An Introduction to English Sentence Structure

Radford, AndrewAndrew Radford is currently Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Essex. He has written numerous textbooks on syntactic theory and English syntax for Cambridge University Press (including Transformational Syntax in 1981, Transformational Grammar in 1988, Minimalist Syntax in 2004 and Analysing English Sentences in 2009), as well as research monographs on the syntax of Colloquial English (2018) and Relative Clauses (2019).

This new edition of Andrew Radford's outstanding resource for students is a step-by-step, practical introduction to English syntax and syntactic principles, written by a globally-renowned expert in the field. Assuming little or no prior background in syntax, Radford outlines key concepts and how they can be used to describe various aspects of English sentence structure. Each chapter contains core modules focusing on a specific topic, a summary recapitulating the main points of the chapter, and a bibliographical section providing references to original source material. This edition has been extensively updated, with new analyses, exercise materials, references and a brand-new chapter on adjuncts. Students will benefit from the online workbook, which contains a vast amount of exercise material for each module, including self-study materials and a student answerbook for these. Teachers will value the extensive PowerPoints outlining module contents and the comprehensive teacher answerbook, which covers all workbook and PowerPoint exercises.

A readable introduction to English syntax and syntactic theory, argumentation and description, suitable for students with little prior knowledge.

1. Grammar; 2. Heads, complements and specifiers; 3. Adjuncts; 4. Null constituents; 5. Head movement; 6. Phrasal movement.