Written by one of the world's leading grammarians, The Oxford English Grammar is a completely new book which combines an authoritative review of and topic reference for English grammar.Opening with an outline of national, regional, and social variation in English, the book details descriptive and prescriptive approaches, and attitudes to English amongst both native and non-native speakers. This is followed by an account of the development of grammar, and a review of modern approaches to this complex subject. The central section of the book is a presentation of current English grammar at sentence, clause, phrase, and word level; with the last chapters covering grammar in relation to discourse, word-formation, lexis, pronunciation and intonation, punctuation, and spelling. A full index is provided, and examples of usage are drawn from a wide range of sources, including use of the new International Corpus of English at University College London.Written in a readable and absorbing style, The Oxford English Grammar is an essential reference for English-speakers around the world.