Теоретическая грамматика современного английского языка

Министерство образования и науки российской Федерации 

уральский Федеральный университет  

иМени первого президента россии б. н. ельцина

е. а. викулова

теоретическая  

граММатика

совреМенного 
английского языка

Учебное пособие

3-е издание, стереотипное

Москва
    Екатеринбург

Издательство «ФЛИНТА»  
 Издательство Уральского университета

2024
      2024

                         © уральский федеральный

 университет, 2018

ISBN 978-5-9765-3614-2 (ФЛИНТА)
ISBN 978-5-7996-2215-2 (изд-во урал. ун-та)         

© викулова е. а., 2018

удк 811.111’36(075.8)
Ббк  81.432.1-2я73
         В43

р е ц е н з е н т ы: 

канд. пед. наук, доцент, зав. кафедрой иностранных языков 
уральского государственного экономического университета

л. в. с ко п о в а ;

канд. филол. наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков 

уральского юридического института Мвд россии в. в. г у з и ко в а

в43  

Викулова Е.А. 
теоретическая грамматика современного английского языка : 
учеб. пособие / е.а. викулова. — 3-е изд., стер. — Москва : 
ФЛИНТА ; екатеринбург : изд-во урал. ун-та, 2024. — 88 с. — 
ISBN 978-5-9765-3614-2 (ФЛИНТА) ; ISBN 978-5-7996-2215-2 
(изд-во урал. ун-та). — Текст : электронный.

учебное пособие содержит обзорный материал по основным 
разделам теоретической грамматики английского языка. рассматриваются 
проблемы морфологии и синтаксиса. представлены 
подходы различных школ и направлений научной грамматики, а 
также обширная библиография. 
для студентов специальности «Филология», специализации 
«английский язык».

удк 811.111’36(075.8)
ббк 81.432.1-2я73

ОглАВлЕниЕ

предисловие .................................................................................................................4

Section I 
TheoreTical english grammar 
as a Branch of linguisTics

1. On the History of English Grammars ........................................................................7
2. Fundamental Ideas and Main Schools
of Structural Linguistics  ..........................................................................................10
3. General Linguistic Notions  .....................................................................................14

Section II  
morphology

4. Morphology as a Part of Grammar ..........................................................................17
5. Parts of Speech  ........................................................................................................19
6. Noun: General Characteristics .................................................................................24
7. Noun: Category of Number .....................................................................................27
8. Noun: Category of Case  ..........................................................................................30
9. Adjective ..................................................................................................................33
10. Pronouns, Numerals, Statives ................................................................................35
11. Verb: General Characteristics  ................................................................................39
12. Grammatical Classes of Verbs ...............................................................................41
13. Non-Finite Forms of the Verb ................................................................................44
14. Verb: Category of Tense  ........................................................................................48
15. Verb: Category of Aspect .......................................................................................49
16. Verb: Problem of the Perfect  .................................................................................52
17. Verb: Category of Voice .........................................................................................54
18. Verb: Category of Mood ........................................................................................56

Section III 
synTax

19. Phrase: General Characteristics .............................................................................60
20. Ways of Expressing Syntactic Relations  ...............................................................64
21. Sentence: General Characteristics  .........................................................................66
22. Communicative Types of Sentences ......................................................................67
23. Actual Division of the Sentence  ............................................................................68
24. Sentence Structures  ...............................................................................................72
25. Simple Sentence: Constituent Structure  ................................................................74
26. Text Grammar and Theory of Discourse  ...............................................................78

список рекомендуемой литературы .........................................................................81

Предисловие

грамматика, основными разделами которой являются морфология 
и синтаксис, берет свое начало в философских теориях 
античности. лингвистическое учение о частях речи, о строении 
слов, о составе предложения, о синтагматических и парадигматических 
отношениях между элементами языка имеет древнейшую 
историю. на протяжении многих веков своего развития грамматика 
была связана с гуманитарными и общефилософскими направлениями 
человеческой мысли. в ХХ веке проявились тенденции 
сближения грамматической теории с точными науками. однако 
в наше время, которое характеризуется как эпоха постструкту-
рализма, лингвисты проявляют все больший интерес к коммуникативным 
аспектам языковых явлений. наблюдается переход от 
описания структурных особенностей естественного человеческого 
языка к исследованию его функционально-семантических и прагматических 
характеристик. задача современных исследователей 
в области теории грамматики — обобщить весь богатейший опыт 
предшественников и найти то диалектическое равновесие, которое 
позволило бы представить объективную картину сложнейших взаимоотношений 
содержания, формы и функции языковых единиц. 
теоретическая грамматика английского языка представляет в этой 
связи особый интерес, поскольку в ней в значительной степени 
нашли свое отражение и реализацию различные методы лингвистического 
анализа.
лекционный курс «теоретическая грамматика английского 
языка» входит в учебный план студентов филологического факультета 
отделения романо-германской филологии по специальности 
«Филология», специализации «английский язык». он рассчитан 
на один учебный год с завершением в 7-м семестре. для изучения 
данной дисциплины требуется свободное владение английским 

