Practical English Usage is recommended for any teacher, trainee teacher, or advanced-level student looking for answers to questions about the English language. The material is now organised in two parts (grammar and vocabulary), making it easier than ever to find the answers, either online or in print.

Part 1 is a complete practical learner's grammar with 28 sections, covering all the structural points that cause problems for learners.

Part 2 is a guide to vocabulary problems covering:

• rules for word formation and spelling
• a survey of high-priority vocabulary areas
• an A–Z guide to over 250 common word problems

The 600+ entries provide answers to the questions that learners typically ask, for example:

• use of tenses
• the truth about conditionals
• article problems
• singular they
• get as a passive auxiliary
• bring or take?
• can, could, may or might?
• classic or classical?
• the language of emails

Plus

• the grammar of speech and formal writing
• British–American differences
• questions of style and idiom
• changes in English
• politeness
• avoiding offensive language
• lists of learners' most common mistakes

The entries in Practical English Usage are not only informed by Swan’s authoritative knowledge of English grammar, but by a sure sense of which aspects of the grammar are likely to be problematic, and how these can be most effectively explained.

- Henry Widdowson, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of London