Errata: A Student's Introduction to English Grammar (2nd ed.)

Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum and Brett Reynolds, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, 2nd edition (Cambridge University Press, 2022). This page lists the errors we know about, in the book and in the answer guide.

Cambridge made two rounds of corrections, one in mid‑2022 and one in February 2023. Corrections go into the master files, so they reach the e‑book immediately and print copies at the next reprinting. We sent a third set on 1 April 2024 and were told on 16 April that it wouldn't be implemented; Cambridge corrects a book only until it is two years old, a position the publisher confirmed again in February 2025. So everything in the first two sections below is uncorrected in every printing, and will stay that way unless there's a third edition. The last section records what was fixed, for readers holding a first printing.

Printings vary, and this list is assembled from correspondence rather than from a collation of copies. If something below is already right in your copy, it has been fixed. New reports are very welcome: write to Brett Reynolds (brettrey@gmail.com) and Geoffrey Pullum (pullum@gmail.com).

Uncorrected in the book

These ten went to Cambridge on 1 April 2024 and were declined.

Page	Correction
36	§2.14, the five types of non-finite clause: bare infinitival (lest you be in danger) ⇒ bare infinitival (let you be in danger). A lest clause isn't bare infinitival.
39	Exercise 3: delete item viii, Having an Etsy shop makes me feel like that again., and renumber the last two.
41	Exercise 8 iii: For me, it's my top choice. ⇒ For me, it's my first choice. The exercise asks for AdjPs, and top is a noun, not an adjective.
110	Exercise 15 vii: He used to be in the army, an Airborne Ranger. ⇒ He used to be in much better shape.
124	Just before [26]: “In [26] we show the definite NPs in brackets” ⇒ “In [26] we show two definite NPs in brackets”. The pronoun you in [26ii] is a definite NP too, and isn't bracketed.
133	[45ib]: Is this bag [yours]? ⇒ I've got my bag but not [yours].
165	[20]: glad it was over occurs twice. Change the first occurrence to sad that it did.
185	Second bullet in the list of three reasons: kept secret till later ⇒ love you like crazy. The original doesn't illustrate a preposition with an adjective complement.
194	Last paragraph of “Object and Predicative Complement”: “as in [28ii]” ⇒ “as in the first example in [28ii]”.
338	Exercise 3 ii: You can stay at our cabin, but [make sure you bring plenty of warm clothes]. ⇒ You can stay at our cabin, but let us [get back to you on dates].

These were reported after the correction window closed, so they were never sent.

Page	Correction	Reported by
214	[12] v: They shouted enough to wake the baby. is labelled [AdvP modifier in VP]. It should be [DP modifier in VP]. Enough is a determinative, not an adverb.	Afandi Setiawan, July 2024
250–251	P. 250 announces “some very simple cases where the interrogative word is head of the interrogative phrase”, but the whose case on p. 251 is Whose bike is this?, where whose is determiner within whose bike, not head. A consistent example would be Whose is this?	Luo Yanyang, February 2026
322	The final list item on example [14xi] points the reader to §5.4.1 (PP Complements in Nominals). It should point to §5.4.3 (Indirect Complements).	Johanna Hoogendoorn, February 2025

Typographical

Reported by Ivan Panchenko in March 2025.

Page	Correction
iv	“K. author” ⇒ “K., author”
25	“object but” ⇒ “object, but”
38	“are have numbers” ⇒ “have numbers”
98	“clauses) the indirect” ⇒ “clauses), the indirect”
121	“about it.)” ⇒ “about it).”
127	“but the corresponding noun” shouldn't be italicized
154	“Strawberry Creme pudding mix”: probably Cream
179	“of a type of known” ⇒ “of a type known”
217	“answers covers” ⇒ “answers cover”
239	“Homo Sapiens” ⇒ “Homo sapiens”
282	“in Chapter 7.)” ⇒ “in Chapter 7).”
291	“relative, because, because” ⇒ “relative, because”
316	“(see Chapter 8)” ⇒ “(see Chapter 8))”, to close the preceding parenthesis
325	“behaviour it's just” ⇒ “behaviour, it's just”
330	“staff meeting)]” ⇒ “staff meeting])”

Three further items in that list (sotoo on p. 227, the day[(that) on p. 280, and extraposed subject) is on p. 375) had already been corrected in 2022, which is how we know the copy in question was a first printing. They're in the last section below.

Uncorrected in the answer guide

Chapter 2, Exercise 7, item v. The key marks I've never seen anything like it as canonical. It's a negative clause, so by the book's own stipulation it's non-canonical, and the negation has syntactic effects: anything couldn't appear in a positive counterpart (*I've occasionally seen anything like it). Students who call it non-canonical are right. Reported by Ralfs Āboliņš, August 2026.
Chapter 6, Exercise 12, item ix (p. 176). The key analyses the underlined most important in and most important of all as a fused head. It isn't one; it's an ordinary head. The item was meant to use an incorporated superlative as fused head, as in this is the most important of them all, but the example that got chosen is a free superlative, an AdjP functioning as an adjunct in clause structure. Reported by Juho Ruohonen, February 2024.
Chapter 7, Exercise 11. None of the stranded reformulations in the key carries a grammaticality judgment. At least What circumstances would you agree under? and It was a situation that it would have been hard for anyone to form a judgment concerning what to do in. should be starred. The asterisks were dropped by accident. Reported by Juho Ruohonen, February 2024.

