Ownership relationships be- The meaning of the phrase

tween possessor and posses- fear of John is different from

sum favour the ‘s-genitive. that of John’s fear

Grammar in contexct
Grammar in contexct
The phrase more sincere re- The following question is un-
sponse is usually preferred grammatical: Is the boy that
over sincerer response. holding the plate can see the
girl?

Grammar in contexct
Grammar in contexct

In double genitive construc- Infinitives should never be

tions (e.g. friend of mine) the split.
possessor is always animate.

Grammar in contexct
Grammar in contexct
 Ambiguity characterizes all The English past tense can be
human languages. marked in two ways.

Grammar in contexct
Grammar in contexct
The following sentence is The regular plural morpheme
grammatical, but difficult to can be realized in 3 ways.
make sense of: Violinist
linked to JAL crash blos-
soms.

Grammar in contexct
Grammar in contexct

John’s car is an analytic con- Avoid double negatives such

struction. as You don’t know nothing.

Grammar in contexct
Grammar in contexct
 Honest never takes -est in the
superlative form.

Frequency and irregularity are

Grammar in contexct
usually correlated in human
languages.

The endings -y and -ly favour

Grammar in contexct
the analytic comparative.

Snuck is not an English word.

Grammar in contexct

Plurals of words like man,

Grammar in contexct
woman, mouse, tooth, foot
should never be formed reg-
ularly: mans, womans,
mouses, tooths, foots.
Grammar in contexct