языком как в устной, так и в письменной форме. курс теоретической 
грамматики читается на изучаемом языке. ему должны предшествовать 
такие теоретические и практические дисциплины, как 
«введение в языкознание», «практическая грамматика английского 
языка», «лексикология английского языка», «история английского 
языка», «теоретическая фонетика английского языка». необходимо, 
чтобы студенты в достаточной степени владели навыками 
восприятия, анализа и фиксирования в письменной форме основной 
информации по изучаемому предмету. деятельность студентов 
на лекции представляет собой частично самостоятельную 
учебную работу. задача преподавателя — побуждать слушателей 
к диалогу, к научной рефлексии, к включению в процесс анализа 
и разрешения проблемных вопросов.
теоретическая грамматика является одним из наиболее сложных 
обобщающих курсов в цикле теоретических дисциплин 
изучаемого языка. данный лекционный курс представляет собой 
системное описание строя современного английского языка во 
всем многообразии и сложности взаимоотношений составляющих 
его элементов. рассматриваются различные аспекты, направления 
и тенденции в исследованиях грамматических явлений как в морфологии, 
так и в синтаксисе. наряду с информированием студентов 
о достижениях и проблемах в области теоретической грамматики 
английского языка большое внимание уделяется выработке 
у них навыков многопланового лингвистического анализа и самостоятельного 
критического суждения о грамматических явлениях 
и их интерпретациях в научной литературе. в рамках системной 
деятельности по предмету находят свое обобщение и практические 
аспекты английской грамматики в их приложении к методике 
преподавания английского языка и переводческой практике.
в настоящем пособии дан обзор основных проблем научной 
грамматики современного английского языка. Фактически это 
краткое изложение содержания лекций по изучаемой дисциплине. 
такая форма позволяет студентам сосредоточиться на основных 
понятиях и терминах, принятых в этой области лингвистики, освоить 
их самостоятельно. каждый подраздел представляет собой 

конспективное описание соответствующей проблемы. он снабжен 
кратким списком литературы (Working bibliography), включающим 
первоисточники, которые легли в основу данного описания 
и к которым студенты должны обращаться для более глубокого 
изучения вопроса. устная презентация материала в лекциях также 
предполагает расширенное описание и детализацию обозначенных 
проблем. в конце учебного пособия дается общий список учебной 
и научной литературы по теоретической грамматике английского 
языка и смежным дисциплинам.
большое значение для освоения материала курса имеет самостоятельная 
работа студентов как во время учебных семестров, 
так и в периоды подготовки к итоговым контрольным мероприятиям — 
зачету и экзамену. основным условием успеха этой деятельности 
является доступность учебных и научных материалов 
по изучаемой дисциплине.
полученные студентами знания и навыки реализуются при 
написании курсовых и квалификационных работ по темам, предполагающим 
расширение и углубление исследований грамматических 
явлений, представленных в учебном курсе теоретической 
грамматики английского языка.

Section I 
TheoreTical english grammar  
as a Branch of linguisTics

1. on the history of english grammars

Until the 17th century the term “grammar” in English was applied 
only to the study of Latin. Latin grammar was the only grammar 
learned in schools (grammar schools). Until the end of the 16th century 
there were no grammars of English. One of the most popular Latin 
grammars was written in English by William Lily. It was published in 
the first half of the 16th century and went through many editions. This 
book was very important for English grammar as it set a standard for 
the arrangement of material. Latin grammatical paradigms with their 
English equivalents made possible the presentation of English forms in 
a similar way, using the same terminology as in Latin grammar. Lily’s 
“Latin Grammar” may be considered as the precursor of the earliest 
English grammars. The first English grammar was written by William 
Bullokar (“Bref Grammar for English”, 1585). There were 5 cases of 
nouns in Bullokar’s grammar (cf. 6 cases in Latin). However, even early 
grammarians noticed some typical features which made the structure of 
English different from that of Latin.
Generally speaking, the history of English grammars may be 
divided into two periods. The first is the age of prescientific grammar 
beginning with the end of the 16th century and lasting till about 1900. 
It includes two types of grammars which succeeded each other. The 
first type of grammars in the history of English grammar is represented 
by early prenormative grammars of English (the first among them is 
W. Bullokar’s “Bref Grammar for English”). 

