Depraetere and Langford, with 40 years of teaching experience between them, present a grammar pitched precisely at advanced learners of English who need to understand how the English language really works without getting lost in the specifics. Most linguistically-oriented grammars of English can be intimidating and complex. On the other hand, the more basic practical grammars also available are often not advanced enough.

This book pulls from linguistic theory all the relevant notions that will enable the language student to fully grasp English grammar. After introducing form and function, the authors cover verbs, nouns, aspect and tense, modality and discourse. Readers are led through the underlying principles of language use, with the book presupposing only a basic grasp of linguistic terminology. It does not get bogged down in huge amounts of detail and focuses on the crucial issues. Full of exercises and with attention paid to moving the reader through their course, this is the desk reference grammar of choice for both native and non-native English speakers.