Infinitives and Gerunds in Recent English


Book Description

This book explores the grammar of to infinitives and gerundial -ing clauses, which is a central area at the interface of syntax and semantics, against the background of what has been called the Great Complement Shift. Over the course of six chapters, the author explores the semantic properties of constructions where the general spread of gerundial -ing clauses occurs at the expense of to infinitives. The author draws on large electronic corpora, ensuring that new perspectives are opened on the basis of authentic corpus evidence. He identifies trends of variation and change in the use of the two constructions and proposes The Choice Principle, an innovative perspective on the semantics of to infinitives and gerundial -ing complements. This book will be of interest to researchers and students working on English grammar or the recent history of English grammar.







English Gerunds and Infinitives for ESL Learners; Using Them Correctly After Common English Verbs


Book Description

ESL learners: Master the use of English gerunds and infinitives as they are used after common verbs. The quick reference layout allows students to quickly and conveniently find topics of importance. Explanations are clear and concise and are backed up with many examples. There are reviews and practice sessions throughout the text.




Beyond Prepositions for ESL Learners - Mastering English Prepositions for Fluency


Book Description

Master English prepositions at a higher level, for intermediate and advanced English learners. The book focuses on understanding English prepositions in a wide variety of real-life English communication. There is a special Quick-Find Menu at the beginning and at the end of the book that allows students to quickly find areas of interest. Explanations are clear and easy to understand and there are many examples to help the student understand this subject. This book is for all English learners who want to improve their fluency in English: ESL and ESOL students, IELTS students, TOEIC and TOEFL students, Cambridge students, GED students and anyone wanting to improve their English proficiency by knowing how to use English prepositions correctly in every sentence.




English Plain and Simple


Book Description




The Rich Employee


Book Description

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Many of us are happy to have a job, we just want a better job, one that fulfills us, makes us wealthy, and brings us satisfaction.Still, income is now permanently going down versus inflation for the average employee. Industry, knowledge, and management are all being outsourced cheaply to other countries or to technology. Many people mistakenly think that the solution is entrepreneurship. That "entrepreneurship is the pathway to riches". This is not true. Being an entrepreneur does have great upside but also it has a well-known rate of failure of 85%. There is no way to predict your way out of that 85%. 85% of ALL startups fail. The solution is to become a rich employee with the mindset and techniques described in this book. This is the first book ever to detail how one can become a The Rich Employee in our times. And there is more: companies in this new century will only succeed if they encourage their employees to develop a Rich Employee mindset. Written by the author of "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth" which USA Today has called "One of the 12 Best Business Books of All Time" and also the author of WSJ and USA Today bestseller "Choose Yourself" which Forbes recently called one of the "Top Five Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read", this book gives you the tools to find satisfaction, meaning, and true wealth as a rich employee.




Non-finite Complementation


Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive guide to the way speakers of British English use infinitive and –ing clauses as verbal complements. It contains details of the non-finite complementation patterns of over 300 matrix verbs, with a particular emphasis on verbs that occur with more than one type of non-finite complement. Drawing upon data from the British National Corpus, the author shows that some of the views which are to be found in the existing literature on these sorts of clauses are in conflict with the evidence of actual usage. He also shows that there is actually much more regularity in this area than has often been taken to be the case. Moreover, this regularity is shown to be motivated by cognitive-functional factors. An appendix contains details of the relative frequency of all of the constructions dealt with in the study, together with an example of each of them. The book is of interest to language teachers as well as linguists, both theoretical and applied.




English for Research: Usage, Style, and Grammar


Book Description

This guide is based on a study of referees' reports and letters from journal editors on the reasons why papers written by non-native researchers are rejected due to problems with English usage, style and grammar. It draws on English-related errors from around 5000 papers written by non-native authors, 500 abstracts by PhD students, and over 1000 hours of teaching researchers how to write and present research papers. English for Research: Usage, Style, and Grammar covers those areas of English usage that typically cause researchers difficulty: articles (a/an, the), uncountable nouns, tenses (e.g., simple present, simple past, present perfect), modal verbs, active vs. passive form, relative clauses, infinitive vs. -ing form, the genitive, noun strings, link words (e.g., moreover, in addition), quantifiers (e.g., each vs. every), word order, prepositions, acronyms, abbreviations, numbers and measurements, punctuation, and spelling. Due to its focus on the specific errors that repeatedly appear in papers written by non-native authors, this manual is an ideal study guide for use in universities and research institutes. The book is cross-referenced with the following titles: • English for Academic Research: Grammar Exercises • English for Academic Research: Vocabulary Exercises • English for Academic Research: Writing Exercises • English for Writing Research Papers Adrian Wallwork is the author of more than 30 English Language Teaching (ELT) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) textbooks. He has trained several thousand PhD students and researchers from 40 countries to prepare and give presentations. Since 1984 he has been revising research manuscripts through his own proofreading and editing service.




Linguistic Theory in Second Language Acquisition


Book Description

Suzanne Flynn and Wayne O'Neil Massachusetts Institute of Technology I. INTRODUCTION The theory of Universal Grammar (UG) as explicated e. g. in Chomsky, 1986, has led to explosive developments in the study of natural language as well as to significant advances in the study of first language (L I) acquisition. Most recently. the theory of UG has led to important theore tical and empirical advances in the field of adult second language (L2) acquisition as well. The principle impetus for this development can be traced to the work in linguistics which shifted the study "from behavior or the products of behavior to states of the mind/brain that enter into behavior" (Chomksy. 1986:3). Grammars within this framework are conceived of as theoretical accounts of "the state of the mind/brain of the person who knows a particular language" (Chomsky. 1986:3). Research within fields of language acquisition seeks to isolate and specify the properties of the underlying competence necessary for language learning. Full development of a theory of UG demands study and understanding of the nature of both the formal properties of language and of the language acquisition process itself. However. while there is a tradition of debate and dialogue established between theoretical linguistics and Ll acquisition research. relatively few connections have been made between linguistic theory and L2 acquisition research.




Bad Language


Book Description

Is today's language at an all-time low? Are pronunciations like cawfee and chawklit bad English? Is slang like my bad or hook up improper? Is it incorrect to mix English and Spanish, as in Yo quiero Taco Bell? Can you write Who do you trust? rather than Whom do you trust? Linguist Edwin Battistella takes a hard look at traditional notions of bad language, arguing that they are often based in sterile conventionality. Examining grammar and style, cursing, slang, and political correctness, regional and ethnic dialects, and foreign accents and language mixing, Battistella discusses the strong feelings evoked by language variation, from objections to the pronunciation NU-cu-lar to complaints about bilingual education. He explains the natural desire for uniformity in writing and speaking and traces the association of mainstream norms to ideas about refinement, intelligence, education, character, national unity and political values. Battistella argues that none of these qualities is inherently connected to language. It is tempting but wrong, Battistella argues, to think of slang, dialects and nonstandard grammar as simply breaking the rules of good English. Instead, we should view language as made up of alternative forms of orderliness adopted by speakers depending on their purpose. Thus we can study the structure and context of nonstandard language in order to illuminate and enrich traditional forms of language, and make policy decisions based on an informed engagement. Re-examining longstanding and heated debates, Bad Language will appeal to a wide spectrum of readers engaged and interested in the debate over what constitutes proper language.