A handbook of English grammar

A HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

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A HANDBOOK

OF

ENGLISH

GRAMMAR

R. W. ZANDVOORT

Emeritus Professor of English

in the University of Groningen

with the assistance of

J. A. VAN EK

Director of the Institute of

Applied Linguistics of the

University of Utrecht

Seventh Edition

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BOOK SOCIETY

and

LONGMAN GROUP LTD

LONGMAN GROUP LIMITED

London

Associated companies, branches and representatives

throughout the world

© R. W. Zandvoort 1962, 1965, 1967

© R. W. Zandvoort and J. A. van Ek 197o, 1972, 5975

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record￾ing, or otherwise, without the prior permission

of the Copyright owner.

ISBN o 582 55339 3

First published 1957

Second edition 1962

Third edition 1965

Fourth edition 1967

Fifth edition 197o

Sixth edition 1972

Seventh edition 1975

Fifth edition published for E.L.B.S. 1970

Sixth edition published for E.L.B.S. 1972

Seventh edition published for E.L.B.S. 1975

ELBS edition reprinted 1976

PRINTED IN SINGAPORE BY

SINGAPORE OFFSET PRINTING CO. (PTE) LTD.

PREFACE

THIS book was originally designed as a manual of English grammar

for Dutch students. As such it ran into six editions in less than

twice as many years, and drew a good deal of attention outside the

Netherlands. A French version (Grammaire Descriptive de l'Anglais

Contemporain) appeared in 1949, and more than one reviewer urged

the desirability of a unilingual edition for general use, with the

comparisons with and translations into Dutch left out. The author

is obliged to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. for enabling him to

comply with these flattering suggestions, and to Messrs. J. B.

Wolters, the publishers of the English-Dutch edition, for their

co-operation. He has availed himself of the opportunity to subject

the whole work to a thorough revision, and to introduce a number

of additions and textual alterations where these seemed to be

called for.

As the French title well expresses it, this is a descriptive grammar

of contemporary English. It deals with accidence and syntax,

leaving aside what belongs rather to idiom and is not amenable to

general statement. It likewise eschews historical digressions;

contemporary and historical (or, in the terminology of modern

linguistics, synchronic and diachronic) grammar are, in the author's

opinion, best treated separately. In this, as in other respects, he

confesses himself a pupil of Kruisinga, whose Handbook of Present￾dayEnglish, despite certain extravagances in its fifth and final edition,

is still the most original and stimulating treatment of English syntax.

While specific comparisons with Dutch usage have been removed,

some of them have been replaced by references to other languages.

They may help both British and continental students to realize

some of the peculiar features of the English language. Identity is

sometimes most clearly brought out by contrast. If I have anywhere

erred by generalizing, I shall be glad to have instances pointed out

to me.

Vi PREFACE

As will be seen, this book contains numerous references to other

publications. This is done deliberately, to impress upon the

student the fact that a handbook is only a point of departure. If

it has not roused his curiosity and encouraged him to further

research, it has at least partly failed of its purpose.

Groningen R. W. ZANDVOORT

NOTE ON THE SECOND TO FOURTH

EDITIONS

THESE editions contain a number of corrections and additions,

many of which are due to four important books on modern English

that have recently appeared, viz. Present-Day English Syntax, by

G. Scheurweghs (London, 1960), The Categories and Types of

Present-Day English Word-Formation, by H. Marchand (Wies￾baden, 1960), Notions Essentielles d' Anglais, by J. Zajicek (Paris,

1965), and A Modern English Grammar, by K. Schibsbye (London,

1965). For other improvements the author is indebted to reviewers

of the first edition and to such experts as Dr. J. A. van Ek, Mr.

P. A. Erades, Dr. J. Gerritsen, Mr. N. E. Osselton, M.A., Mr. J.

Posthumus, Mr. P. M. Vermeer, and Dr. F. T. Wood, by whose

articles in periodicals (English Studies, Moderna Sprak) or private

communications he has greatly profited.

R. W. ZANDVOORT

Amersfoort

NOTE ON THE FIFTH TO SEVENTH EDITIONS

THESE editions have benefited by the active collaboration of Dr.

