A thorough and precise account of all the major areas of English grammar. For practical reasons Rodney Huddleston concentrates on Standard English and only selected aspects of its regional variation. The book is written for students who may have no previous knowledge of linguistics and little familiarity with 'traditional' grammar. All grammatical terms, whether traditional or more recent, are therefore carefully explained, and in the first three chapters the student is introduced to the theoretical concepts and methodological principles needed to follow the later descriptive chapters.