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Oxford Modern English Grammar
Oxford Modern English Grammar is Oxford's brand new and definitive guide to English grammar. This book has been written by a leading expert in the field, covers both British and American English, and makes use of authentic spoken and written examples. Arranged in four clear parts for ease of use, its comprehensive coverage ranges from the very basic to the most complex aspects of grammar, all of which are explained clearly yet authoritatively. This
descriptive source of reference is invaluable for those with an interest in the English language, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and for anyone who would like a clear guide to English grammar and how it is used.
descriptive source of reference is invaluable for those with an interest in the English language, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and for anyone who would like a clear guide to English grammar and how it is used.
581 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2011
213 people are currently reading
808 people want to read
About the author
Bas Aarts
22 books11 followersBas Aarts is Professor of English Linguistics and Director of the Survey of English Usage at University College London, UK. His research interest is in the field of syntax, more specifically verbal syntax. He has published widely in the field and is one of the founding editors of the journal English Language and Linguistics.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 24, 2013
I was not able to finish this book in time. I had to return it to the library. It's very good. I need to own a copy for reference. There is so much to learn about English grammar. Most people don't like to read grammar books from cover to cover, but I do.
November 15, 2015
When you read a grammar book cover to cover just for fun, you know you belong to a restricted circle of human beings that have been called to make a difference in this world.
A rare piece of knowledge that few dare to possess. A tortuous journey that few are able to endure. This book meticulously addresses language issues hardly fathomed by the average speaker.
A must-have for serious grammarians and linguists, the Oxford Modern English Grammar by Bas Aarts should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to push the envelope of their knowledge of the English language.
A rare piece of knowledge that few dare to possess. A tortuous journey that few are able to endure. This book meticulously addresses language issues hardly fathomed by the average speaker.
A must-have for serious grammarians and linguists, the Oxford Modern English Grammar by Bas Aarts should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to push the envelope of their knowledge of the English language.
January 23, 2020
This was the textbook for my graduate English Grammar class. On top of a formal, stilted, and almost arrogant writing style, the examples given were British and all totally out of context. It was impossible to read, frustrating to try to comprehend. I had to supplement it with other resources to understand the concepts. My fellow classmate and I hated it so much, we are having a book-burning party to completely rid ourselves of it!
September 23, 2013
This book defeated me after 60 pages, because the deluge of technical terms got in the way of understanding the grammar. Useful it may be for professional grammarians, but not at all practical.
January 31, 2016
I bought this in the hope that it would improve my grammar, but I found it completely impenetrable.
August 7, 2022
Once one has reached a certain intellectual maturity, it will always repay the effort to go back to elementary things and to examine them again, armed now with conceptual precision and wisdom gained from experience. For most of us, it hasn’t been since grade school that we studied grammar or diagrammed sentences. Yet, the twentieth-century linguistic turn reflects a genuine insight into the centrality of language in structuring interaction with the world for us humans (comparable to the nineteenth-century historicist turn vis-à-vis recognition of the important role of historical derivation in understanding most concepts of relevance to human affairs). Thus, in a spirit of seeking to get to the heart of the matter, we propose a review of the Oxford Modern English Grammar by the prominent British linguist Bas Aarts (published by the Oxford University Press in 2011).
In up-to-date linguistic terminology, Aarts lays out the basics of English grammar: word structure and formation, word classes, simple phrases, grammatical functions, semantic roles and tree diagrams in part ii, complex phrases and coordination, types of clauses, negation, finite subordinate clauses, non-finite and verbless subordinate clauses in part iii, and tense, aspect, mood and information structuring in part iv. These concepts are illustrated with exhaustive examples of English text, showing both possible and impossible constructions. Aside from giving clear definitions of grammatical terms such as these and others, a pleasant side of Aarts exposition is that sometimes he will engage in a brief justification of why he decides to classify something the way he does, if it departs from the practice of older grammars with which the reader may be more familiar. Whether or not one agree with him – it proves invaluable to learning the material to be alerted to what for linguists are relevant considerations! For instance, parsing need not always be so straightforward, as with non-finite subordinate clauses: what controls the reference, subject or direct object? Is the clause an indirect object or direct object or a verbal complement? Etc.
One comes away from a perusal of Aart’s text with a heightened sense of English and its expressive possibilities, despite its almost complete lack of declension and inflected verbal forms, impoverished tense system and incomplete set of modal auxiliaries and so forth. Somehow we manage to make do with the pared-down syntax our ancestors left us with, after the Old English period (ending circa 1100)! In partial compensation, modern English finds itself endowed with a rich vocabulary, having words with both Germanic and Latin (via Norman French) roots which permits differentiation and fine gradations of meaning.
Not at all a speculative grammar, uninterested in the question as to what the parts of speech may be per se (i.e., what distinguishes a noun from a verb and how are these related to space and time?). Meant just as an inventory of all allowable grammatical forms; one has not to look for any thesis and Aarts reaches no overall conclusion. For one willing to accept this limitation of scope, the only drawback to his exposition is that it can be somewhat unctuously descriptivistic. Thus, recommended to be scanned through quickly on the way to a deeper engagement with the subject!
