Untitled on Language

by Simon Heffer

In his best-selling Strictly English Simon Heffer explained how to write well. In Simply English he offers an entertaining and supremely useful A-Z guide to frequent errors, common misunderstandings, and stylistic howlers. What is the difference between amend and emend, between imply and infer, and between uninterested and disinterested? When should one put owing to rather than due to? Why should the temptation to write actually, basically or at this moment in time always be strenuously resisted? How do you use an apostrophe correctly, ensure that you understand what alibi really means, and avoid the perils of the double negative?

With articles on everything from punctuation, to tabloid English, to adverbs and adjectives, Simply English is the essential companion for anyone who cares about the language and wants to use it correctly.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

Unknown Binding

First published May 8, 2014

About the author

Simon James Heffer is an English historian, journalist, author and political commentator.

Reviews

[Hynek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me five years to read. On the one hand it shows that an alphabetic enumeration of rules and words a page turner doesn’t make. I’ve simply read a bunch of pages from time to time, over the years. On the other hand it’s a testament to its usefulness that I managed to work through the whole thing, eventually.

As someone who learned English as his third language, I found the book very helpful to clarify issues that I never fully understood and native speakers couldn’t explain to me either (infamous gut feeling!). And it showed me many issues I never knew about and sometimes even surprised the aforementioned native speakers. Therefore while my English is still far from good, reading this book certainly improved it. That’s the good part.

The bad part is the reason I had to subtract a star: Mr Heffer has a smug, judgy, elitist, and regressive voice speaking with the authority of a Victorian headmaster. It irritated me throughout the whole book and made me shudder at the thought of the “political correctness” item that he kept referencing.

[Sally Mayor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm 39 and I've read a lot of books in my life. This is the first book I've ever returned because I can't read it. I find the author's views ignorant, archaic and offensive, you wouldn't think that was possible in a book about language but he manages it. If you can get over his approach there's lots of great info but I found myself wanting to punch him in the face every time he mentioned political correctness. If Victorian attitudes are your thing, you'll love it. If not, there are better ways to learn about the English language. I couldn't bear to have it in the house so I got a refund.

[Tim Tebow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prefer "Simply English" to "Strictly English" because it is easier to find the information you want owing to the book's A-Z format.

If you want to avoid committing common solecisms in English, this book will be helpful to you.