Summary Of The Book Ideal for students as well as teachers of the English Language, the dictionary contains an alphabetically arranged register of all the common word/phrase usage errors. Reinforced with two examples for each error, taken from the Longman Learners’ Corpus, the Longman Dictionary of Common Errors provides a clear and simple explanation as to why the original sentence is wrong, followed by the correct usage in the second sentence.
The dictionary contains over 2500 entries. The collection of words/phrases have been identified from a carefully coded corpus of ten million words. These have been taken from samples of written English produced by students from over 70 different countries. The dictionary focuses on usage that non-native English speakers tend to get confused about. An example of such an error would be the context in which non-native English speakers use disagree and don’t agree. The dictionary gives a very concise explanation regarding the subtle differences that make one word or phrase exactly right in a particular context, and others unsuitable.
The book begins with a quick user guide to get the reader started. There are instructions on how to use the dictionary and on how to locate a particular word or phrase. It also details how the topics are arranged in the book. The words and phrases that have been identified as most problematic for general learners are listed on the left, with the examples and explanations on the right. Also included are a useful list of common misspellings and irregular verbs, and a glossary of all the grammatical terms used in the dictionary.
About The Authors N. D. Turton’s other books on English grammar include ABC of Common Grammatical Errors, The Student’s Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, Send or Take?: A Guide to Correct English Usage, and Correct Usage in English Language.
J. B. Heaton is the author of books such as Classroom Testing, Composition Through Pictures, Exercises in Using Idioms, Using Idioms: A Learner’s Guide, and Studying in English.