In up-to-date linguistic terminology, Aarts lays out the basics of English grammar: word structure and formation, word classes, simple phrases, grammatical functions, semantic roles and tree diagrams in part ii, complex phrases and coordination, types of clauses, negation, finite subordinate clauses, non-finite and verbless subordinate clauses in part iii, and tense, aspect, mood and information structuring in part iv. These concepts are illustrated with exhaustive examples of English text, showing both possible and impossible constructions. Aside from giving clear definitions of grammatical terms such as these and others, a pleasant side of Aarts exposition is that sometimes he will engage in a brief justification of why he decides to classify something the way he does, if it departs from the practice of older grammars with which the reader may be more familiar. Whether or not one agree with him – it proves invaluable to learning the material to be alerted to what for linguists are relevant considerations! For instance, parsing need not always be so straightforward, as with non-finite subordinate clauses: what controls the reference, subject or direct object? Is the clause an indirect object or direct object or a verbal complement? Etc.
One comes away from a perusal of Aart’s text with a heightened sense of English and its expressive possibilities, despite its almost complete lack of declension and inflected verbal forms, impoverished tense system and incomplete set of modal auxiliaries and so forth. Somehow we manage to make do with the pared-down syntax our ancestors left us with, after the Old English period (ending circa 1100)! In partial compensation, modern English finds itself endowed with a rich vocabulary, having words with both Germanic and Latin (via Norman French) roots which permits differentiation and fine gradations of meaning.
Not at all a speculative grammar, uninterested in the question as to what the parts of speech may be per se (i.e., what distinguishes a noun from a verb and how are these related to space and time?). Meant just as an inventory of all allowable grammatical forms; one has not to look for any thesis and Aarts reaches no overall conclusion. For one willing to accept this limitation of scope, the only drawback to his exposition is that it can be somewhat unctuously descriptivistic. Thus, recommended to be scanned through quickly on the way to a deeper engagement with the subject!
October 27, 2021
A very good grammar book
I never know English grammar can be dissected so organized and systematical. This book is surely not for a non native English speaker of level far from advance. In the book, very often, it will use just few sentences to explain some very important grammar usage and one also needs to be very careful in understanding the various terminologies used in order to follow the explanations and usage. I believe it will take me many years before I can assimilate most of the materials in the book.
I never know English grammar can be dissected so organized and systematical. This book is surely not for a non native English speaker of level far from advance. In the book, very often, it will use just few sentences to explain some very important grammar usage and one also needs to be very careful in understanding the various terminologies used in order to follow the explanations and usage. I believe it will take me many years before I can assimilate most of the materials in the book.
November 10, 2022
good one,but poor editing
Good one: before reading this book,all I had was traditional grammar from middle school teacher. This is a new way to analyze English language. Also the description is quite clear.
Poor editing(kindle version): double underlined does not appear even once. Some border do not appear. Some sequences number is not correct.
Sorry for my grammar of this comment , it is a hurrying version from my poor English.
Good one: before reading this book,all I had was traditional grammar from middle school teacher. This is a new way to analyze English language. Also the description is quite clear.
Poor editing(kindle version): double underlined does not appear even once. Some border do not appear. Some sequences number is not correct.
Sorry for my grammar of this comment , it is a hurrying version from my poor English.
March 30, 2024
More than half of the time, the author makes no distinction between the restrictive and the non-restrictive relative clauses. That many people, even those writing for governmental organisations and educational institutions, have come to ignore this distinction may well boil down to the general dumbness of Bas Aarts.
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July 18, 2023The first half was very useful to me, providing a precise technical review of grammar I learned back when as well as plenty of illumination of things I didn't know. The back half of the book is mostly concerned with listing types of complex phrases and doesn't at this time seem too useful to me.
October 15, 2017
A grammar book with rather wordy definitions and not enough applicable examples. Found the bouncing between UK and US to be bothersome. People typically want to learn one or the other.
April 20, 2022
Very good grammar book.
June 17, 2022
I adore this sweet little book. I dip in and out whenever necessary.
May 18, 2016
If you must carry but one grammar...
...this is the the grammar to carry! It's odd when a good grammar reference weighs less than one thousand angels dancing on the head of a head of a pin, but there you have it!
It's odd that this grammar is damned for being both too simplex and too complex.
...this is the the grammar to carry! It's odd when a good grammar reference weighs less than one thousand angels dancing on the head of a head of a pin, but there you have it!
It's odd that this grammar is damned for being both too simplex and too complex.
April 20, 2022
very compressed, in small volume a lot of information, useful in long term
May 9, 2018
I will update this review after I complete the book, but so far I really love this book. I am through ch 1 of the book now. It has clear and concise, yet definitive, descriptions of both British and American English grammar. Rudimentary knowledge of grammatical terminology and Reed/Kellogg style sentence diagramming seems to be helpful in really reading this text, but no knowledge of formal linguistic grammar is assumed.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews