An Introduction to the Grammar of English

While following the traditional distinction between function (subject, object, etc.) and realization (NP, VP, etc), the present book focusses on the structure and makes the function derivative, as in more generativist work, making it unlike recent grammars such as Verspoor & Sauter (2000). Its focus on structure can be seen in the treatment of the VP as consisting of the verb and its complements. Abstract discussions such as what a constituent is are largely avoided (in fact, the term constituent is since it is a stumbling block in my experience), and the structure of the NP and AP is brought in line with that of the VP.