Intended for advanced students and researchers in linguistics, Descriptive Syntax and the English Verb, first published in 1984, focuses on the syntax of the English verb and notions of tense/aspect, transivity, passive, phrasal verb constructions, nominalisations and complement sentence types are explored. These constructions are shown to pose serious problems for past descriptive accounts either because of their patterning or because of their inherent variability within English.

List of Tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Tense and Aspect 2. Transitivity 3. Functions of the Passive 4. The Range of the Passive 5. Passive Participles 6. Phrasal Verbs 7. Nominalisations 8. Ing 9. Non-Finite Sentence Complements 10. Finite Sentence Compliments 11. Conclusion; Index