J. A. van Ek, whose assistance will also extend to any future

editions. Valuable comments have again been contributed by Dr.

J. Gerritsen, Mr. N. E. Osselton, M.A., and Mr. J. Posthumus.

R. W. ZANDVOORT

Amersfoort

CONTENTS

Chap. Page

Preface v

PART I

VERBS

Introductory 1

Regular Verbs 1-5.1 - Irregular Verbs 6-11. - Group￾ing of Forms and Functions 12.

I. Infinitive 4

Plain Infinitive 13-21. - Infinitive with to 22-36. -

Accusative with Infinitive 37-45. - Nominative with

Infinitive 46-52. - For + Acc. with Infinitive 53-60. -

Anaphoric to 61.

II. Gerund and Present Participle 24

General 62-63. - Gerund 64-74. - Present Participle

75-87. - Progressive 88-98. - Verbal Forms in ing not

derived from Verb Stems 99. - Gerund or Present Parti￾ciple ? 100-105.

HI. Past Participle - Passive Voice 48

Past Participles 106-116. - Passive Voice 117-125.

IV. Present, Past, and Perfect Tenses 58

General 126-127. - Present Tense 128-134. - Past

Tense 135-136. - Modal Preterite 137-139. - Perfect

Tense 140-142. - Pluperfect 143-146.

V. Auxiliaries 64

General 147-148. - Can-May 149-163. - Must-Ought￾Should 164-168. - Shall-Should 169-178. - Will￾Would 179-184. - Future Tense 185-193. - To Do 194-

202. - To Dare and To Need 203-209. - Used (to)

210-213.

VI. Mood and Modality . . 86

Subjunctive 214-221. - Modal Preterite 222. - Auxili￾aries of Modality 223. - Adverbs of Modality 224.

1 Except in the right-hand margin, references, as throughout the book, are

to sections.

vii

viii CONTENTS

PART II

NOUNS

Chap. Page

Introductory . . 90

Regular Nouns 225-232. - Irregular Nouns 233-238.

- Nouns with only one Number Form 239-244. - Plurals

and Genitives of Classical Nouns 245-246.

I. Use of the Number Forms . . . . . . . . 97

Class-Nouns 247-248. - Abstract and Material Nouns

249-250. - Nicknames 251. - Names of Seasons etc.

252. - Attributive Nouns 253-258. - Collective Nouns

259-266. - Numeratives 267-268.

IL Use of the Genitive . . . . . . . 103

The Genitive Singular 269-292. [General 269. - Attrib￾utive Genitive 270-274. - (Semi-)independent Genitive

275-276. - Post-Genitive 277. - Local Genitive 278-

284. - Specifying Genitive 285. - Classifying Genitive

286. - Specifying and Classifying Genitive Compared 287-

291. - Relations between Genitive and Headword 292.]

- The Genitive Plural 293-299. - Genitive and Of￾Adjunct 300-317.

HI. Use of the Definite Article 117

Uses and Functions of the Definite Article 318-325. -

Absence of Definite Article 326-339.

IV. Use of the Indefinite Article 124

Uses and Functions of the Indefinite Article 340-348,

352-353. - Absence of Indefinite Article 349-351.

PART III

PRONOUNS

I. Personal Pronouns 128

General 354-362. - He - She - It 363-375. - Gender

376. - Other Uses of It, 377-385.

II. Possessive Pronouns . . . . . . 138

General 386-394. - Independent Possessives 395-397.

- Relations between Possessive Pronoun and Headword

398. - Possessive Pronoun and Of-Adjunct 399-400. -

Own 401-405.

CONTENTS iX

Chap. Page

III. Compound Personal Pronouns ...... . 144

Forms 406. - Weak-stressed Use 407. - Strong-stressed

Use 408-410. - Reciprocal Sense 411.

IV. Demonstrative Pronouns . . . . 147

Forms 412. - Deictic and Anaphoric Functions 413-420.

- Determinative Function 421-423. - Anaphoric So

424-431. - Such 432-435.

V Interrogative Pronouns . . .. .... . 155

Who 436-440. - What 441-445. - Which 446-448. -

Phrases and Constructions 449. - Who ever, what ever,

which ever 450.

