A HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR
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Exercises, Vols. I &
II
The Best English
Good English: How to Write It
Read Well and Remember
Current English Usage
English Prepositional Idioms
Longman
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Dent
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electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record-
ing, or otherwise, without the prior permission
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ISBN o
582
55339 3
First published 1957
Second edition 1962
Third edition 1965
Fourth edition 1967
Fifth edition 197o
Sixth edition 1972
Seventh edition 1975
Fifth edition published for E.L.B.S. 1970
Sixth edition published for E.L.B.S. 1972
Seventh edition published for E.L.B.S. 1975
ELBS edition reprinted 1976
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PREFACE
THIS book was originally designed as a manual of English grammar
for Dutch students. As such it ran into six editions in less than
twice as many years, and drew a good deal of attention outside the
Netherlands. A French version
(Grammaire Descriptive de l'Anglais
Contemporain)
appeared in 1949, and more than one reviewer urged
the desirability of a unilingual edition for general use, with the
comparisons with and translations into Dutch left out. The author
is

Vi

PREFACE
As will be seen, this book contains numerous references to other
publications. This is done deliberately, to impress upon the
student the fact that a handbook is only a point of departure. If
it has not roused his curiosity and encouraged him to further
research, it has at least partly failed of its purpose.
Groningen

R. W. ZANDVOORT
NOTE ON THE SECOND TO FOURTH
EDITIONS
THESE editions contain a number of corrections and additions,
many of which are due to four important books on modern English
that have recently appeared, viz.
Present-Day English Syntax,
by
G. Scheurweghs (London, 1960),
The Categories and Types of
Present-Day English Word-Formation,
by H. Marchand (Wies-
baden, 1960),
Notions Essentielles d' Anglais,
by J. Zajicek (Paris,
1965), and
A Modern English Grammar,
by K. Schibsbye (London,
1965). For other improvements the author is indebted to reviewers
of the first edition and to such experts as Dr. J. A. van Ek, Mr.

ing of Forms and Functions 12.
I.
Infinitive

4
Plain Infinitive 13-21. - Infinitive with
to
22-36. -
Accusative with Infinitive 37-45. - Nominative with
Infinitive 46-52. -
For +
Acc. with Infinitive 53-60. -
Anaphoric
to
61.
II.
Gerund and Present Participle

24
General 62-63. - Gerund 64-74. - Present Participle
75-87. - Progressive 88-98. - Verbal Forms in
ing
not
derived from Verb Stems 99. - Gerund or Present Parti-
ciple ? 100-105.
HI. Past Participle - Passive Voice

48
Past Participles 106-116. - Passive Voice 117-125.
IV.

210-213.
VI.
Mood and Modality

. . 86
Subjunctive 214-221. - Modal Preterite 222. - Auxili-
aries of Modality 223. - Adverbs of Modality 224.
1
Except in the right-hand margin, references, as throughout the book, are
to sections.
vii
viii

CONTENTS
PART II
NOUNS
Chap.

Page
Introductory

. .

90
Regular Nouns 225-232. - Irregular Nouns 233-238.
- Nouns with only one Number Form 239-244. - Plurals
and Genitives of Classical Nouns 245-246.
I. Use of the Number Forms

. . . . . . . . 97

I.
Personal Pronouns

128
General 354-362. -
He
-
She
-
It
363-375. - Gender
376. - Other Uses of
It,
377-385.
II.
Possessive Pronouns

.

. . . . . 138
General 386-394. - Independent Possessives 395-397.
- Relations between Possessive Pronoun and Headword
398. - Possessive Pronoun and Of-Adjunct 399-400. -
Own 401-405.
CONTENTS

iX
Chap.

Page

450.
VI.
Relative Pronouns

.

.

.

.