By the middle of the 18th century, when many of the grammatical 
phenomena of English had been described and the English language 
norms established, the prenormative grammars gave way to a new kind 
of grammar, a prescriptive (normative) grammar. It stated strict rules 
of grammatical usage and set up a certain standard of correctness to 
be followed by learners. One of the most influential grammars of that 
period was R. Lowth’s “Short Introduction to English Grammar”, first 
published in 1762 in London. On the other side of the Atlantic, in New 
York, Lindley Murray wrote a very successful work, “English Grammar 
Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners”. It was first published 
in 1795 and later underwent 50 editions in its original form and more 
than 120 – in an abridged version. Some of the 19th-century normative 
grammars were reprinted in the 20th century. For example, W. Lennie’s 
“Principles of English Grammar” underwent numerous editions, the 
99th edition being published in 1905; or, else, J. C. Nesfield’s grammar 
(“English Grammar Past and Present”, 1898) underwent twenty five 
editions in different variants and was still on sale in the 1960s. 
 Grammars of the second type (prescriptive, or normative grammars) 
written by modern authors are usually referred to as practical grammars 
of English.
By the end of the 19th century, when the system of grammar known 
in modern linguistics as traditional had been established, there appeared 
a new type of grammar (the third on the list), the scientific grammar. 
In contrast with prescriptive grammars, the classical scientific grammar 
was both descriptive and explanatory. H. Sweet’s grammar book 
appeared in the last decade of the 19th century (H. Sweet, “A New 
English Grammar, Logical and Historical”. Part I. Oxford, 1892; Part II. 
Oxford, 1898). The title of the book speaks for itself, so it is common 
practice nowadays to take the date of 1900 as the dividing line between 
the two periods in the history of English grammars and the beginning of 
the age of the scientific grammar. Classical scientific grammar accepted 
the traditional grammatical system of prescriptive grammars. During 
the first half of the 20th century, an intensive development of scientific 
English grammar took place, with great contributions to it being made 
by O. Jespersen (“The Philosophy of Grammar”, 1924; “Essentials of 
English Grammar”, 1933; “A Modern English Grammar on Historical 

Principles”, 7 vols, 1914–1949), E. Kruisinga (“A Handbook of Present-
Day English”, 1909), H. Poutsma (“A Grammar of Late Modern 
English”, 5 vols, 1904–1929), C. T. Onions (“An Advanced English 
Syntax”, 1904), G. O. Curme (“A Grammar of the English Language”, 
1931) and some other scholars.
In the 1950s a new trend in linguistic studies came to the fore, 
the structural grammar (the forth on the list). It was very popular 
with grammarians for about 40 years and took different directions 
in its development which are known as Descriptive Linguistics, 
Transformational 
Grammar, 
Generative 
Grammar, 
Generative 
Semantics. The main ideas of structural approach to language were 
advanced by Ferdinand de Saussure (“Cours de linguistique generale”, 
1922) and Leonard Bloomfield (“Language”, 1933). Those ideas were 
accepted and further developed by H. Whitehall (“Structural Essentials 
of English”, 1956), Z. S. Harris (“Methods in Structural Linguistics”, 
1961), Ch. C. Fries (“The Structure of English”, 1963), H. A. Gleason 
(“Linguistics and English Grammar”, 1965), E. Bach (“An Introduction 
to Transformation Grammars”, 1964), N. Chomsky (“Syntactic 
Structures”, 1957; “Language and Mind”, 1968), and a great number 
of other linguists.
When comparing the two periods in the history of English grammars, 
one can see that during the first period (the 17th — 19th centuries) 
there was only one kind of grammar in use at a time, whereas in the 
20th century there were several types of grammatical descriptions used 
and developed in parallel. The coexistence and a certain interaction of 
different types of grammars is a typical feature of the second period 
(the scientific one). Among modern trends we cannot but mention 
the communicative grammar (the fifth on the list), which has been 
gaining popularity since the 1980s. In grammar books of this type the 
grammatical structures are systematically related to meanings, uses, 
and situations of communication.

