Oxford guide english

Oxford University Press Walton Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto with an associated company in Berlin
OXFORD a n d OXFORD ENGLISH

are trade marks of Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 431351 4 (paperback) ISBN 0 19 431334 4 (hardback) © Oxford University Press 1994 First published 1994 Seventh impression 2002

No unauthorized photocopying 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, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Oxford University Press. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Illustrated by Heather Clarke

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Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgements

VII
VIII

Key to symbols Sentence and text 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 English grammar The simple sentence Statements, questions, imperatives and exclamations Questions and answers Leaving out and replacing words Information and emphasis Spoken English and written English Verb forms 8 9 10 11 12 13 The verb phrase Verb tenses and aspects The future Be, have and do Modal verbs The passive Infinitive, gerund and participles 14 The infinitive 15 The gerund 16 The noun phrase 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Nouns and noun phrases Agreement The articles: a/an and the Possessives and demonstratives Quantifiers Pronouns Numbers and measurements Adjectives, adverbs and