Product Description

Written in short, accessible sections, this book explains the basics of writing good English. It includes punctuation, sentence construction and spelling. You will learn how to adopt different styles for different tasks, such as writing a report, essay or short story. There are also chapters on letter writing, filling in forms and constructing job applications.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #135319 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Review
'This book is a gem. If you never buy another reference book, buy this one!' London Evening Standard; 'If your written English is letting you down, do something about it. This book is recommended.' Writers' Express; '...an easy-to-use reference book for anyone who wants to brush up their skills... The content covers the knowledge needed for the Key Skills Communication Unit Levels 2 & 3.' www.lsagency.org.uk

For those who go to pieces at the thought of a dangling participle or wouldn't know a gerund from a double-decker bus, this is one of the handiest guides around. Now in its fourth edition, Marion Field's handbook has become one of the standard reference tools for those who know what they want to write but don't always know how best to write it. A particular joy of the book is that it never assumes its readers to have knowledge they probably haven't; also, it conveys its information in a friendly way that doesn't stoop to condescension. Another great plus is the way it manages to cover all levels of expertise, from the struggling foreign student to the company executive who sometimes muddles up her whos and whoms. Part One deals with the basics of grammar and punctuation, identifying the various punctuation marks and explaining when and why to use one rather than the other. Some people might find this elementary stuff but even the best-educated sometimes have difficulty in knowing when to use a full-stop rather than a comma, and why a semicolon is frequently better than a dash. This part also covers the parts of speech such as nouns and verbs, and demonstrates their uses. Part Two moves on to putting the rules into practice. But this is no school textbook with daunting lists of unforgivable grammatical sins. Instead it shows how to use your natural tone of voice to write essays, summarize reports, pen short stories and fill in job applications. Marion Field has done a remarkable job that will help even the most fluent writer of English to get more out of our language. (Kirkus UK)

lsagency.org.uk
'...an easy-to-use book for anyone who wants to brush up their skills'

Writers' Express
'If your written English is letting you down, do something about it. This book is recommended.'

Customer Reviews

Simple and get to the point
As Enlgish is my second language, this is an excellent book for me. Surely, this is not written for advanced writers, whoever bought this book by mistake will certainly be disappointed.

The best thing I liked about this book is that it covers nearly every aspect of basic writing from grammar, punctuation to essay and reporting,etc.

Because my attention span is quite short, I find this book just suit me perfectly.

Improve your English... when it's stuck at basic level!
This book is good enough, except that the title is misleading for advanced learners. I was extremely disappointed to find out that I was not going to improve my English at all with this book. Very simple, standard grammar is presented very succintly. I simply could not find anything I did not already know! I would like to suggest the following title for future editions: "Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling: Master the Essentials."