A corpus-based grammar for ELT

This paper introduces a new grammar which was published two months after TALC 2000. The grammar has two main characteristics: (L) it is fully corpus-based, (2.) it is especially geared to the requirements of ELT. The grammar makes use of new grammatical categories which evolved from the analysis of the data. There is a new definition of catenative verbs which results in a new structural description of the English verb phrase. The analysis leads to a novel distinction of finite and non-finite verb phrases. Original research was carried out for the description of each item. The approach is inductive: from language data to grammatical generalization. All examples provided in the grammar are authentic. Wherever possible, frequency data are supplied. This feature is especially important for the language learner, the language teacher, and the author of teaching materials. It is possible to distinguish central features of the language from peripheral ones.