Product Description

Plain English meets the needs of all students who wish to improve their writing skills. The book opens with an introductory quiz, which gives a broad idea of the subject matter covered and helps readers to identify those sections which will be of most use. The quiz is followed by sections on punctuation, spelling, grammar, style, references and bibliographies. Each section deals step by step with basic difficulties and provides exercises to help test the readers' understanding. Answers are provided for all the exercises. Plain English is user-friendly and may either by read from beginning to end, or simply dipped into for selected sections.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21829 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 121 pages

Customer Reviews

Very helpful and doesn't let you away with anything
Right from the beginning this book tests you. The first chapter is an introductory quiz on all things grammatical, so that you get an idea of just how flawed your formal writing is! But it's not at all disheartening, because you will get a lot of it right - that is, if you're at all interested in writing and language. There are basic things, like starting a sentence with a capital letter, right through to challenging exercises to do with writing style. It is a very plain-speaking guide, one which rubbishes cliches and rejects 'pompous and jargonistic' styles. Every single chapter contains short exercises, the answers to which are given at the end of the book. I like the fact that the book has a no-nonsense feel to it; you are encouraged, however academic and erudite you may be as a writer or essayist, to use the simplest option where language is concerned. No matter what subject you are writing about (yes, I am allowed to end with a preposition, apparently), the emphasis is on the reader of your work. If they don't understand your sentence construction or your style, your writing is annoying and has failed. The best thing to do is to use direct English, in an uncomplicated but elegant way. This is the most down-to-earth, non-irritating guide to language usage I have seen.