Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Supporting your high street Find out how »
The Story of Be : A Verb's-Eye View of the English Language, EPUB eBook

The Story of Be : A Verb's-Eye View of the English Language EPUB

EPUB

Download - Immediately Available
Please note: eBooks can only be purchased with a UK issued credit card and all our eBooks (ePub and PDF) are DRM protected.

Description

It's the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb: 'to be'.

Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word.

As he reveals be's multiple incarnations, David Crystal takes us to the heart of our flexible and changing language.

He tells the intriguing story in 26 chapters, each linked to a particular usage.

We meet circumstantial be ('how are you?'), numerical be ('two and two is four'),quotative be ('so I was like, "wow"'), and ludic be ('oh no he isn't!'), and a whole swarm of other meanings.

Bringing the ideas to life are a host of examples from sources as varied as Beowulf, Jane Austen, pantomime, Hamlet (of course), and Star Wars, with cartoons from Ed McLachlan and Punch peppered throughout.

Full offascinating nuggets of information, it is a book to delight any lover of words and language.

Information

Other Formats

Save 34%

£11.66

£7.58

Download - Immediately Available
Add to Basket
Sign in to add to wishlist
 
Delivered to your inbox

to transfer to your device

eBook Help

Is this the right eBook for
my device? How do I download
this eBook? See help and FAQs pages

Information