This page intentionally left blank EnglishGrammar UnderstandingtheBasics Lookingforaneasy-to-useguidetoEnglishgrammar?Thishandy introduction covers all the basics of the subject, using a simple and straightforward style. Studentswill¢ndthebook’sstep-by-stepapproacheasytofollowandbeencour- agedbyitsnon-technicallanguage.RequiringnopriorknowledgeofEnglishgram- mar,theinformationispresentedinsmallsteps,withobjectivetechniquestohelp readersapplynewconcepts.Withclearexplanationsandwell-chosenexamples, thebookgivesstudentsthetoolstounderstandthemysteriesofEnglishgrammar aswellastheperfectfoundationfromwhichtomoveontomoreadvancedtopics. EVELYNP.ALTENBERGisProfessorintheDepartmentofSpeech-Language-Hearing SciencesatHofstraUniversity,NewYork. ROBERT M. VAGO is Professor and Chair in the Department of Linguistics and CommunicationDisordersatQueensCollege,CityUniversityofNewYork. English Grammar Understanding the Basics EVELYN P. ALTENBERG HofstraUniversity and ROBERT M.VAGO QueensCollegeandtheGraduateCenter CityUniversityofNewYork CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521518321 © Evelyn P.Altenberg & Robert M.Vago This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2010 ISBN-13 978-0-511-72945-4 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-13 978-0-521-51832-1 Hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-73216-1 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Tomyhusband,Jim,mydaughters,JenandAlli, mymother,Lilo,andinmemoryofmyfather,Hans and Tomyson,Joel,sothathemightreadthisbookand understandwhathisfatherwastryingtoteachhim Contents Introduction pagexi Howtousethisbook xii PartI Kindsofwords 1 UnitI Nouns 3 Lesson1 Identifyingnouns 3 Lesson2 Concreteandabstractnouns 5 Lesson3 Singularandpluralnouns 9 Lesson4 Animateandinanimatenouns 12 Lesson5 Countandnoncountnouns 14 Lesson6 Properandcommonnouns 18 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit1 20 Unit2 Verbs 23 Lesson7 Identifyingverbs 23 Lesson8 Theverbbase 25 Lesson9 Actionverbsandlinkingverbs 27 Lesson10 Transitiveandintransitiveverbs 35 Lesson11 Phrasalverbs 38 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit2 41 Unit3 Determiners 45 Lesson12 Articles 46 Lesson13 Demonstratives 48 Lesson14 Possessives 50 Lesson15 Quanti¢ers 53 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit3 55 Unit4 Adjectives 58 Lesson16 Identifyingadjectives 58 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit4 63 Unit5 Prepositions 65 Lesson17 Identifyingprepositions 65 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit5 68 Unit6 Conjunctions 69 Lesson18 Coordinatingconjunctions 70 Lesson19 Subordinatingconjunctions 73 vii Contents Lesson20 Correlativeconjunctions 77 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit6 79 Unit7 Pronouns 81 Lesson21 Subjectandobjectpronouns 82 Lesson22 Re£exivepronouns 85 Lesson23 Demonstrativepronouns 87 Lesson24 Possessivepronouns 89 Lesson25 Interrogativepronouns 93 Lesson26 Relativepronouns 96 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit7 99 Unit8 Adverbs 103 Lesson27 Identifyingadverbs 103 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit8 107 Reviewmatchingexerciseandanswerkey^PartI 109 PartII Kindsofphrases 111 Unit9 Nounphrases 113 Lesson28 Thebasicstructureofnounphrases 113 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit9 119 Unit10 Prepositionalphrases 121 Lesson29 Thebasicstructureofprepositionalphrases 121 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit10 125 Unit11 Verbphrases 126 Lesson30 Thebasicstructureofverbphrases 126 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit11 135 Unit12 Auxiliaryphrases 138 Lesson31 Thebasicstructureofauxiliaryphrases 139 Lesson32 Modals 141 Lesson33 Perfecthave 143 Lesson34 Progressivebe 146 Lesson35 Combiningauxiliaryverbs 148 Lesson36 Thesu⁄xesofauxiliaryverbs 151 Lesson37 Tense 156 Answerkeys:Testyourselfquestions^Unit12 164 Unit13 Subjectsandobjects 169 Lesson38 Subjects 170 Lesson39 Directobjects 173 Lesson40 Indirectobjects 177 Lesson41 Thefunctionsofpronouns 183 viii