Practical English Usage (Paperback)

by Michael Swan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An excellent guide to the problem areas of English.

About the Author
Michael Swan is a writer specializing in English language teaching and reference materials. His interests include pedagogic grammar, mother-tongue influence in second language acquisition, and the relationship between applied linguistic theory and classroom language-teaching practice, and he has published a number of articles on these topics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 658 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press; 2 edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019431197X
• ISBN-13: 978-0194311977
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #528,928 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent reference book!, August 20, 2000

By	Chris Elvin (Kanagawa, Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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. As a teacher, you can often save yourself a lot of hassle simply by quoting from it. I like Practical English Usage because the examples are real, living English taken from the British National Corpus, or are realistic enough to be acceptable as such. Too many grammar books borrow their English from the past, or from the dialects of ivory-tower academics. This book redresses this imbalance. If you are not British, fear not, as another feature is its thorough coverage of the differences between British and American usage. (Other dialects are not covered.) If you are a teacher of English as a foreign language, or a smart student, you will not be disappointed with this Practical English Usage.

97 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly useful reference on English grammar, January 30, 2000

By	Deák Csaba (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews

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 I found answers for the vast majority of questions I have ever tried to look up.

Keep in mind, however, that the book can be used primarily as a REFERENCE. It is NOT structured for systematic, regular study and it is too dry for that purpose.

If you want to learn English grammar, I recommend that you get this book, together with Basic English Grammar by Eastwood and Mackin (with the exercises). Use Eastwood and Mackin's book for systematic study and complement it with Swan's book whenever you have any specific question. These books together cover ALL you'll ever need on English grammar (except if you need to be a professional in the field - such as a translator, university professor etc.).

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bible for the TEFL/TESOL Educator, February 10, 2002

By	K. Johnson (US/Asia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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 provides the answers, but provides the explanation for the answer. Must have for the TESOL/TEFL instructor.