OXFORDGUIDE TO ENGLISHGRAMMAR

TheOxf or dGui det oEngl ishGr ammari sas ystemat i

cac countof
grammat icalf or msandt hewayt he yar eus edi ns tandar dBr itish
Engl i
sht oday. Thee mphas i
si sonme aningsandhow t he ygove rnt he
choiceofgr ammat i
c alpat tern.Thebooki st hor oughi ni tsc ove r age
but pays mos t at tention t o poi ntst hat ar e of i mpor t
anc et o
intermedi ateandadvanc edl earne rsofEngl is h,andt ot heirt eac he rs.
Itwi l
lbef ounde qual lys uitablef orqui ckr e ferenc etode tailsandf or
themor el ei
s ureds tudyofbr oadgr ammart opi c
s .Aus efulf eatur eof
thebooki st hei nc l
us ionofe xampl etextsandc onve rsations ,manyof
them aut he nt i
c,tos how how gr ammari sus edi nc onne ctedwr iting
andi ns pe ech. Languagec hange sal ltheti me . Event houghgr ammar

OXFORD
change smor es lowl yt hanvoc abul ary,iti snotas e
tofunal te rable
rules.The re ar es ome ti
me sdi sagr e
e me ntsaboutwhati sc orr ec
t
Engl i
shandwhati si ncor r
e ct.'Incor re
ct'gr ammari sof t
enus edi n
informals pe ech.Doe st hatmakei tacc ept able ?Whe ret he rei sa
differ
enc ebe twe e nc ommonus ageandopi nionsaboutc orre ctne ss,I

GUIDETO
havepoi nt e
dt hisout .Thi si nformat i
oni simpor t
antf orl e arne r
s .In
somes i
tuat ionsi tmaybes aferf ort hemt ous et hef or m whi chi s Ac
knowl
edge
ment
s
tradit
ional lys eenasc orrect.Theus eofac orre ctformi nanuns ui table
context,howe ve r,cani nterferewi thunde rstandi ngj us tasmuc hasa The aut hor and publ i
s her
mi st
ake.Tohe l
pl ear nerst ous el anguagewhi chi sappr opr i
at ef ora woul dl iket ot hankal lt he

ENGLI
SH
givenoc c asion,Ihavef reque ntlymar kedus age sasf or mal ,inf ormal , teache r
s i n t he Uni ted
li
teraryands oon. Kingdom and I tal
y who
discus s
edt hi
sbook i nt he
ear l
y s t
ages of i t
s
de velopme nt.We ar e al so

GRAMMAR
grateful t o J ohn Al geo,
Shar on Hi ll
esand Thomas
Lave lle for the i
r
cont ri
butionst ot hechapt er
onAme ricanEngl ishandt o
Rod Boli
tho, She i
la
j
ohneastwood Eas
Wi
t
wood and He
ddows on fort hei
rhe
nr
l
y
p
andadvi ce.