Pract English Usage

By Michael Swan

Book Overview

This unique reference guide addresses problem points in the language as encountered by learners and their teachers. It gives information and advice that is practical, clear, reliable, and easy to find. Most of the book is about grammar, but it also covers selected points of vocabulary, idioms, style, pronunciation, and spelling. - Explanations and examples based on current corpus research. - Entries on "kinds of English," covering standard English and dialects, correctness, spoken and written English, formality, and variation and change.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0194311856
• ISBN13: 9780194311854
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Oxford University Press España, S.A.
• Length: 690 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.7"
• Grade Range: Grades 10 to 12

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Resource

I have been teaching high level English grammar for 7 years, and this is by far the best reference book I have used. We purchase copies for all our teachers.

Bible for the TEFL/TESOL Educator

This is the bible for the TEFL educator. This is the most complete guide I've ever seen. Not only because of the amount of information it has, but how it's organized. You can find the answer to what you're looking for very quickly by using the index and alphabetized organization of the book. I learn a lot about the English language from the students' questions. This is the ultimate reference guide, because it not only...

A Well-Written Reference to English Grammar

As a teacher of English as a Foreign Language I use Michael Swan's book often. It is organized alphabetically by topic and provides clear explanations to various types of usage. Need to find out about the use of the subjunctive form in English or whether it is permitted to use they/them/their to refer to a single indefinite person? This reference can answer those as well as many other elementary or advanced questions that...

an excellent reference book!

I have a copy of Practical English Usage on my desk at school. I have other grammar reference books, such as Quirk and Greenbaum, at home, but this is by far the most useful for a teacher of English as a foreign language. Swan's style is to focus on the problem points of learners, and explain them and in simple, pithy and purposeful, everyday language to the extent that an advanced learner would be able to understand...

Highly useful reference on English grammar

I have used this book a lot while studying English and I think IT IS WORTH BUYING for everybody who regularly uses English language and wants to speak and write correctly. Practical English Usage contains hundreds of entries on English grammar, from elementary to advanced topics and some entries on other issues (pronunciation, usage of problematic words, style etc.). The entries are well selected and well indexed, so...