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This grammar is suitable for anyone who is interested in the English language and how it works in everyday current contexts. It has been written mainly for advanced-level students and their teachers, but any serious learner will find it a valuable reference tool.
The information in this book is taken from a long and careful study of present-day English involving the analysis of the Collins corpus – a corpus of many millions of words of speech and writing.
A functional approach
Most people who study and use a language are interested in how they can do things with the language – how they can make meanings, get attention, influence people, and learn about the world. They are interested in the grammatical structure of the language as a way of getting things done.
A grammar that puts together the patterns of the language and the things you can do with them is called a functional grammar. This is a functional grammar; that is to say, it is based on the important relation between structure and function.
Each chapter is built around a major function of language, such as describing people and things, and reporting what someone said. Each of these functions is regularly expressed in English by one particular structure.
For example, describing people and things is usually expressed by adjectives, and reportingwhat people say or think typically involves a reporting verb such as say, followed by a clause beginning with that or a clause with quotation marks (‘ ’) around it.
This grammar follows up each major statement (often called a rule in other grammars) with a detailed description of the uses surrounding it – including any exceptions. The scope of the original function may then be extended.
For example, the basic, central function of reporting verbs (chapter 7) is to state what someone has said. He said he would be back soon.
It can easily be extended to include what someone has written. His mother wrote that he had finally arrived home. Then it can be widened to include thoughts and feelings; these do not need to
be expressed in words, but the reporting structure is very convenient. The boys thought he was dead. From this we can see the reporting clause as a more general way of introducing another clause.
Examples
All the examples in this book are taken from the Collins corpus. As ever, the corpus lies at the heart of each grammar point described, helping compilers to make confident and accurate decisions about different structures and usage.
Examples themselves remain close to the corpus, with minor changes made so that they are more accessible to the learner. They are carefully chosen so as to illustrate typical patterns and collocations in real-life situations.
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