Webster's Shape Up Your English: For Intermediate Speakers of English, Speak and Write More Fluent English and Avoid Common Mistakes

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

Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION EXPANDING YOUR SKILLS Practice Spoken English Listening skills Grammar and usage Idioms Punctuation Writing and reading English SPOKEN ENGLISH Turn-taking Non-verbal communication Telephone conversations Beginnings and endings Vocabulary PRONUNCIATION IPA Syllables and stresses Vowels Consonants Sounds particular to English Silent letters IDIOMS Origins Common idioms Proverbs CLICHES A bit of colour Cliches from idioms Cliches from over-used phrases Archaic cliches Cliches as 'fillers' EVERYDAY EXPRESSIONS Interjections SENTENCES Minor sentences Simple sentences Compound sentences Complex sentences Types of sentence-statements Answers Clauses Phrases NOUNS AND PRONOUNS Uncountable nouns Plural forms of noun Pronouns Personal pronouns and sexist language ADJECTIVES Gradable and non-gradable adjectives Position Predicative adjectives Colour adjectives Emphatic adjectives Interrogative adjectives Compound adjectives Adjectives used as nouns Adjective or adverb? Comparative forms of adjectives Superlative forms DETERMINERS Referring and quantifying Definite and indefinite articles Demonstrative determiners Possessive determiners Indefinite determiners Number determiners Determiners and nouns ADVERBS Modifying Types of adverb Gradable and non-gradable CONJUNCTIONS Coordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions VERBS 'Doing' and 'being' words Infinitive Tenses Participles Gerund Mood Voice Auxiliary verbs Modal auxiliary verbs Regular verbs Irregular verbs Verb agreement Irregular verb list PHRASAL VERBS What's the problem? Position of the object Figurative or literal meaning? Complex phrasal verbs PREPOSITIONS Simple prepositions Complex prepositions Common errors Word pairs CONFUSABLE WORDS Problems Homophones Homographs Homonyms Which word? PUNCTUATING PROPERLY Preserving meaning Apostrophe Brackets Capital letters Colon Semicolon Comma Dash Exclamation mark Full stop Hyphen Question mark Quotation marks Three-dot ellipsis WRITING Plain English Editing your writing Writing a non-fiction composition Essays Letters, emails and texting READING COMPREHENSION Approaching a reading interpretation What kind of questions? Preparing for a book report A writer's style What are the themes involved? Narrative Close reading Literary terms MAKING A SPEECH Both worlds Your audience Mind map The speech Making the speech INDEX

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, Roget'sThesaurus, the concise edition of Brewer's 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.