While it is true that there's a lot of mindless copying among grammar 
books, that's not the issue here. Neither is the complexity of 
Huddleston and the others. Huddleston and Pullum is a reference grammar. 
It is _not_ intended for children, so there's no reason for them to 
simplify.

Anyway, complaining about the problems that grammar books for school 
children have is a red herring. You still need to show that there's 
something wrong with the technical understanding of the perfect in 
standard grammar references like Huddleston and Pullum. Then we can talk 
about how to present it to children.

And no, there is nothing the matter with the paradigms you quoted. They 
are correct, no matter what you say. Find me a book that says otherwise. 
Until you can, your opinion has no weight. It's your bald assertion 
against the entire weight of all the grammatical authorities.


On 12/5/2010 7:38 PM, Brad Johnston wrote:
> You sent this back to me without comment. It reflects much of what's
> wrong with <many> most grammar texts. Much of grammar text content is
> mindless, careless repetition of things that don't make sense, as this
> one demonstrates. There's a lot of plagiarism in the grammar trade. One
> grammar text author told me what he wrote had to be right because he
> copied it from another text. I believe him because he lifted things from
> me, word for word -- things he clearly doesn't understand but used anyway.
> /Some Common Irregular Verbs, page 37./
> //
> /Past begin choose drink eat grow hide/
> /Present began chose drank ate grew hid/
> /Past Participle begun chosen drunk eaten grown hidden/
> **
> /There's a little something the matter with them, don't you think? Look
> carefully or you'll miss it./
> //
> There's a LOT the matter with them and y ou did miss it.
> Is it any wonder kids hate grammar when so much of it either doesn't
> make sense, like what you see above, or is presented in a way that is
> unnecessarily convoluted and complicated, e.g, Huddleston, Wardhaugh, et al?
> .brad.05dec10.
>
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