An engaging and fresh take on the rules and politics of English grammar, written in lively prose. It goes a step further than most books on grammar by providing an overview of the field, with a discussion of historical and current debates about grammar, and how we define, discuss, and approach it.

Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv 1 What is Grammar and How Do We Study It? 1 Introduction 1 What is English? Language Change and Variation 2 What is Grammar? Prescriptive and Descriptive Grammar 4 Origins of Prescriptive Grammar 8 The Components of Grammar 10 Syntax 10 Morphology 13 Semantics 15 Phonetics and phonology 18 The Scientific Study of Language 19 Exercises 20 2 Nouns 23 Introduction 23 Semantic Features of Nouns 24 Abstract and concrete 25 Common and proper 25 Count and mass 27 Collective nouns 28 Generic nouns 29 Noun Morphology 30 Inflectional affixation 30 Plurals 30 Possessives 31 Derivational affixation 33 Other ways we form nouns 34 Summary 35 Exercises 35 3 Noun Phrases 41 Introduction 41 Categories that Precede Nouns 42 Determiners 42 Noun phrases without determiners 46 Numerals 47 Quantifiers 48 Order of D, NUM, and Q 49 Partitive, Measure, and Collective Noun Phrases 50 Possessive Noun Phrases 52 NP or N: pronoun substitution 53 Modifiers of Nouns 55 Adjectives that modify nouns 55 Nouns that modify nouns 57 Verbs that modify nouns 59 Summary 61 Exercises 61 4 Verbs 67 Introduction 67 Main Verbs 68 Main Verb Morphology 68 Derivational affixation and other ways we form verbs 69 Inflectional affixation 69 Infinitives 71 Present tense 72 Past tense 74 Past tense variation 75 Present and past participles 76 Past participle variation 77 Suppletion 79 Summary 80 Exercises 81 5 Verb Phrases 85 Introduction 85 Auxiliary Verbs 86 Morphology of have and be 87 Auxiliary have 87 Main verb have 87 Auxiliary be 88 Main verb be 88 Verb strings with auxiliary have and be 89 Modals 90 Modal meaning 90 Modal morphology and tense 92 Semi-modals 93 Future tense 94 Verb strings with auxiliaries and modals 94 Aspect 96 Progressive aspect 96 Perfect aspect 97 Combining aspectual forms 97 Habitual aspect 99 Voice 100 Direct objects and transitivity 101 Thematic roles 102 Passive voice 103 The passive verb string 105 Passive in writing 106 Summary 108 Exercises 108 6 The Clause 113 Introduction 113 Clause Structure and the TENSE Position 114 Subject–Auxiliary Inversion 117 Auxiliary Do 121 Do-insertion 123 Subjects 125 Non-agentive subjects 126 Subjects of passive sentences 127 Pleonastic subjects 127 Tag Question Formation 129 Negation 132 A Final Puzzle: Main Verb Be 137 Summary 141 Exercises 142 7 Adjectives 147 Introduction 147 Adjective Semantics 148 Adjective Morphology 151 Derivational affixation and other ways we form adjectives 151 Participial adjectives 152 Inflectional affixation: comparative and superlative adjectives 152 Adjective Syntax 154 Modifiers of adjectives 154 The degree word test for adjectives 155 Prenominal and postnominal adjective phrases 157 Some interesting exceptions 158 Adjective phrase subjective complements 159 Other subjective complements: NP and PP 160 Direct objects versus subjective complements 161 The seem test for adjectives 162 Restrictions on AP complements 163 Summary 164 Exercises 164 8 Adverbs 171 Introduction 171 Adverb Semantics 172 Adverb Morphology 173 Derivational affixation and other ways we form adverbs 173 Flat adverbs 174 Inflectional affixation 175 Adverb Syntax 176 Modifiers of adverbs 176 Adverb phrase positions 178 Adverb phrase modifiers 180 Adverb phrase complements 181 More on Modifiers 182 Summary 182 Exercises 182 9 Prepositions and Particles 187 Introduction 187 Preposition Semantics 188 Preposition Morphology 190 Preposition Syntax 191 Complements of prepositions 191 Objects of prepositions 191 Other complements of prepositions 192 Modifiers of prepositions 192 Grammatical functions of prepositional phrases 193 PP modifiers of nouns 194 PP modifiers of verbs and clauses 194 PPs as complements 195 Indirect object complements 197 Particles 200 Semantics of particles 200 Syntax of particles 201 Summary 204 Exercises 204 10 Independent, Coordinate, and Subordinate Clauses 209 Introduction 209 Independent Clauses 210 Coordination 211 Subordination 214 Clauses and sentences 215 Subordinate Clause Types 216 A brief but important aside: sentence fragments 218 Tensed clause complements 220 Bare infinitival clause complements 223 To-infinitive clause complements 224 Participial clause complements 226 Wh-clause complements 229 Wh-movement 230 Complementizers 232 Clausal Subjects 233 Summary 237 Exercises 237 11 More on Complementation and Modification 243 Introduction 243 Complementation and Modification: A Brief Review 244 Review of complements 245 Complements of verbs 245 Complements of adjectives 247 Complements of prepositions 247 Review of modifiers 248 Modifiers of nouns 248 Modifiers of adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions 249 Modifiers of verbs 249 Movable Modifiers 250 Movable PP modifiers 250 Movable NP modifiers 250 Movable AP modifiers 250 Movable VP modifiers 251 Movable clause modifiers 251 Diagramming movable modifiers 251 Final notes on movable modifiers 254 Clauses that Modify Nouns: Relative Clauses 255 Relative clauses and wh-movement 257 Tensed and infinitival relative clauses 259 Restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses 261 Headless relative clauses 264 Appositive NPs 265 Summary 265 Exercises 266 Epilogue: Navigating Real Language 273 Index 275

While most grammar books start and stop with an explanation of parts of speech and sentence structure, Navigating English Grammar goes a step further to provide an overview of the field, with a discussion of historical and current debates about grammar, and how we define, discuss, and approach it. The authors use grammar as a springboard to discuss semantics and morphology; how usage and sentence structure affects style in writing; abbreviated style in the digital age; and the syntax of poetry, fiction, and other genres. Along the way they give examples and analysis of texts. Among other controversies, the authors delve into the sociopolitical aspects of grammar rules, the subjectivity of pet peeves and grammar police, the changing ways grammar has been taught, and how assessment and a changing educational climate has influenced this. They also lay out the fascinating history of the linguistic tradition, from the Sanskrit grammar of Panini (c. 520-460 BCE), sometimes considered a founder of linguistics, to the ancient Greeks, the development of the Western tradition, and through the rise of ’correct’ English grammar in the 17th century to the present day. Navigating English Grammar is an engaging and fresh take on the rules and the politics of English grammar, written in lively, inviting prose.

"Navigating English Grammar is a superb introduction to English grammar and grammatical analysis. Lobeck and Denham guide readers through the essentials of English with vivid, up-to-date usage examples and just the right amount of clearly explained linguistic theory." – Edwin Battistella, Southern Oregon University  “Lobeck and Denham make a plausible Socrates, prodding their interlocutors into discovering their own, internal language system.  Readers learn much about scientific methods, honed by years working in schools and understanding adolescent minds, and are liberated from foolish social judgments about people's language.” – David Lightfoot, Georgetown University