Practical English Usage

Excellent book for those who wish to learn the particular nuances of the English language.
I bought this book for someone from South Korea and most of the time he makes an error, I don't pay attention.
His English was poor when we met. He's totally immersed in the English language now that he's living in Canada. When he asks me "why" a particular phrase is used, I am often stuck to explain the grammatical syntax. Fortunately, this book answers these questions, and then some...
I'd highly recommend this book for those who have a foundation of the language and want to improve their grammatical skills.

What this is is a thick reference paperback for teachers of English as a second language.

There are no exercises. There are no pictures. It cannot be read straight through.

It really can't be used much for teachers of English to students who already speak English, since it discusses grammatical points native speakers usually don't have problems with: the difference between "tell" and "say," the difference between "any" and "some," etc. Things that native (say, high school) students have problems with (dangling participles, comma splices, gerunds vs. gerundives, etc.) aren't really covered.

It is written at a very high level, since it's not intended for students themselves. It's intended for TESOL teachers who get the unexpected usage question (e.g., "Teacher, when can I use 'like' and when should I use 'as'?") and are forced to tell the student, "Uh, I'll explain that tomorrow."

Believe me, this is the book you want to have on your shelf when you scurry back to your office.

This book is really great - it answers all the questions that I have had.

I have recently become a tutor in English to a well-educated young woman who has been working as an executive in the United States for two years. Obviously, her English is very good, but she wanted to refine her skills.

When I accepted the position, I wasn't sure how much background information in English grammar I would need. Luckily, I found Practical English Usage at Amazon and read the positive reviews others had submitted. A few of my student's questions require such in-depth explanations that, although I taught standard high-school English classes for thirty-five years, I had never been required to examine such subtleties.

Thank you, Mr. Swan, for compiling this book. It allows me to give my student
answers and thorough explanations. Even though it was written for speakers of
British English, it does fine for us Americans.

I am not a native English speaker, and so I admit the book is a little bit advance in some level. However, it reminds me of lots of common mistake I made and how to correct it. It is a big book and not easy to read through. It is not very easy to pinpoint a particular page to read for some of my questions. Yet, I didn't regret buying it!