1 IntroductionOverview 1
Basic Forms 2
On terminology 2
On being ungrammatical 2
On good English 3
Basic meanings 5
"I am more interesting in English Grammar' 6
Why can I say'I shot the sheriff'?but not'I smiled the sheriff'? 9
Linguistic distance 11
Meanings in context 12
Discussion topics and projects 16
Teaching ideas 17
Further reading 20
2 ArticlesOverview 23
Basic forms 24
An article machine 26
Basic meanings 28
Countability 29
Singular or plural? 30
Individuation 30
Conceptual structure：classifying and identifying 33
Meanings in context 38
Already given：anaphoric and cataphoric（the） 40
Clearly given（zero article） 41
A note on a new article 43
Discussion topics and projects 43
Teaching ideas 45
Further reading 51
3 Tense and aspectOverview 53
Basic forms 54
The basic structure 55
Basic meanings 57
Tense 58
Aspect 62
Lexical aspect 62
Grammatical aspect 65
Meanings in context 68
In a magazine article 68
In academic writing 69
In narratives 70
In a news report 71
In spoken discourse 72
Discussion topics and projects 72
Teaching ideas 75
Further reading 83
4 ModalsOverview 85
Basic forms 86
The simple modals 87
Basic meanings 88
Epistemic modality 88
Root modality 89
Necessary and possible 89
Meanings in context 91
The potential of can 91
The possibility of may 94
The necessity of must 97
The likelihood of will 100
The requirements of should 106
Negation and modals 108
Discussion topics and projects 111
Teaching ideas 114
Further reading 120
5 ConditionalsOverview 123
Basic forms 124
Factual conditionals 124
Predictive conditionals 124
Hypothetical conditionals 125
Counterfactual conditionals 125
Basic meanings 127
What happens if…? 127
What will happen if…? 127
What would happen if…? 128
What would have happened if…? 129
Meanings in context 132
Restating 132
Contrasting 133
Listing alternatives 134
Giving examples 135
End-weight 137
Uncertainty and politeness 139
Exceptional and concessive conditionals 142
Discussion topics and projects 145
Teachingideas 147
Further reading 152
6 Prepositions and particlesOverview 156
Basic forms 156
Prepositions 158
Basic meanings：prepositions 160
Location in space 160
Location in time 164
Location in metaphor 166
Particles 167
Basic meanings：particles 169
Up and down 170
Off,on,out,and away 172
Meanings in context 174
End-weight 176
Discussion topics and projects 178
Teaching ideas 180
Further reading 185
7 Indirect objectsOverview 187
Basicforms 188
Types ofverbs 189
Basic structures：origins and pronunciation 190
Basic meanings 192
Humans,transfer,and having 193
Transfer and not having 195
Creating,getting,and benefiting 196
Meanings in context 197
End-weight 199
Linguistic distance 200
Discussion topics and projects 201
Teaching ideas 203
Further reading 207
8 Infinitives and gerundsOverview 211
Basic forms 212
Basic meanings 214
Group 1：verbs with only finite（that…）complements 215
Group 2：verbs with only to-V non-finite complements 215
Group 3：verbs with only V-ing non-finite complements 215
Group 4：verbs with both to-V and V-ing complements 216
Meanings in context 217
Noun-like events 218
Verb-like actions 219
Denyand refuse 219
Types of verbs 221
Linguistic distance 227
Discussion topics and projects 228
Teaching ideas 231
Further reading 236
9 Relative clausesOverview 240
Basic forms 240
Subject relatives 241
Object relatives 241
After-preposition relatives 242
Possessive relatives 243
Basic structures 245
Basic meanings 250
Who,which,that 251
Where,when,why 252
Meanings in context 254
Introducing new information 254
Connecting with given information 256
End-weight 257
Discussion topics and projects 258
Teaching ideas 261
Further reading 268
10 Direct and indirect speechOverview 271
Basicforms 272
Basic meanings 274
Direct speech as drama 274
Indirect speech as narrative 275
Summarized reports 275
Reporting verbs 276
'The teachers were saying…' 276
Meanings in context 277
Free indirect discourse 280
Constructed dialogue 282
Discussion topics and projects 288
Teaching ideas 290
Further reading 295
Glossary 298
Bibliography 308
Answers to exercises 322
Index 329