160
Who
451-455. -
Which
456-461. - Restrictive and
Continuative Clauses 462. -,
That
463-466. - Absence
of Relative Pronoun 467-469. -
What
470-472. -
Who-
ever, whichever, whatever
473
-
474.
VII.
Indefinite Pronouns

nite Pronouns 550.
PART IV
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Introductory
1R
7

Adjectives and Nouns 551. - Adjectives and Pronouns 552.
-
Adjectives and Adverbs 553. - Adverbs as Adjuncts
554.
Comparison

188
Comparison by means of suffixes 555-556; Comparison by
more
and
most
557-562; Irregular Comparison 563-566;
Compound Adjectives 567; Contrast or Superiority 568;
Comparative of Proportion 569; Comparative of Gradation
570; Absolute Superlative 571; Comparative of Infer.urity
etc. 572.
CONTENTS
PART V
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Chap.

Page

Sentence Groups

229
Groups of two Adjoining Sentences 664-668. - Con-
firmative Questions and Statements 669-670. - Denials
671. - Answers to Verbal Questions 672. Predicate
applied to another Subject 673. - Two Sentences Com-
bined 674. - Second Sentence introduced by Coordinating
Conjunction 675 Second Sentence introduced by Adverb
676. - Interrupted Sentence 677.
IV.
Additional Remarks on Conjunctions
234
678-680.
PART VI
ORDER OF WORDS
Order of Words

236
General 681. -' Normal' and `inverted' order 682-683. -
Sentences beginning with unstressed
there
684. - Inverted
CONTENTS

xi
Chap.

Page
order in Declarative Sentences 685-690. - Interroga-

.

.

. 255
General 742-743. - Concord of Person 744-746. -
Concord of Number 747-767. - Concord of Gender 768.
- Concord of Tense 769.
PART VIII
CONVERSION
Conversion .

.

.

.

.

.

.

265
General 770-773. - Complete Conversion 774-777.
[Verbs as Nouns 774. - Nouns as Verbs 775. - Adjectives
as Verbs 776. - Adverbs as Nouns or Verbs 777.] -
Partial Conversion 778-802. [Adjectives as Nouns 778-
791. - Nouns as Adjectives 792-800. - Adverbs as

APPENDIX
Irregular Verbs


326
To Have


333
To Be


334
Verbal Forms with
thou


334
Third Person Singular in
(e)th


335
Spelling of Inflected and Derived Forms
•
•
335
Pluralia Tantum





345
The phonetic transcription is identical with that used in Daniel Jones's
English Pronouncing Dictionary
BOOKS REFERRED TO
1

W. S. Allen,
Living English Structure,
London 1947.
The American College Dictionary,
New York 1947.
R. A. Close,
English as a Foreign Language,
London 1962.
W. E. Collinson,
Spoken English,
Leipzig 1929.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary
(COD).
J. A. van Ek,
Four Complementary Structures of Predication,
Groningen 1966.
H. W. Fowler,
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage,
Oxford 1927 (MEU).
C. C. Fries,
The Structure of English,
New York 1952.

The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-
Formation,
Wiesbaden 1960.
H. L. Mencken,
The American Language,
4th ed., New York 1936.
C. T. Onions,
An Advanced English Syntax,
London 1911, new ed., 1971.
The Oxford English Dictionary
(OED).
H. E. Palmer,
A Grammar of Spoken English,
Cambridge 1924.
H. Poutsma,
A Grammar of Late Modern English,
Groningen, Part I, 2nd
ed., 1928
(Grammar
2
);
Part II, 1914-1926.
R. Quirk, S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartvik,
A Grammar of Contem-
porary English,
London 1972.
F. L. Sack,
The Structure of English,
Cambridge & Berne 1954.
G. Scheurweghs,

class="bi x0 y0 w2 h1"
PART I
VERBS
INTRODUCTORY
A.
REGULAR VERBS
1. An English verb normally has the following forms:
a.
the stem:
play, call, wait, pass;
b.
the stem +
ing: playing, calling, waiting, passing;
c.
the stem + sibilant-suffix:'
plays
[pleiz],
calls
[ko:lz], waits
[weits],
passes ['pa:siz].
As appears from the examples, [iz] is used after stems ending in a sibilant,
[z] in other cases, except after breathed consonants, [s] after breathed
consonants, except sibilants.
[iz] is spelt
es;
if the stem ends in
e
in the spelling (e.g.
change), s

