send link to app

Practical English Usage by Michael Swan app for iPhone and iPad


4.8 ( 5488 ratings )
Reference Education
Developer: Oxford University Press
31.99 USD
Current version: 1.2.1, last update: 6 years ago
First release : 04 Nov 2012
App size: 31.68 Mb

Practical English Usage is a world bestseller and a vital reference tool that helps teachers and higher-level learners with common language problems in English.

Practical English Usage provides instant answers to questions about the English language which both native and non-native speakers of English find difficult to explain: When do we use a past tense with a future meaning? When and why do English speakers use the? Do I say big, large, or great? What exactly is the difference between close and shut? How do I read out an email address?

The Practical English Usage app:
• Deals with spoken and written grammar, vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, and differences between formal and informal language.
• Contains over 600 indexed entries covering all the important problems for learners of English.
• Offers clear simple explanations with corpus-informed examples.
• Includes notes on background topics such as letters and emails, politeness, standardisation and dialect grammar, the meaning of correctness, differences between spoken and written English, and changes in English.
• Covers differences between British and American English.
• Includes audio for the pronunciation discussed in the text.

You can:
• Access entries through the very complete Index, either by scrolling through the list or by keying in the language point you want to look up – e.g. future, conditionals, have.
• Browse through the thematically-organised Contents Overview and the A-Z list of entries.
• Navigate immediately between related entries through the many cross-references.
• Create your own list of favourite entries.
• Go to ‘History’ to view your recent searches.

You can use the Practical English Usage app together with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app to look up words. Just tap on a word in Practical English Usage to bring up the dictionary entry.

Pros and cons of Practical English Usage by Michael Swan app for iPhone and iPad

Practical English Usage by Michael Swan app good for

Really good. Easy to use and easy to find whatever you want. Really useful. Much better than having the book. Where is the "dont say it!" list?
Could you please update it for iOS 8? It keeps crashing upon being opened at the moment. Thanks!
I am a professional interpreter and translator and this is one of the best English grammars I have ever had as a book. It is great you can now have it as an App on both iPhone and iPad. After the update this App now works perfectly on both iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on iOS 8.0.2.

Some bad moments

It is obvious that Oxford Practical English Usage is one of the best in the league. The contents are still there. However, there is no way to copy or transfer any part of the book from the app, which I believe is important for referring the book as citations or making handouts for my students... At least, the app should support printing pages...
just buy it. This app is well worth every penny. If you have OALD, synergy grows even better. Yet, it doesnt support iCloud sync, which is essential for me.
The application will not open in iOS 8. I am going to ask for a refund.
Hi, Please do something about incompatibility issue of the app, its such a great app but unfortunately is not working anymore.
Great app I cannot use on my iPhone 6 since it crashes on launch.
The app has the same contents as the book but better than the book because I can change the font size. It is much easier to read and search and carry it around on the IPad and Iphone.