Cassell's Contemporary French: A Handbook of Grammar, Current Usage, and Word Power

Book Description

Cassell's Contemporary French is designed to make your French-speaking experience relaxing and uncomplicated. Part 1, A Concise Reference Grammar, is like a complete refresher course in the basics of sentence structure, verb forms (including modal verbs), mood, parts of speech, and gender. It's filled with examples and focuses on the specific problems English speakers often encounter when they try to learn French.

Customer Reviews:

Now printed as Langenscheidt Pocket Grammar.......2003-02-03

Too bad the Cassell's Contemporary Italian/French/Spanish/German series are now out of print. I have them all the they are the best grammar books I own. I am a language buff and own several grammars and these can't be beat! I had been looking for the Cassell's Contemporary Italian recently and discovered the Langenscheidt Pocket Grammars are the Cassell's Contemporary series in new editions. They are identical. Though it looks now as if the Langenscheidt French Grammar is now out of print. Snatch any used copies of this available. They are well worth it!

It was just the summary of French grammar that I wanted........1999-01-27

I've found everything I was looking for in a French grammar book. I find it easy to locate various areas of study. I see lots of practical usage entries that I haven't gotten to yet. I look forward to using this book for many years.

Average customer rating:

the best book i've yet to find on the french language
God bless this book
Very thorough

French Grammar and Usage
Roger Hawkins , and Richard Towell
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Practicing French Grammar
Complete Guide to Conjugating 12000 French Verbs (English Edition)
Advanced French Grammar
French Grammar: A Complete Reference Guide
Better Reading French : A Reader and Guide to Improving Your Understanding of Written French

ASIN: 0658017985

Book Description

Here's the extensively revised and updated edition of a reference renowned for its sweeping coverage, straightforward approach, and simple explanations. Teaming up with native speaker, Marie-Noelle Lamy, the authors give extra attention to areas that are especially difficult for English-speaking learners. The guide is designed for people with an intermediate or advanced knowledge in French, and it covers both formal and informal language. The new edition features fresh examples and even easier to use cross-referencing and indexing.

Grammar demystified, and usage made crystal clear with:

Explanations of all major structures of French and points of grammar
Up-to-date examples to illustrate grammar and usage
Practical tips on what can and what cannot be said
Simple-to-use organization, cross-referencing, and indexing

Customer Reviews:

the best book i've yet to find on the french language.......2003-05-27

Simply put, this really is the very best book on French I've ever come across, so much so that I bought it on the spot, which is something I very rarely do. It is well-organized, has wonderful examples, and has a particularly good section on adverbs. Although most grammars are simply grammars, I think this is a wonderful book for vocabulary expansion because of all the examples provided, and for the most part translations are provided for both phrases and individual words. It also has a very good index, which is always good in a book, especially so thorough a book. One of the best and most easily-overlooked conveniences is that the formal or colloquial usages are noted right alongside the rest rather than being put in seperate formal or colloquial chapters which would complicate things too much for the student.

I'm not sure how the beginning student would find this book though, but I think I would've liked to have it when I first started out. Perhaps some pronunciation guides would help, but I really don't think that the lack thereof is particularly detrimental.

God bless this book.......2001-09-16

I'm glad I've finally a decent grammar book for French. It's an extremely helpful reference. The earlier review mentioned that the cover is hideous but I have to say, the cover is *not* a problem.

There are notes on the differences between "written" and "spoken" French. Overall, this is a great book. Easy to use. Even if you're a complete beginner, you shouldn't have a problem.

Very thorough.......1999-07-01

This is an excellent grammar for English speakers. It has a thorough review of preposition usage, an excellent guide to the subjunctive and pretty much everything else I usually get wrong ;-) I browsed for a couple of hours in Borders on Oxford Street and couldn't find anything better. Nicely type-set as well. The only problem is the hideously ugly cover.

1001 Pitfalls in French (1001 Pitfalls Series)

Average customer rating:

C'est superbe!
A Great Source of Informationýbut not for beginning students

1001 Pitfalls in French (1001 Pitfalls Series)
James H. Grew , and Daniel D. Olivier
Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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1001 Pitfalls in English Grammar

ASIN: 0812096517

Book Description

Here's the perfect book to help students of French overcome those troublesome details of vocabulary, nuances of meaning, grammar, usage and style.

Customer Reviews:

C'est superbe!.......2000-07-22

For students above the elementary level, this book will clear up doubts left by other textbooks and explain points that never appear in them. In fact, the more French the student knows the more useful this book will be. It is cherished by advanced students as well as by teachers--I have been a teacher of French. This is one of those books that address points that are simply not mentioned in standard courses. If you have learned to love the French language but are not sure which nouns end in consonants that must be pronounced or you have other niggling, gnawing doubts that spoil your enjoyment of the language, buy this book. You too will love it.

A Great Source of Informationýbut not for beginning students.......2000-01-29

This study aid is from Barron's Educational Series which produced 501 FRENCH VERBS (an innvaluable source for the beggining and advanced student alike). However unlike 501 FRENCH VERBS, 1001 PITFALLS IN FRENCH is NOT for beginning students.

Nearly two-thirds of the explanations are in French. Example sentences are not translated.

