A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (ISBN 9780582517349) is a descriptive grammar of English written by Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. It was first published by Longman in 1985. In 1991 it was called "The greatest of contemporary grammars, because it is the most thorough and detailed we have," and "It is a grammar that transcends national boundaries." The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language was meant to replace it.