The book is divided into four sections. The Grammar section provides unrivalled coverage of complete and incomplete sentences, dangling constructions, and other subjects that give many writers special difficulty. The Usage section offers sensible and up-to-date advice on hundreds of points that frequently cause confusion. The Punctuation section provides a wealth of helpful guidance on all aspects of punctuation, with particular attention paid to such vexed questions as when to use the colon and the semi-colon, and (when using quotation marks) how to properly integrate quotations into one’s own text. A final section, English as an Additional Language, gives a wide range of helpful advice on special issues that may arise for those whose native language is not English.

A companion website provides hundreds of exercises on every topic covered in the book itself. Many of these are interactive; on completing an exercise, students are told how they did—and explanations are provided as to why the right answers are right and the wrong answers are wrong. This book is adapted from The Broadview Guide to Writing, which is available in American and Canadian editions