VI. Relative Pronouns ...... . . . . 160

Who 451-455. - Which 456-461. - Restrictive and

Continuative Clauses 462. -, That 463-466. - Absence

of Relative Pronoun 467-469. - What 470-472. - Who￾ever, whichever, whatever 473-474.

VII. Indefinite Pronouns 168

Some and Any 475-483. - Every 483-485. - Each

486. - All 487-490. - Both 491-494. - Either 495-

497.-Neither 498-499. - None 500-501. - One 502-528.

- No 529-536. - Compound Indefinite Pronouns 537-

543. - (An)other 544-548. - Else 549. - Other Indefi￾nite Pronouns 550.

PART IV

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Introductory 1R7

Adjectives and Nouns 551. - Adjectives and Pronouns 552.

- Adjectives and Adverbs 553. - Adverbs as Adjuncts

554.

Comparison 188

Comparison by means of suffixes 555-556; Comparison by

more and most 557-562; Irregular Comparison 563-566;

Compound Adjectives 567; Contrast or Superiority 568;

Comparative of Proportion 569; Comparative of Gradation

570; Absolute Superlative 571; Comparative of Infer.urity

etc. 572.

CONTENTS

PART V

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Chap. Page

I. The Simple Sentence . . . . . . . 195

Definition 573. - One-Word Sentences 574. - Sentences

of more than One Word 575. - Two-Nucleus Sentences

576. - Subject and Predicate 577-580. - Predicative Ad￾jectives and Nouns 581-583. - Objects, Direct and In￾direct 584-586. -- Prepositional Objects 587. - Adjuncts

588. - Attributive Adjuncts 589. - Appositions 590. -

Attributive and Predicative Adjectives 591. - Predicative

Adjuncts 592. - Adverbial Adjuncts 593-594. - Pre￾positional Adjuncts 595-597. - Adjuncts and Objects

598. - Declarative Sentences 599-600. - Interrogative

Sentences 601-604. - Imperative Sentences 605-606.

- Prohibitions 607. - Interjections 608. - Omission of

Subject 609. - Free Adjuncts 610-614. - Simple and

Compound Sentence 615.

II. The Compound Sentence 212

Main Clauses and Sub-Clauses 616-617. - Attributive

Clauses 618-627. - Predicative Clauses 628. - Adver￾bial Clauses 629-643. - Object Clauses 644-648. -

Content Clauses 649. - Subject Clauses 650-652. - Pre￾dicate Clauses 653-654. - Transitional Cases 655. - Ap￾pended Questions 656-657. - Appended Statements

657-658. - Coordinate Clauses 659-663,

III. Sentence Groups 229

Groups of two Adjoining Sentences 664-668. - Con￾firmative Questions and Statements 669-670. - Denials

671. - Answers to Verbal Questions 672. -- Predicate

applied to another Subject 673. - Two Sentences Com￾bined 674. - Second Sentence introduced by Coordinating

Conjunction 675.- Second Sentence introduced by Adverb

676. - Interrupted Sentence 677.

IV. Additional Remarks on Conjunctions 234

678-680.

PART VI

ORDER OF WORDS

Order of Words 236

General 681. -' Normal' and `inverted' order 682-683. -

Sentences beginning with unstressed there 684. - Inverted

CONTENTS xi

Chap. Page

order in Declarative Sentences 685-690. - Interroga￾tive Sentences 691. - Imperative Sentences 692. - Ex￾clamatory Sentences 693. - Place of Objects 694-699. -

Place of Attributive Adjuncts 700-712.-Place of Piedicative

Adjuncts 713. - Place of Adverbial Adjuncts 714-729.

- Word-order in Sub-Clauses 730-736. - Order of

Clauses 737-741.

PART VII

CONCORD

Concord . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

General 742-743. - Concord of Person 744-746. -

Concord of Number 747-767. - Concord of Gender 768.

- Concord of Tense 769.

PART VIII

CONVERSION

Conversion . . . . . . . ...... 265

General 770-773. - Complete Conversion 774-777.