cried (stem cry), admitted
(stem admit),
see Appendix, p. 336 f.
2. The stem of an English verb is used in the following functions:
a.
INFINITIVE,
often preceded by
to
3
(13 ff.);
b.
PRESENT TENSE,
with the exception of the third person singular
(128 ff.);
The sibilants (or hissing sounds) are [s], [z], [I] and [3].
2
adj. & n., (phon.) of certain consonantal sounds formed by placing point
of tongue against, or near, the upper teeth; such sounds as [t, d, n, 0, a].'
(Wyld,
The Universal Dictionary s.v. dental.)
3
When referring to a verb by itself, it is customary to mention the stem
preceded by
to: To play is
a regular verb.' Verbs that are not used as
infinitives, however, are indicated by the mere stem: ' What is the past
tense of
can?'
(See 6.)
1

(Or PRETERITE
rpretaritp (135 if.).
B.
IRREGULAR VERBS
6.
The following verbs have only one of the four forms enumerated
in 1, viz. the stem:
can, may, must, shall, will.
This stem is used in only one of the functions mentioned in 2,
viz. the present tense, including, however, the third person singular,
which in other verbs is expressed by the stem + sibilant-suffix
(4).
On
must
as a preterite, see 165.
7. To dare
and
to need
occur in all four forms, but usually take
no sibilant-suffix in the third person singular present tense when
used as auxiliaries.
8.
To be, to do,
and
to have
have irregular forms in the third
person singular present tense:
is [iz], does
[dAz], and
has

cut, let, spread.
b.
Either the past tense or the past participle is identical with the
stem:
beat — beat — beaten; run — ran — run.
c.
The past tense and the past participle are identical, but differ
from the stem:
bend — bent; bleed — bled; seek — sought.
d.
The past tense and the past participle differ from each other
as well as from the stem:
begin — began — begun; fall — fell —
fallen.
11.
Special mention should be made of the forms
could, might,
should
and
would,
which serve as past tenses to
can, may, shall
and
will
(6). They are not used as past participles.
On the isolated form
ought
see 167.
For further details of the irregular verbs, and for the conjugation of to
have

does not belong to the group of four described above.
In anticipation of p. 35, n. 5, it may be said that the infinitive is the use
of the verb stem in a non-finite function.
CHAPTER ONE
INFINITIVE
PLAIN INFINITIVE
13.
The infinitive may occur either with or without a proclitic'
particle.
2
This particle is written
to,
and pronounced [tu] before a
vowel, [to], sometimes [tu], before a consonant. The infinitive
without
to
is known as the PLAIN INFINITIVE.
14.
The plain infinitive is only used in a verbal, never in a nominal
function. In cases where other languages use a plain infinitive as
the subject, object or nominal predicate of a sentence, English uses
either an infinitive with
to
or a gerund.
'
,.
(
N know him is to like him.
Do you like swimming? (Cf. 68 ff.)
15.

one'. (On the term 'part of speech', see 770.)
4
INFINITIVE

5
c.
with
to do
(cf. 8 and 194 ff.) when used as an auxiliary of emphasis
or periphrasis.
Oh,
do
tell us what has happened.
She did not seem to notice us.
Don't you think he is awfully clever?
d.
with
had better, had best
(rare),
had rather, had sooner.
Had not [hxdn(t)] we better stop now?
I'd [aid] rather go on, if you don't mind.
I'd sooner stay where I am.
1.
I'd rather
and
I'd sooner
also serve as contracted forms of
I would rather
and

Cf. also:
All he had to do now was (to) pack his bag.
3.
Note the plain inf. after
better: Better bend than break
(cf.
Better
late than never).
See also 26, last ex. (=
You'd better . . .).
17. There are a few more combinations of a plain infinitive with
another verb; they differ, however, from those mentioned in 16
in being restricted to a number of more or less
stereotyped phrases.
Thus, to express one's complete indifference to something one
may say:
Oh, let it go hangla
The phrase
go hang
is invariable;
not only can the plain infinitive
hang
be combined with no
other verb (apart, of course, from those mentioned in 16),
but
go
(in this combination) occurs only as an infinitive. Compare
also
go fetch!
(order

