
414. Generally 415. Criteria for morphemes 416. Free and bound morphemes 417. Stems and affixes 418. Inflectional and derivational suffixes 419. Compounding 420. Conversion 421. Shortened forms 422. Elongations 423. Reduplicative forms 424. Loan translations 425. Acronyms and initialisms 426. Neologisms
IV. Word Usage
Introduction
427. Grammar vs. usage 428. Standard Written English 429. Dialect 430. Focus on tradition
Troublesome Words and Phrases
431. Good usage vs. common usage 432. Using big data to assess linguistic change 433. Preventive grammar 434. Glossary of troublesome expressions
Bias-Free Language
435. Maintaining credibility 436. Gender bias 437. Other biases 438. Invisible gender-neutrality 439. Techniques for achieving gender-neutrality 440. Necessary gender-specific language 441. Sex-specific labels as adjectives 442. Gender-neutral singular pronouns 443. Problematic suffixes 444. Avoiding other biased language 445. Unnecessary focus on personal characteristics 446. Unnecessary emphasis on the trait, not the person 447. Inappropriate labels
Prepositional Idioms
448. Idiomatic uses 449. Shifts in idiom 450. Words and the prepositions construed with them
V. Punctuation
451. Introduction The Comma
Using Commas
452. With a conjunction between independent clauses 453. After a transitional or introductory phrase 454. To set off a nonrestrictive phrase or clause 455. To separate items in a series 456. To separate parallel modifiers 457. To distinguish indirect from direct speech 458. To separate the parts of full dates and addresses 459. To separate long numbers into three-digit chunks 460. To set off a name, word, or phrase used as a vocative 461. Before a direct question inside another sentence 462. To set off “etc.,” “et al.,” and the like at the end of a series 463. After the salutation in an informal letter
Preventing Misused Commas
464. Not to separate a subject and its verb 465. Not to separate a verb and its object 466. Not to set off a quotation that blends into the sentence 467. Not to set off an adverb that needs emphasis 468. Not to separate compound predicates 469. Not to use alone to splice independent clauses 470. Not to use after a sentence-starting conjunction 471. Not to omit after an internal set-off word or phrase 472. Not to set off restrictive matter 473. Not around name suffixes such as Jr., III, Inc., and Ltd. 474. Not to separate modifiers that aren’t parallel
The Semicolon
Using Semicolons
475. To unite two short, closely connected sentences 476. To separate items in a complex series 477. In old style, to set off explanation or elaboration
Preventing Misused Semicolons
478. Not where a colon is needed, as after a formal salutation 479. Not where a comma suffices, as in a simple list
The Colon
Using Colons
480. To link matter and indicate explanation or elaboration 481. To introduce an enumerated or otherwise itemized list 482. To introduce a question 483. Use a colon to introduce a question 484. After the salutation in business correspondence 485. To separate hours from minutes and in some citations 486. Without capitalizing the following matter needlessly
Preventing Misused Colons
487. Not to introduce matter that blends into your sentence
Parentheses
Using Parentheses
488. To set off inserted matter that you want to minimize 489. To clarify appositives or attributions 490. To introduce shorthand or familiar names 491. Around numbers or letters when listing items in text 492. To denote subparts in a citation 493. Correctly in relation to terminal punctuation 494. To enclose a brief aside
Preventing Misused Parentheses
495. Not before an opening parenthesis
The Em-Dash (or Long Dash)
Using Em-Dashes
496. To set off matter inserted in midsentence 497. To set off but emphasize parenthetical matter 498. To tack on an important afterthought 499. To introduce a specification or list 500. To show hesitation, faltering, or interruption
Preventing Misused Em-Dashes
501. Not using more than two in a sentence 502. Not after a comma, colon, semicolon, or terminal period
The En-Dash (or Short Dash)
Using En-Dashes
503. In a range, to show tension, or to join equivalents
Preventing Misused En-Dashes
504. Not in place of a hyphen or em-dash 505. Not with the wording it replaces
The Hyphen
Using Hyphens
506. To join parts of a phrasal adjective 507. To mark other phrasal-adjective and suffix connections 508. In closely associated compounds according to usage 509. When writing out fractions and two-word numbers 510. To show hesitation, stammering, and the like 511. In proper names when appropriate 512. In some number groups or when spelling out a word 513. With “l‑” suffixes (e.g., “-like”) on words ending in “-ll”
Preventing Misused Hyphens
514. Not after a prefix unless an exception applies 515. Not in place of an em-dash, even when doubled (“--”) 516. Not with an “‑ly” adverb and a participial adjective 517. Not in a phrasal verb
The Apostrophe
Using Apostrophes
518. To indicate the possessive case 519. To mark a contraction or to signal dialectal speech 520. To form plurals of letters, digits, and some abbreviations
Preventing Misused Apostrophes
521. Not to form other plurals, especially of names 522. Not to omit obligatory apostrophes
Quotation Marks
Using Quotation Marks
523. To quote matter of 50 or fewer words 524. When using a term as a term or when defining a term 525. When you mean “so-called” or “but-not-really” 526. For titles of short-form works, according to a style guide 527. To show internal quotation using single marks 528. To signal matter used idiomatically, not literally 529. Placed correctly in relation to other punctuation
Preventing Misused Quotation Marks
530. Not for a phrasal adjective 531. Not to emphasize a word or note its informality
The Question Mark
Using Question Marks
532. After a direct question
Preventing Misused Question Marks
533. Not after an indirect question
The Exclamation Mark
Using Exclamation Marks
534. After exclamatory matter, especially when quoting others
Preventing Misused Exclamation Marks
535. Not to express your own surprise or amazement
The Period
Using Periods
536. To end a typical sentence, not a question or exclamation 537. To indicate an abbreviated name or title 538. Placed properly with parentheses and brackets 539. To show a decimal place in a numeral
Preventing Misused Periods
540. Not with an abbreviation at sentence end
Brackets
Using Brackets
541. In a quotation, to enclose matter not in the original 542. In parenthetical matter, to enclose another parenthetical 543. To enclose the citation of a source, as in a footnote
Preventing Misused Brackets
544. Not in place of ellipsis dots when matter is deleted
The Slash (Virgule)
Using Slashes
545. To separate alternatives (but never “and/or”) 546. To separate numerical parts in a fraction 547. Informally, to separate elements in a date 548. Informally, as a shorthand signal for “per” 549. To separate lines of poetry or of a song
Preventing Misused Slashes
550. Not when a hyphen or en-dash would suffice
Bullets
551. To mark listed items of a more or less equal ranking
Ellipsis Dots
Using Ellipsis Dots
552. To show that an unfinished sentence trails off 553. To signal rumination, musing, or hesitation 554. To signal an omission of matter within a quotation 555. With following period, to show omission at sentence end 556. With preceding period, to show omission after sentence
Preventing Misused Ellipsis Dots
557. Omitting space or allowing a line break between dots 558. Beginning a quotation with ellipsis dots
Select Glossary Notes Sources for Inset Quotations Select Bibliography Acknowledgments Word Index General Index Pronunciation Guide
  • ← Prev
  • Back
  • Next →
  • ← Prev
  • Back
  • Next →

Chief Librarian: Las Zenow <zenow@riseup.net>
Fork the source code from gitlab
.

This is a mirror of the Tor onion service:
http://kx5thpx2olielkihfyo4jgjqfb7zx7wxr3sd4xzt26ochei4m6f7tayd.onion