A practical English grammar:fourth edition

references are to sections, unless

otherwise stated.

1 articles and one, a little /

a few, this, that page 15

a/an (the indefinite article) 1

use of a/an 2

omission of a/an 3

a/an and one 4

a little/a few and little/few 5

the (the definite article), 6

omission of the 7

omission of the before home etc. 8

this/these, that/those 9

2 nouns page 24

kinds and function 10

gender 11

plurals 12

uncountable nouns 13

form of possessive case 14

use of possessive case etc. 15

.compound nouns 16

3 adjectives page 33

kinds of adjectives 17

position df adjectives 18

order of adjectives of quality 19

comparison 20

constructions with comparisons 21

than/as + pronoun + auxiliary 22

the + adjective 23

adjectives + one/ones etc. 24

many and much 25

adjectives + infinitives 26

adjectives + various

constructions 27

4 adverbs page 47

kinds of adverbs 28

form and use

formation of adverbs with ly 29

adverbs and adjectives with

the same form 30

comparative and superlative 31

far, farther/farthest etc. 32

much, more, most 33

constructions with comparisons 34

position

adverbs of manner 35

adverbs of place 36

adverbs of time 37

adverbs of frequency 38

order of adverbs 39

sentence adverbs 40

adverbs of degree 41

fairly, rather, quite, hardly etc.

fairly and rather 42

quite 43

hardly, scarcely, barely 44

inversion of the verb

inversion after certain adverbs 45

5 all, each every, both,

neither, either, some, any,

no, none, page 64

all, each, every, everyone etc. 46

both 47

all/both/each + of etc. 48

neither, either 49

some, any, no and none 50

someone, anyone, no one etc. 51

else after someone/anybody etc. 52

another, other etc. with one, some 53

6 interrogatives: wh-? words

and how? page 71

interrogative adjectives and

pronouns 54

affirmative verb after who etc. 55

who, whom, whose, which, what 56

who, whom, which and what as

objects of prepositions 57

uses of what 58

which compared with who, what 59

interrogative adverbs:

why, when, where, how 60

ever after who, what etc: 61

7 possessives, personal and

reflexive pronouns: my,

mine, i, myself etc. page 75

possessive adjectives and

pronouns 62

agreement a..d use of

possessive adjectives 63

possessive pronouns replacing

possessive adjectives + nouns 64

personal pronouns 65

position of pronoun objects 66

use of it 67

indefinite pronouns 68

use of they/them/their with

neither/either, someone etc. 69

reflexive pronouns 70

emphasizing pronouns 71

8 relative pronouns and

clauses page 81

defining relative clauses 72

relative pronouns used in

defining clauses 73

defining clauses: persons 74

defining clauses: things 75

cleft sentences 76

relative clause replaced by

infinitive or participle 77

non-defining relative clauses 78

non-defining clauses: persons 79

all, both, few, most, several etc. +

of + whom/which 80

non-defining clauses: things 81

connective relative clauses 82

what (relative pronoun) and

which (connective relative) 83

commas in relative clauses 84

whoever, whichever etc. 85

9 prepositions page 91

introduction 86

alternative position 87

omission of to and for before

indirect objects 88

use and omission of to with

verbs of communication 89

time and date: at, on, by etc. 90

time: from, since, for etc. 91

time: to, till/until, after,

afterwards (adverb) 92

travel and movement: from, to,

at, in, by, on, into etc. 93

at, in; in, into; on, onto 94

above, over, under etc. 95

prepositions used with

adjectives and participles 96

verbs and prepositions 97

gerunds after prepositions 98

prepositions/adverbs 99

10 introduction to verbs

page 105

classes of verbs 100

ordinary verbs

principal parts 101

active tenses 102

negatives of tenses 103

interrogative for questions and

requests 104

negative interrogative 105

auxiliary verbs

auxiliaries and modals 106

forms and patterns 107

use of auxiliaries in short answers,

agreements etc.

