For competent readers and speakers of English (level B1/B2), thisbook aims to help take an understanding of written and spokenEnglish a few steps further, to help readers to speak idiomatic Englishfluently and comfortably, and to encourage a practical approach tomastering written English.In order to present yourself well, it is important to have a competentgrasp of good English. But sometimes it is as important to knowwhen you can break the rules as it is to know the rules themselves.This book emphasizes that while it is essential to have a goodunderstanding of English grammar and usage it is also necessary tokeep that usage modern and natural sounding.Shape Up Your English presents this information in accessible, bitesizedchunks. The text has many headings and subheadings to makereading easier, and fact boxes present vital tips and fascinatingsnippets of extra information in an interesting way. In addition, anextensive index and table of contents make cross-referring easy.In order to communicate with a wide range of people in a wide rangeof situations in a fluent and natural way, readers should have a goodgrasp of English grammar, a sound knowledge of spoken English andits pronunciation, and a familiarity with English idioms. Idioms arephrases where the obvious meaning of the words involved can befar removed from the actual meaning of the phrase. It is importantto understand this aspect of language, beyond the obvious literalmeaning of the words, in order to be truly fluent.Shape Up Your English gives a comprehensive overview of vital aspectsof English language study, to enable readers to perfect their writtenand spoken English.This book has information on:* Keeping spoken English natural sounding and fluent* Spoken English conversation and pronunciation* Modern English usage and grammar* English idioms, cliches, similes and proverbs* Sentences: subject, predicate, object, clauses and phrases* Parts of speech: adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, determiners,nouns, prepositions, pronouns, verbs* Phrasal verbs and common word pairs* Confusable words and common errors* Punctuation* Writing* Reading comprehension and literary terms* Making a speech

About the Author

Betty Kirkpatrick, an honours graduate of the Universityof Edinburgh, has a long career in reference publishing. Shehas edited Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary, RogetsThesaurus, the concise edition of Brewers Phrase and Fable,and was language consultant to the Encarta World EnglishDictionary. She has compiled various other reference books,including the Oxford Paperback Thesaurus and the BloomsburyDictionary of Cliches. Betty is the author of an extensive list ofpublications on various aspects of the English language, for alllearners of English, and acts as a consultant to the BloomsburyGood Word Guide.