Reported, not yet settled

Listed here so the reports aren't lost. These haven't been adjudicated.

Answer guide, Chapter 13, Exercise 1, item ii. Closer to election day, the audience is much larger. The key gives Adj for closer, where the parallel item iv (A little farther from their house…) gets P. Reported by Li Xiang, April 2026.
Answer guide, Chapter 13, Exercise 10, item vii. The nearer they get to the treasure the farther they get from the law. The key gives Head Adj. Reported by Li Xiang, April 2026.

Corrected in later printings

Everything in this section was fixed in the master files during 2022 and February 2023. If you have the e‑book, or a printing later than the first, you can ignore it. If you have a first printing (2022), you need it.

2022 round

Page	Correction
viii	Contents, 12.5: “A Relative Clause that Doesn't Modify a Noun” ⇒ “A Relative Clause that Isn't a Modifier in a Nominal”
3	Penultimate paragraph ends with a comma; it should be a full stop.
53	[20], heading of column b: non-modal auxiliary ⇒ lexical verb
63	“which takes a past participle complement” ⇒ “which takes a past participial complement”
88	“not ‘sub-part of larger unit’” ⇒ “not merely ‘part of larger unit’”
90	[5iii]: AdvP adjunct ⇒ PP adjunct
121	[20iib]: the space in Another three eggs is all we need was underlined; the underlining of Another three eggs and is should be separate.
124	[26i] and [26ii]: underline the in both cases.
126	§5.3.2: “Determiner Phrases as Modifiers” ⇒ “DPs as Modifiers”
129	[38]: four right square brackets were underlined; they shouldn't be.
133	[44b]: the labels above even read ExtMod:DP and Head:D. Even is an adverb, so they should read ExtMod:AdvP and Head:Adv.
141	Three lines from the bottom: [55] ⇒ [56]
195	“can also be expressed, by adverbs like…”: delete the comma.
198	looking into it: underlining corrected.
200	“it's a lexical concept” ⇒ “it's a lexical concept”
201	“idiom is a lexical concept” ⇒ “idiom is a lexical concept”
218	It was in film rather than in literature that her true talent emerged. ⇒ Often they will, rather than report an error, just assume it's OK.
227	[15]: “like a complement or an adjunct or a complement?” ⇒ “like an adjunct or a complement?” [16iv]: to do sotoo ⇒ to do so too
236	“(You need to tell him), as briefly mentioned in §3.2.3.” ⇒ “(You need to tell him).”
239	Exercise 9: “Construct an original example sentence with negation of the following constituents.” ⇒ “For each of the following constituents, construct an original example sentence negating that constituent.”
248	13[iia]: Who one ⇒ Which one
264	[5]: complement of noun ⇒ complement in nominal; complement of adjective ⇒ complement in adjp; complement of preposition ⇒ complement in pp
268	[11], for consistency with p. 264: internal complement of verb ⇒ internal complement in vp; complement of noun ⇒ complement in nominal; complement of adjective ⇒ complement in adjp; complement of preposition ⇒ complement in pp
278	Last paragraph: “relation to the head noun book” ⇒ “relation to the head noun video”
280	[6iv]: the day[(that) ⇒ the day [(that)
285	“can follow Fowler's rule if they want to” ⇒ “can adopt the Fowlers' reform proposal if they want to”
292	§12.5 heading, as on p. viii. And “a special subtype of integrated relative that doesn't modify a noun at all” ⇒ “…that isn't a modifier in a nominal at all”
294	Item 7: “open interrogative content clauses” ⇒ “open interrogative main clauses”
313	First paragraph: “Even a non-finite with secondary tense” ⇒ “Even a non-finite clause with secondary tense”
319	“see §5.8.2” ⇒ “see §5.8.3”
321	In [14]: extraposed object ⇒ extraposed non-subject. And in the last two lines: “an extraposed object (see §16.3)” ⇒ “an extraposed internal complement (see §16.3)”
325	“The first line of the examples in [20] repeats those of [19]” ⇒ “…has similar structure to those of [19]”
363	[8]: the VP node over was should be V, and Comp:VP should be Comp:Clause.
375	First paragraph: “extraposed subject) is not a kind of subject” ⇒ “extraposed subject, is not a kind of subject”
379	In the discussion after [38], signed the bill ⇒ signed it throughout.

February 2023 round

Page	Correction
12	The passage illustrating categories now runs on pig and acorns rather than wall and city. In the first printing it discussed wall and city two pages before the sentence This wall protected the city appears.
154	Item 14 now reads “Underline any NP that could be the antecedent of one in each example. Replace one with an NP based on, but not necessarily identical to, the antecedent.”
178	Item 17 iii: like her daughter's deleted, giving Faye, wearing a pink polka dot outfit, greets everyone. Items 17 ix and x deleted.
196	[31]: [400 miles away] ⇒ [[400 miles] away]; [years back] ⇒ [[years] back]; [some time ago] ⇒ [[some time] ago]
273	Example 7 viii now reads They would carry it only delicately, as if it were a fine piece of furniture.
340	Example 9 xiv: underlining moved, giving There's no crying in baseball.
358	Example 9 vi: Africa ⇒ Uganda
394	Example 15 ix: just ⇒ simply

Errata: A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, 2nd edition