[Verbs as Nouns 774. - Nouns as Verbs 775. - Adjectives

as Verbs 776. - Adverbs as Nouns or Verbs 777.] -

Partial Conversion 778-802. [Adjectives as Nouns 778-

791. - Nouns as Adjectives 792-800. - Adverbs as

Adjectives 801. - Sentences as Nouns or Verbs 802.1

PART IX

WORD FORMATION

I. Composition 277

Definition 803. - Compound Nouns 804-814. - Com￾pound Adjectives 815-818. - Compound Pronouns 819.

- Compound Verbs 820-825. - Other Parts of Speech

826. - Repetition Compounds 827-830. - Hyphens 831.

II. Derivation 289

General 832-836. - Prefixes 837-873. - Suffixes 874-

955. [Nouns 875-910. (Personal and Concrete Non￾Personal Nouns 875-885. - Diminutives 886-891. -

Abstract and Collective Nouns 892-910.) Adjectives 911-

944. - Verbs 945-948. - Adverbs 949-955.]

XII CONTENTS

Chap.

III. Additional Remarks on Word Formation

Back-formation 956. — Shortening 957-958. — Port￾manteau-words 959. — Words composed of Initials 960.

Page

323

APPENDIX

Irregular Verbs 326

To Have 333

To Be 334

Verbal Forms with thou 334

Third Person Singular in (e)th 335

Spelling of Inflected and Derived Forms • • 335

Pluralia Tantum 338

Classical and other Foreign Plurals 339

Traditional Genitives 339

Weak Forms of Pronouns 340

Objects and Prepositional Adjuncts 341

Mood — Modal — Modality 342

American English 343

Verbal Form in -ing preceded by a- 344

INDEX

Index 345

The phonetic transcription is identical with that used in Daniel Jones's

English Pronouncing Dictionary

BOOKS REFERRED TO1

W. S. Allen, Living English Structure, London 1947.

The American College Dictionary, New York 1947.

R. A. Close, English as a Foreign Language, London 1962.

W. E. Collinson, Spoken English, Leipzig 1929.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD).

J. A. van Ek, Four Complementary Structures of Predication, Groningen 1966.

H. W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford 1927 (MEU).

C. C. Fries, The Structure of English, New York 1952.

A. S. Hornby, A Guide to Patterns and Usage in English, London 1954.

0. Jespersen, A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, Heidel￾berg/Copenhagen 1909-1949.

0. Jespersen, Essentials of English Grammar, London 1933.

D. Jones, An English Pronouncing Dictionary, 13th ed., London 1967 (EPD).

H. Koziol, Handbuch der Englischen Wortbildungslehre, Heidelberg 1937.

E. Kruisinga, A Handbook of Present-day English, 5th ed., Groningen 1931-2

(Handbooks). - Grammar and Idiom, Groningen 1935.

E. Kruisinga and P. A. Erades, An English Grammar, 8th ed., Groningen

R. B. Long, The Sentence and its Parts, Chicago 1961. [1953-1960.

H. Marchand, The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word￾Formation, Wiesbaden 1960.

H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 4th ed., New York 1936.

C. T. Onions, An Advanced English Syntax, London 1911, new ed., 1971.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

H. E. Palmer, A Grammar of Spoken English, Cambridge 1924.

H. Poutsma, A Grammar of Late Modern English, Groningen, Part I, 2nd

ed., 1928 (Grammar2); Part II, 1914-1926.

R. Quirk, S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartvik, A Grammar of Contem￾porary English, London 1972.

F. L. Sack, The Structure of English, Cambridge & Berne 1954.

G. Scheurweghs, Present-Day English Syntax, London 1959, 2nd ed., 1961.

K. Schibsbye, A Modern English Grammar, London 1965, 2nd ed., 1970.

B. M. H. Strang, Modern English Structure, London 1962.

H. Sweet, A New English Grammar, Part I, Oxford 1900; Part II, Syntax,

Oxford 1903.

W. F. Twaddell, The English Verb Auxiliaries, Providence, R.I., 1960.

A. C. E. Vechtman-Veth, A Syntax of Living English, Utrecht 1928.

H. C. Wyld, The Universal Dictionary of the English Language, London 1936.

J. Zajicek, Notions Essentielles d' Anglais, Paris 1965.

R. W. Zandvoort, Collected Papers, Groningen 1954 and 1970.

1 The dates are those of the editions used by the author.