in short answers 108

agreements and

disagreements 109

question tags 110

comment tags 111

additions to remarks 112

11 be, have, do, page 116

be as an auxiliary verb

form and use 113

be + infinitive 114

be as an ordinary verb

be to denote existence,

be + adjective 115

there is/are/was/were etc. 116

it is and there is compared 117

have as an auxiliary verb

form and use 118

have + object + past participle 119

had better + bare infinitive 120

have + object + present participle 121

have as an ordinary verb

have meaning 'possess' 122

have meaning 'take', 'give' 123

do

form 124

do used as an auxiliary 125

do used as an ordinary verb 126

12 may and can for permission

and possibility page 128

permission

may for permission: forms 127

can for permission: forms 128

may and can used for permission

in the present or future 129

could or was/were allowed to for

permission in the past 130

requests for permission 131

possibility

may/might for possibility 132

may/might + perfect infinitive 133

could or may/might 134

can for possibility 135

13 can and be able for ability

page 134

can and be able: forms 136

can/am able, could/was able 137

could + perfect infinitive 138

14 ought, should, must, have.

to, need for obligation

page 137

ought: forms 139

should: forms 140 '

ought/should compared to

must and have to 141

ought/should with the continuous

infinitive 142

ought/should with the perfect

infinitive 143

must and have to: forms 144

must and have to: difference 145

need not and must not in

the present and future 146

need not, must not and must in

the present and future 147

need: forms 148

absence of obligation 149

need not and other forms 150

must, have to and need in

the interrogative 151

needn't + perfect infinitive 152

needn't have (done) and

didn't have/need (to do) 153

needn't, could and should +

perfect infinitive 154

to need meaning 'require' 155

15 must, have, will and should

for deduction and

assumption page 147

must for deduction 156

must compared to may/might 157

have/had for deduction 158

can't and couldn't used for

negative deduction 159

will and should: assumption 160

16 the auxiliaries dare and

used page 150

dare 161

used 162

to be/become/get used to 163

17 the present tenses

page 153

the present continuous

form 164

present participle: spelling 165

uses 166

other possible uses 167

verbs not normally used 168

feel, look, smell and taste 169

see and hear 170

think, assume and expect 171

the simple present tense

form i72

used for habitual action 173

other uses 174

18 the past and perfect tenses

page 161

the simple past tense

form 175

irregular verbs: form 176

use for past events 177

the past continuous tense

form 178

main uses 179

other uses 180

past continuous or simple past 181

the present perfect tense

form and use 182

use with just 183

past actions: indefinite time 184

actions in an incomplete period 185

actions lasting throughout

an incomplete period 186

use with for and since 187

it is + period + since + past or

perfect tense 188

present perfect and simple past 189

the present perfect continuous tense

form 190

use 191

comparison of the present perfect

simple and continuous 192

some more examples 193

the past perfect tense

form and use 194

in time clauses 195

in indirect speech 196.

