This is the third part of the course in spoken english, the two earlier parts being Mackin: texts, drills and tests, and Halliday: intonation. A key to the exercises is also provided.

"The book is a grammar of english for a wide audience and has been written against the background of the most recent work in english grammar; it endeavours to be both comprehensive and simple. The structure of the english which people use is described and very little attention is paid to matters of «correctness» in usage. it concentrates on the most common varieties of spoken and written british english, and avoids highly specialised varieties".