Fowler's Modern English Usage is the world-famous guide to English usage, loved and used by writers of all kinds. In keeping with its long tradition, Fowler's gives comprehensive and practical advice on grammar, syntax, style, and choice of words. It gives a clear and authoritative picture of the English we use, and elucidates many scores of usage questions such as the split infinitive and the intricacies of political correctness. It gives in-depth coverage of both British and American English with reference to the English of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. The volume includes wide-ranging examples of usage from a broad selection of newspapers, journals, and books from across the globe, and features illustrative quotations from authors such as Agatha Christie, Chinua Achebe, Iris Murdoch, Harold Pinter, and Noel Coward. Based on the evidence and research of the Oxford Dictionaries Programme, this is the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to usage available. The third edition of 1996 provided a complete revision and an expansion of the original text, bringing the book fully up to date on all matters of grammar, usage, syntax, and style.This is a reissue of the revised third edition of 1998, which includes a new Supplement and revised entries. Replaces isbn 0198602634.
Table of Contents
Preface to the Third Edition; Acknowledgements; Dedication, 1926; Key to the Pronunciation; Abbreviations and Symbols; Bibliographical Abbreviations; A-Z; Preface to the Supplement of the Revised Third Edition; Supplement
About the Author
The original 'Fowler' was Henry Watson Fowler (1858-1933), a teacher and writer. He was also the author, with his brother Francis, of The King's English (1906) and the first edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1911). Robert Burchfield (1923-2004), a New Zealander by birth, held the post of Chief Editor of Oxford English Dictionaries between 1971 and 1984 and was the Editor of the final volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary Supplements. He was also the editor of The New Zealand Pocket Oxford Dictionary (1986) and, with C. T. Onions and G. W. S. Friedrichsen, of The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1966).
Reviews
[Fowler's Modern English Usage] offers impeccable advice. The Times
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Reviews
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Perfect for my needs. While not reading like fiction, this is a treasure chest of valuable essentials.I know that my thesis will be well crafted and technically sound.
What can I say? It remains the most authoritative and user-friendly guide to the subtlties of the English language. Well worth keeping a current copy on hand.
this book is a joy to use, both because of how helpful it is when I'm trying to sort out a question of grammar, meaning or variable spelling, and also because of all the other lovely things I stumble across while paging through it find a particular answer.
Fowler's original work was marvellous, and Burchmore's update is terrific - well written, clear, unambiguous, often amusing...
it's also excellent that it covers not just standard British English and US English, but mentions Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and South African variations.
a really worthwhile purchase for anyone who works with the English language, and a treat for those of us who just enjoy it
This is, in my opinion, one of the best and most useful current English Usage guides available. Some aspects of it are idiomatically controversial (for instance, Burchfield sees no transgression in splitting infinitives or using idiomatic phrases such as 'try and' or 'different than/to'), but for its general accuracy in a field rife with mistakes it is very refreshing.
Burchfield is refreshingly accurate with many common misconceptions, as with the Oxford Comma, the use of apostrophes for plurals, Latin suffixes on Greek plurals, exceptional uses of the passive and active form, and a host of others. This book covers a very great range of entries, and makes allowances for dialectical and other idiomatic differences. This is probably particularly useful in the Antipodes as Burchfield is himself a New Zealander.
This is a very easy to use and useful guide. It accurately clears up a range of commonly arising but difficult-to-answer questions. I would consider it indispensable for any student or writer, or anyone simply interested in English. A worthy revision of a classic.
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