Works such as Greenbaum et al., Huddleston and Pullum and the Longman  
Grammar aren't opinions based on one person's experience of English.  
They are based on observation of large amounts of data -- more than  
any single subscriber to this list is likely to be able to sample.  
This is why we appeal to them as authorities on English usage.

This doesn't mean their works are dogma -- their generalizations can  
be challenged -- but I wouldn't do so without the weight of a large  
amount of data behind me.

Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel.: 805.756.2184
Dept. Ofc. Tel.: 805.756.2596
Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba

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