About the Book

Thoroughly revised version - April 2021
More examples, more cross-references, more explanations.

• Reviewed in EFL Magazine, 2021. "This is a useful reference book to have on hand when planning for and teaching grammar lessons. The clarity of explanations and wealth of examples, alongside helpful visual keys, provide both new and experienced teachers with something easy to dip into, regardless of the language level they are teaching."
• Reviewed in English Australia journal, 2021 "A Descriptive Grammar of English contains much to recommend it. If you are looking for an affordable e-book or a more accessible reference, this could be for you (or your students)."

This is a reference Grammar of English for the 2020s, thorough, complete, original, clearly explained and accessible to all.

Covering in detail all the essential points of English grammar, with multiple examples and clear explanations, this is a grammar book that avoids the complex linguistic jargon that is so common to many books on English grammar.
Designed to cater specifically for the needs of teachers and students in the real life situations of school, university, home study or language classes, this is a grammar book that explains the everyday rules and principles of English in the 21st century.

Through clear principles and many hundreds of relevant examples, this learner-targeted book sets out to show how simple basic English grammar really is - not how complicated it can be. With reference to both written and spoken English, it highlights the essential principles of contemporary English, emphasising the simplicity of the main rules rather than the complexities of some of the exceptions.

Described by its first independent reviewer as comprehensive, simple and logical this book not only takes the mystery out of English grammar, but also answers many of the questions that students (and teachers) ask, providing explanations that teachers can use and students can understand. Whenever appropriate, it distinguishes between written English and spoken English, and British and American usage.

Illustrated with many hundreds of examples from everyday English, this book pays particular attention to the tricky questions that often baffle speakers of other languages, such as the use of articles and determiners, or of conjunctions and connectors, or when to use an 's or an of for possession, which past tense to use, and other sometimes confusing points.

It is also of great value for native English speakers, clearly describing many aspects of English grammar that native speakers seem to master intuitively, but are at a loss to explain. How is it that native speakers seem to know by intuition how to put adjectives in the right order? What's the difference between "couldn't have" and "wasn't able to", between "don't have" and "haven't", and so on?

Native English speakers usually follow the essential rules of grammar, but few know what the rules are... or even, in many cases, that rules exist. As a descriptive grammar, this book shows by example how English is used today, and explains the principles or rules that define this usage.

* Using colour coding to stress pertinent points and contrast different structures or functions, this descriptive grammar relates practice to theory with a visual clarity that is understandable to any reader.

* Originally conceived for non-native speakers of English, particularly in the world of TESOL, this book is equally suited for school and home use in English-speaking countries. In short it is for anyone who is looking for clear and example-based explanations of how English works and is written and spoken.