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
 Avoid double negatives such Do not use literally when you
as You don’t know nothing. mean ‘figuratively’: I was lit-
erally dying of laughter.

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-
struction.

Grammar in contexct
Plurals of words like man, Honest never takes -est in the
woman, mouse, tooth, foot superlative form.
should never be formed reg-
ularly: mans, womans,
mouses, tooths, foots.

Grammar in contexct
Grammar in contexct

The endings -y and -ly favour

the analytic comparative.
Grammar in contexct