Ask the author! Michael McCarthy
Every month we give you the opportunity to ask a question of one of our authors.
Michael McCarthy is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of English Studies, University of Nottingham, and has also published extensively on corpora, vocabulary and discourse. He is the co-author of several of the English Vocabulary in Use titles and Exploring Grammar in Context, as well as the Cambridge Grammar of English and a number of applied linguistics titles for Cambridge ELT.
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Michael McCarthy's's answers from this month
Dear Mr McCarthy,
Your new book the Cambridge Grammar of English contains a lot of information on spoken grammar. What do you think are the main differences between written and spoken grammar?
Many thanks,
Ahmed
These are what I consider to be the main differences:
- Spoken grammar (especially conversation) is produced in real time,
which means there is little opportunity for the forward planning we can
enjoy when we write. So spoken grammar is rather linear. It consists mostly
of main clauses linked by words such as 'and', 'but', 'so', etc., and does
not have the same amount of complex embedding of clauses which we find in
writing.
- Spoken grammar is often jointly produced — more than one speaker can
create the same sentence. A second speaker can tag a subordinate clause on
to the main clause of a first speaker, for example. This does not happen in
writing.
- The word-order of spoken grammar is more flexible; for example, adverbs
are often found in positions which they do not normally occupy in writing.
- Because speech is face-to-face, the interpersonal relationship is very
important indeed. Spoken grammar has much to do with creating and
maintaining that relationship.
Best wishes,
Mike McCarthy
