This text is for advanced undergraduate (and graduate) students interested in contemporary English, especially those whose primary area of interest is English as a second language, primary or secondary-school education, English stylistics, theoretical and applied linguistics, or speech pathology. Focus is exclusively on English data, providing an empirical explication of the structure of the language, rather than exploring theoretical questions ortheory for theory’s sake. The text does use linguistic theory but presupposes little or no background in linguistics or any particular linguistic predilection.The textbook begins with units on English phonology and morphology, including a full discussion of the grammatical categories of English. A section on lexical semantics follows which examines structural semantics,modal auxiliaries, lexical aspect and related topics. The next section analyzes — in detail — English syntax from a broadly generative perspective.