1
English Descriptive Grammar I 2013-2014
Prof. Esther Álvarez de la Fuente
1. Introduction. Notions on English grammar
1. What is grammar?
A grammar of a language examines the rules or patterns that underlie the use of WORDS,
PHRASES, CLAUSES AND SENTENCES.
1.1. DESCRIPTION
1.1.1. Description vs. Prescription
- DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMARS = to describe the way people actually speak and write the
language (Quirk et al.´s (1985), Huddleston´s (1984)):
o distinguishing features of language through corpus-built examples
Who did you talk to?
Me and my friend went out
This site uses an interface to quickly locate international, national, or local news
- PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMARS = to tell people how they should speak and write:
o advice on how to use (correctly) the language;
o use of manuals as a point of reference;
- The subject of a sentence must agree with the verb
She doesn´t care NOT She don´t care (but common in AmE)
- Use much for non-countable nouns and many for countable nouns
We don't have much coffee AND We don't have many cups of coffee
- Use of the before names of rivers/geographical areas but not before names of
lakes/continents: the Nile, the Middle East AND Lake Victoria, Asia
1.1.2. Standard vs. Non-standard
- STANDARD ENGLISH (SE):
o a central dialect (the referent of other dialects)
o the stable, uniform form of the language whose choice is uncontroversial
o the most appropriate variety of language in formal & educational contexts
o what prescriptive grammarians would call “correct usage”
- NON-STANDARD ENGLISH (NSE):
o all the varieties of English (dialects, such as Scottish, Irish English, Cockney,
etc.) and social groups (sociolects);
