With more than 50 years of teaching experience between them, Ilse Depraetere and Chad Langford present a grammar pitched precisely at advanced learners of English who need to understand how the English language really works without getting stalled in the complex specifics.This textbook pulls all of the relevant ideas from linguistic theory to support the language student to fully understand English grammar. After introducing form and function, the authors cover verbs, nouns, aspect and tense, modality and discourse. Readers are led through the underlying principles of language use, with the book presupposing only a basic grasp of linguistic terminology and focusing on the critical issues.This new edition includes updated examples from the press to represent a wider breadth of English language publications, including examples not only from The Guardian and the New York Times, but also from Indian and African publications. The new system to cross-reference all exercises with the core text in each chapter with discreet marginal notes makes the link between theory and practice more explicit. This edition also includes a new appendix of important phrasal verbs at an advanced level.Full of challenging exercises and supported by a companion website featuring an extensive answer key, a glossary and further exercises for study, this is the reference grammar of choice for both native and non-native English speakers.