This book does not set out to be a complete grammar of the English

language. Its aim, as the title implies, is to concentrate on, and to attempt

to correct, the most frequent grammatical mistakes made by foreign students

of English. To some extent, of course, the difficulties experienced, and the

mistakes most frequently made, vary according to the nationality and the

mother tongue of the students concerned, but there are quite a large number

which are common to almost all, and it is with these that the present book

deals. They have been suggested by those experienced in the teaching of

English as a foreign language, and by foreign students themselves with

whom the writer has been in touch either personally or by correspondence.

Thanks are also due to Mr Ronald Ridout, who read the entire typescript

and made a number of useful suggestions.

A feature of the book is the provision of ample exercises to give the

student practice on each point as it arises. The explanatory matter has been

made as concise and simple as possible, and illustrative examples have

been given of each point dealt with.

The tendency of modern linguistic teaching is to avoid as far as possible

the type of exercise which involves substitution or the mere filling in of

blank spaces within the framework of a given sentence; and in general the

present writer is in full sympathy with this tendency. The inclusion in the

present book of so many exercises of this kind can, however, be justified

by the purpose they are intended to serve and the aim of the book as a

wholeâ??the correction of specific mistakes and the removal of particular

difficulties. If the student is given a free hand he is likely to avoid the

difficulties; if he is to master them by constant practice he must be kept to

the point all the time. It is to help him in this way that the exercises have

been devised. If he wishes, of course, the teacher can supplement them by

others of his own to meet the needs of a particular group.