Essential Idioms in English: Phrasal Verbs and Collocations

I can see how this book would be good for ESL learning purposes, but there are far too few idioms in the book to justify the price. If you are trying to learn the language, you would be better off looking at one of the many idiom dictionaries on the market in this genre. They have more idioms for a lower price. Before you buy this one, take a look at those and see if they fit your needs better. I hope that helps!

Have Fun!

Todd Hagopian
President/CEO
Hagopian Institute
Author of the popular "Quote Junkie" book sereies and the brand new "Idiom Junkie" series

I own (and use as a teacher) the 2004 fifth edition of "Essential Idioms in English." What I like most about it is that 98% of the idioms/idiomatic phrases/phrasal verbs listed and explained are pretty much in everyday use in American conversational English. There is little here that is truly out of date and unworthy of a student's effort to learn. This is more than you can say about a lot of alternative publications.

On the other hand, new idioms are created about every 15 minutes in the online, youth and ethnic cultures of the U.S. and a lot of them come into wide usage pretty quickly. Most of this "hipper" language is not in "Essential Idioms..." And it's probably impossible for them to be included unless the book became an online publication updated every other day. Hey--not a bad idea. There are, of course, some pretty good websites that provide idiom resources.

Meanwhile, this is good basic resource that I would like to see updated soon.

I love this book! I've been working with Literacy Volunteers for a number of years and this is one of my favorites for intermediate and advanced students. I particularly like the fact that this book rejects the inclusion of slang, which is a whole different topic. Shortly I will order two additional books to give as gifts to two students when they complete the program this summer.

Hi, i bought the first edition in 1994. That one was really a good one. I liked the fact that it had 'german' among other languages at the end of the book. Today i got this new edition, and i was disappointed. They dropped the german, and I only see portuguese, spanish and french. And the page organization / format is worse, the first one was easier to read and locate each item. Shame on you, products are supposed to improve, not go backwards.

This is an excellent tool for making phrasal verbs part of your vocabulary. I have been using this book with my students for the last 5 years.