applies to
make do (= manage).
He made believe that he was rich.
She had to make do with a day-girl.
Similar groups with
to hear are to hear say, hear tell.
(On the noun
'hearsay
see 812.2.)
I hear say that there will be an election soon.'
We have all of us heard tell of Robin Hood.
To let
may be combined with the plain infinitives
drop, fall, fly,
go, pass, slip:
In the course of the conversation he let fall an obvious hint.
Let go of that rope!
It would be a pity to let slip such an opportunity.
In the examples given,
let fall, let go, let slip,
form inseparable units. But
we also find:
he let himself go
(`give way to enthusiasm, impulse, etc.',
COD),
he let the reins slip out of his hands.—
Cf. p. 19, n. 2.
Combinations with
to help
are rather freer, as it may be combined

would, would have
being practically equivalent
to 'want', 'wants' or `wanted'), 'to experience'; after
to find, to know
For an alternative construction see 112; also p. 135, n.
1.
2
Collinson,
Spoken English,
p. 20.
INFINITIVE

7
(in the sense of 'to experience'; mostly in the perfect); also after
to
help
(cf. 17), where it alternates with the infinitive with
to.'
We heard her
come
downstairs.
She watched the postman cross the street.
He would not let me go.
They made him
repeat
everything the man had told him.
I won't (or: can't) have you
say
such things.
He would have the Government control all railways.

On the analogy of
to hear
and
to see, to listen to
and
to look at
are sometimes
followed by an accusative with plain infinitive, though mainly in American
English. Cf. 77.
Her whole life had been spent listening to other people talk.
Look at that horse jump!
19.
In combinations with one of the verbs of 16 a and
b,
the infinitive
is sometimes put(first) for emphasis. The construction is confined
to literary style. Cf. the 3rd ex. of 448.
I
have my work to do, and do it
I
will.
Return I dare not.
20.
A superficially similar construction is illustrated by such turns
of phrase as
Come what may; Try as he would.
Between these and the
inversions of 19 there is an essential difference, however. The two
verbal forms are connected by a relative pronoun, by
all,

615.
8

VERBS
In the first example, with a subject pronoun in the second person, the
infinitive seems to merge into the imperative. That it is distinct from the
imperative, however, is seen when we substitute a subject pronoun of the
first person:
Say what we will of him . . .
21.
The plain infinitive may be used by itself in questions beginning
with
why
or
why not:
Why spend such a lot of money?
A suggestion made in such a question (or in some other way) may
be rejected as impossible or absurd in a following exclamatory
sentence, which may again take the form of a question:'
Why not apologize and ask his pardon? — Ask that man's pardon?
Never! (See also 574, last ex.)
An exclamatory infinitive may be preceded by a subject of its own:
Do you think George could write a novel? — George
cwnte)a
novel?
Hardly likely.
In the last two examples we have to do with the repetition of a plain in-
finitive from the preceding questions.
INFINITIVE WITH
to

to begin, to come,
to fail, to get, to happen, to seem, to stand,
and a few other verbs:
The barometer began to fall.
I've come to see the problem in another light.
His promises failed (unstressed) to materialize ( = did not materialize).
One soon gets to like it.
I happened to meet him in town yesterday.
1
For examples followed by a note of exclamation, see Kruisinga & Erades,
An English Grammar,
1
2
, 8th ed., p. 362; also Jespersen,
Modern English
Grammar
(abbrev. MEG) V, 20.32.
INFINITIVE

9
I
seem to be deaf to-day.
1

Britain stands to gain by the treaty.
There is no subordination, however, in:
The mountaineers failed (stressed) to reach the top .s
He
seems
to be reliable.

to say
followed by
to +
infinitive:
He said to tell you that he would not be home to-night.
25.
An infinitive with
to
may also serve as an
ADJUNCT
to a preceding
NOUN,
both to such as are related to verbs that take an infinitive-
adjunct (a) and to such as are not
(b).
a.
He made no attempt to deny his guilt.
My uncle announced his decision to retire.
There is no need to worry.
She expressed a wish to be buried very quietly.
b.
He is not the man to do it.
It's the right thing to do.
He has a large family to keepp.
The ticking of the clock was the only sound to he heard. (Cf. the 6th ex.
of 26.)
I have the honour to inform you . .
.
7


cf. 663.1.
9
Cf. 72.