''Practical English Usage'' is a standard reference book aimed at foreign learners of English and their teachers written by

Michael Swan Michael Swan (born June 11, 1948) is an American film and TV actor. Early life Swan was born in San Jose, California, the son of actress Alys Lucille ( née Wilkinson) and Donald Arthur Swan.Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, it has sold over 2 million copies since the first edition was published in 1980. A new, and greatly extended second edition was published in 1995. A third edition was released in 2005, and a fourth in 2016.

Feature

It features basic descriptions of

English grammar English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts. This article describes a generalized, present-day Standard English ...

and usage as well as highlighting various words which are often problematic for non-native speakers. Although the model is basically

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

, it explains some of the stylistic differences between British and American usage. The third edition also takes into account some of the most recent changes within British English, particularly the commonisation of various

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

forms (such as the use of ''like'' as a conjunction – e.g. like I do).

Influences

In his Acknowledgements for the first edition, Swan refers to the aid given him by "various standard reference books – in particular, the splendid ''

A Grammar of Contemporary English A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'', by

Quirk Quirk or Quirks is having unconventional beliefs or manner, for example mispronouncing, in-jokes, clumsy and ditsy, and may refer to: * ''The Quirk'', a literary magazine * "Quirks", a song by Ultravox! from the album ''Ha!-Ha!-Ha!'' * 18376 Qui ...

, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik" (Longman 1972), and in the second edition, to "the monumental ''

A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language ''A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language'' 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 greate ...

''" (Longman 1985), by the same authors.

Similar works

The Complete Plain Words ''The Complete Plain Words'', titled simply ''Plain Words'' in its 2014 revision, is a style guide written by Sir Ernest Gowers, published in 1954. It has never been out of print. It comprises expanded and revised versions of two pamphlets th ...

Ernest Gowers Sir Ernest Arthur Gowers (2 June 1880 – 16 April 1966) is best remembered for his book '' Plain Words,'' first published in 1948, and his revision of Fowler's classic '' Modern English Usage''. Before making his name as an author, he had a lon ...

A Dictionary of Modern English Usage ''A Dictionary of Modern English Usage'' (1926), by Henry Watson Fowler (1858–1933), is a style guide to British English usage, pronunciation, and writing. Covering topics such as plurals and literary technique, distinctions among like word ...

H. W. Fowler Henry Watson Fowler (10 March 1858 – 26 December 1933) was an English schoolmaster, lexicographer and commentator on the usage of the English language. He is notable for both ''A Dictionary of Modern English Usage'' and his work on the ''Con ...

References

{{Reflist 1980 non-fiction books Style guides Oxford University Press books book-stub

Feature

Influences

See also

Similar works

References