An introduction to a remarkable book

The purpose of the book

Practical English Usage is a guide to problems of this kind. It deals with over 600 points which regularly cause difficulty to foreign students of English. It will be useful, for example, to a learner who is not sure how to use a particular structure, or who has made a mistake and wants to find out why it is wrong.

It will also be helpful to a teacher who is looking for a clear explanation of a difficult language point. There is very full coverage of grammar, as well as explanations of a large number of common vocabulary problems. There are also some entries designed to clarify more general questions (e.g. formality, slang, the nature of standard English and dialects) which students and teachers may find themselves concerned with.

Level

The book is intended for higher level students of English and for teachers. Being a reference book, it contains information at various levels, ranging from relatively simple points to quite advanced problems.

What this book does not do

Practical English Usage is not a complete guide to the English language. As the title suggests, its purpose is practical: to give learners and their teachers the most important information they need in order to deal with common language problems.

Equally, the book does not aim to replace a dictionary. While it gives information about common problems with the use of a number of words, it does not attempt to describe other meanings or uses of the words beside those points that are selected for attention.

Organization

The book is more like a dictionary than a grammar book in form. There is a table of contents at the beginning, and an index at the back of the book to help you find what you are looking for quickly.

How to find things

The best way to find information about a particular point is to look in the Index on pages 624-658. (The overview on pages xi-xvi is intended only to buy antibiotics online azithromycin give a general picture of the topics covered in the book; it is not a complete guide to the contents.) Most points are indexed under several different names, so it is not difficult to locate the entry you need.

For instance, if you want to know why we say “I’m not used to driving on the left“ instead of “I’m not used to drive on the left“, you can find the number of the section where this is explained by looking in the index under ‘used’, ‘be used’, ‘to’ or ‘-ing forms’. (On the other hand, it would obviously not be helpful to look under ‘drive’: the rule is a general one about the use of -ing forms after be used to, not about the verb drive in particular.)