the past perfect continuous tense

form and use 197

19 the future page 180

future forms 198

the simple present 199

future with intention 200

will + infinitive 201

the present continuous 202

the be going to form 203

be going to used for intention 204

be going to and will + infinitive

to express intention 205

be going to used for prediction 206

the future simple 207

first person will and shall 208

uses of the future simple 209

will contrasted with

want/wish/would like 210

the future continuous tense 211

the future continuous used as

an ordinary continuous tense 212

the future continuous used to

express future without intention 213

the future continuous and

will + infinitive compared 214

various future forms 215

the future perfect and the future

perfect continuous 216

20 the sequence of tenses

page 195

subordinate clauses 217

the sequence of tenses 218

21 the conditional page 196

the conditional tenses

the present conditional tense 219

the perfect conditional tense 220

conditional sentences

conditional sentences type 1 221

conditional sentences type 2 222

conditional sentences type 3 223

will/would and should 224

if + were and inversion 225

if, even if, whether, unless,

but for, otherwise etc. 226

if and in case 227

if only 228

in indirect speech 229

22 other uses of will / would,

shall / should page 206

habits expressed by will, would 230

should/would think +

that-clause or so/not 231

would for past intention 232

shall i/we? 233

shall: second and third persons 234

that.., should 235

it is/was + adjective +

that.., should 236

other uses of should 237

23 the infinitive page 212

form 238

uses of the infinitive 239

the infinitive as subject 240

as object or complement 241

verb + how/what etc. + infinitive 242

infinitive after verb or

verb + object 243

infinitive after verb + object 244

infinitive after verbs of

knowing and thinking etc. 245

the bare infinitive 246

infinitive represented by to 247

split infinitives 248

infinitive as connective link 249

infinitive used to replace

a relative clause 250

infinitive after certain nouns 251

after too, enough, so... as 252

infinitive phrases 253

the continuous infinitive 254

the perfect infinitive 255

perfect infinitive continuous 256

24 the gerund page 228

form and use 257

the gerund as subject 258

gerunds after prepositions 259

the word to 260

verbs followed by the gerund 261

verbs + possessive adjective/

pronoun object + gerund 262

the verb mind 263

the perfect gerund 264

the passive gerund 265

25 infinitive and gerund

constructions page 234

verbs + infinitive or gerund 266

verbs + infinitive or gerund

without change of meaning 267

regret, remember, forget 268

agree/agree to, mean, propose 269

go on, stop, try, used (to) 270

be afraid (of), be softy (for),

be ashamed (of) 271

26 the participles page 239

present (or active) participle 272

after verbs of sensation 273

catch, find, leave + object +

present participle 274

go, come, spend, waste etc. 275

a present participle phrase

replacing a main clause 276

a present participle phrase

replacing a subordinate clause 277

perfect participle (active) 278

part participle (passive) and

perfect participle (passive) 279

misrelated 'participles 280

27 commands, requests,

invitations, advice,

suggestions page 245

the imperative for commands 281

other ways of expressing

commands 282

requests with

can/could/may/might i/we 283

requests with

could/will/would you etc. 284

requests with might 285

invitations 286

advice forms 287

advice with may/might as well +

infinitive 288

suggestions 289

28 the subjunctive page 253

form 290

use of the present subjunctive 291

as ff etc. + past subjunctive 292

it is time + past subjunctive 293

29 care, like, love, hate,

prefer, wish page 255

care and like 294

care, like, love, hate, prefer 295

would like and want 296

would rather/sooner and

prefer/would prefer 297

more examples of preference 298

wish, want and would like 299

wish + subject + unreal past 300

wish (that) + subject + would 301

30 the passive voice page 263

form 302

active and passive equivalents 303

uses of the passive 304

prepositions with passive verbs 305

infinitive constructions after

passive verbs 306

31 indirect speech page 269

direct and indirect speech 307

statements in indirect speech:

tense changes necessary 308

past tenses 309

unreal past tenses 310

might, ought to, should, would,

used to in indirect statements 311

could in indirect statements 312

pronoun and adjective 313

expressions of time and place 314

infinitive and gerund 315

say, tell etc. 316

questions in indirect speech 317

questions beginning shall i/we? 318

questions beginning will you/

would you/could you? 319

commands, requests, advice 320

other ways of expressing

indirect commands 321

let's, let us, let him/them 322

exclamations and yes and no 323

indirect speech: mixed types 324

must and needn't 325

32 conjunctions page 288

co-ordinating conjunctions 326

besides, so, still, yet etc. 327

subordinating conjunctions 328

though/although, in spite of,

despite 329

for and because 330

when, while, as to express time 331

as meaning when/while or

because/since 332

as, when, while used to mean

although, but, seeing that 333

33 purpose page 294

purpose expressed by infinitive 334

infinitives after go and come 335

clauses of purpose 336

in case-and lest 337

34 clauses of reason, result,

concession, comparison,

time page 298

reason and result/cause 338

result with such/so ... that 339

clauses of concession 340

clauses of comparison 341

time clauses 342

35 noun clauses page 303

noun clauses as subject 343

that-clauses after certain

adjectives/participles 344'

that-clauses after nouns 345

noun clauses as objects 346

so and not representing

a that-clause 347

36 numerals, dates, and

weights and measures

page 307

cardinal numbers 348

points about cardinal numbers 349

ordinal numbers 350

points about ordinal numbers 351

dates 352

weights, length, liquids 353

37 spelling rules page 311

introduction 354

doubling the consonant 355

omission of a final e 356

words ending in ce and ge 357

the suffix ful 358

words ending in y 359

ie and ei 360

hyphens 361

38 phrasal verbs page 315

introduction 362

verb + preposition/adverb 363

39 list of irregular verbs

page 353

irregular verbs 364

index page 359