Working bibliography
Iofik L. L. Readings in the Theory of English Grammar / L. L. Iofik [et al.]. 
Leningrad, 1981. P. 5–40. 
Leech G. A Communicative Grammar of English / G. Leech, J. Starvik. 
Moscow, 1983. P. 5–8.

2. fundamental ideas and main schools  
of structural linguistics

The first linguists to speak of language as a system or a structure 
of smaller systems were Beaudouin de Courtenay (1845–1929) 
of Russia and the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913). 
The work that came to be most widely known is de-Suassure’s “Cours de 
linguistique generale” (Course in General Linguistics), posthumously 
compiled from his students’ lecture-notes. 
De-Saussure’s main ideas are as follows:
1. Language is a system of signals (linguistic signs), interconnected 
and interdependent. It is this network of interdependent elements that 
forms the object of linguistics as an independent science.
2. Language as a system of signals may be compared to other 
systems of signals (e.g. military signals). Thus, language may be 
considered as the object of a more general science — semeiology — 
a science of different systems of signals used in human societies.
3. Language has two aspects: the system of language and the 
manifestation of this system in social intercourse — speech. The system 
of language is a body of linguistic units (sounds, affixes, words, etc), 
grammar rules, and the rules of lexical series. Speech is the total of our 
utterances and texts. It is based on the system of language. Speech is the 
linear (syntagmatic) aspect of language, while the system of language is 
its paradigmatic aspect (“associative” as de Saussure called it).
4. The linguistic sign is bilateral, i.e. it has both form and meaning. 
We understand the meaning of the linguistic sign as reflecting the 
objects, events, situations of the outside world. 
5. The linguistic sign is “absolutely arbitrary” (in the sense that 
there is nothing obligatory in the relation of the sound form of the word 
to the object it denotes) and it is “relatively motivated” (in the sense 
that in the system of language the linguistic sign is connected with other 
linguistic signs both in form and meaning).
6. Language is to be studied as a system in the “synchronic plane”, 
i. e. at a given moment of its existence, in the plane of simultaneous 
coexistence of its elements.

7. The system of language is to be studied on the basis of the 
oppositions of its units. The units can be found by means of segmenting 
the flow of speech and comparing the isolated segments.
There were three main linguistic schools that further developed 
these ideas: the Prague School that created Functional Linguistics, the 
Copenhagen School that created Glossematics, and the American School 
that gave rise to Descriptive Linguistics, the Immediate Constituent 
Grammar, and the Transformational Grammar. 
The Prague School was founded in 1929 by Czech and Russian 
linguists: Mathesius, Trnka, Trubetzkoy, Jakobson, and some others. 
Their main contribution to modern linguistics is the technique for 
determining the units of the phonological level of language. The 
basic method is the use of oppositions (contrasts) of speech sounds 
that change the meaning of the words in which they occur. Nikolay 
Trubetzkoy developed a set of contrast criteria for the identification and 
classification of phonological oppositions. The most widely known is 
the binary privative opposition in which one member of the contrastive 
pair is characterized by the presence of a certain feature that is lacking 
in the other member. The element possessing the feature in question 
is called the “marked”, or “strong” member of the opposition, the 
other is called the “unmarked”, or “weak” member of the opposition. 
A phoneme is distinguished from all the other phonemes by a set of 
distinctive (differential) features, e. g. [p] is distinguished from [b] 
as a voiceless sound. The method of binary oppositions was extended 
to grammar and widely applied to morphological studies, e. g. Roman 
Jacobson used the principle of privative opposition for describing the 
morphological categories of the Russian language. 
The Copenhagen School was founded in 1933 by Louis 
Hjelmslev and Viggo Brondal. In the early 1930s the conception of 
the Copenhagen School was given the name “Glossematics” (from 
the Greek word glossa — language). In 1943 L. Hjelmslev published 
his main work which was later translated into English and appeared 
in Baltimore in 1953 under the title “Prolegomena to a Theory of 
Language (Principles of Linguistics). A Russian translation was 
published in 1960. Glossematics tried to give a more exact definition