That said for the intermediate or advanced student this book has a veritable trove of information. In its pages you will find lists of false cognants, French words which are often confused, French words misspelled or misprounced by English speakers, adjectives which change meaning when placed before the noun, nouns with different meanings in masculine and feminine forms, etc. Also included are cautions on non-linguistic matters: the use of slang, differences in ettiquette, US/metric conversion charts, the long and flowery formule de politesse required for correspondance, etc.

Book Description

Essential grammar taught simply and directly… 750 French Verbs and Their Uses gives you the backbone of language study — correct verb usage — by showing verb conjugations in their contexts. To understand the value of such an approach, consider the English verb "to hold," the meaning of which can change dramatically when used in expressions such as "hold on," "hold up," "hold off," and "hold down"; in French, as students of the language have perennially learned to their frustration, the changes are far broader and apply to many more verbs. Now you won't have to guess how a verb is used in a sentence: 750 French Verbs and Their Uses gives you all the correct variations and grammatical interrelationships. Correct usages are illustrated in common phrases and idiomatic expressions. Unusual or troublesome expressions are emphasized throughout. And special attention is given to reflexive verbs (often difficult for English speakers) to make their usage clear. Perfect for students and travelers, ideal as a text, a grammar book and a reference, 750 French Verbs and Their Uses will help you not only to conjugate verbs, but also to use them correctly and comprehensibly. Series Editors: Jan R. Zamir, PhD, and Sonia Zamir, MA Also available in the series: 750 German Verbs and Their Uses and 750 Spanish Verbs and Their Uses.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent...not not for everyone........2006-06-05

This is an amazing book, but it will be of little use to you unless you have AT LEAST an upper-intermediate level of French. It really digs into the full use of verbs to enhance usage in written, and eventually spoken, French. A must-have for upper-level learners.

A Great Tool for Attaining Fluency.......2003-10-03

At first, I was a bit disappointed with this book. I thought it would fit nicely into my daily recipe of French study, which includes (1) a half-hour of basic conversational practice, (2) a half-hour of written grammar exercises, and (3) before-bed vocabulary drills and miscellaneous readings. My mistake was to assume that this book belonged in category (1) or (3), when (for me) it really belonged in category (2). Reading and repeating the sample sentences by voice alone did not prove very helpful; I couldn't retain much and began to feel that the book was of little educational value. The book sat unused for several months until one happy day when I decided to bring it to the cafe and write the sample sentences in the notebook I use for various French exercises. Bingo! My retention improved and I began to incorporate the relatively advanced verb structures into my conversation drills. This book is now my main "category 2" component and is serving me wonderfully as a grammar-learning tool. It also has taught me the valuable lesson that learning materials are only of maximum value if they are properly incorporated into our pattern of study based on our personal abilities and preferences. (One caveat: this book would not have been nearly as helpful to me if I hadn't previously studied a great dead of basic grammar.)

A Great Book for an Intermediate to Advanced French Student.......2001-09-17

As the title indicates, the book lists 750 verbs and demonstrates their uses with sample sentences. It is not the same as the usual verb book which lists and conjugates many of the most basic verbs, but instead it concentrates on the meaning of more advanced verbs and supplies sample sentences. The book is intended for someone who already has a basic knowledge of French. In the main text, the verbs are not conjugated, but there is an appendix at the end of the book of grammatical tables in which verbs are conjugated. The author assumes that the reader already has a knowledge of basic verbs such as "to be", "to speak", "to go", etc. but instead dwells on more advanced verbs, such as s'insister pour que (+ the infinitive) meaning to insist on or opter entre quelque chose meaning to choose among a group of things. The book does demonstrate more complex usages of some of the simpler verbs - for example, parler dans quelque chose meaning to speak into something such as a microphone, or laisser quelque chose meaning to leave something (somewhere or for someone). Sentences are given for each verb which I found extremely helpful, although it is necessary to go to the appendix if you are not sure of the conjugation of the verb.
Overall, I believe this book would be very helpful in improving the grammar and vocabulary of an intermediate to advanced French student.

Improved my French beyond any doubt.......2000-04-14

The are many books on French verbs but the emphasis is usually on conjugations. What distinguish this book from others is that it is focused on how to actually use those verbs. I am surprised to find that I am the first person to review this book because it is so useful. Before I had the book, there were many verbs which were only in my "passive" vocabulary -- i.e. when I read or hear them, I would have a sense of what they mean. After reading this book, however, many more verbs have become part of my "active" vocabulary. This means that I can now actually use them in a conversation. The examples given in the book have helped me to have a much better grasp of how and when to use those. I am very pleased with the improvements I have made. What I do with the book is that everyday I would read a couple of pages at random. After reading the examples given for a particular verb, I would imagine myself in situations where I can use the verb. This has proven to be a very effective way to integrate the words learned into my vocabulary.

Average customer rating:

A perfect gift for word-lovers

Questions of English

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0198692927

Book Description

Why is "f" used instead of "s" in old-fashioned writing and printing? What does "corned" mean in "corned beef?" How many words are there in the English language? Is the correct plural of "octopus" spelled "octopuses" or "octopi"? Since the Oxford Word and Language Service (OWLS, for short)
was launched in 1983, it has been flooded with queries such as the above. The questions come from university professors, schoolchildren, word-game enthusiasts, translators, historians, and monks--from people who have come across obscure words in an old will or in an ancient recipe book, or who have
had their curiosity piqued by one of the thousands of oddities attendant on our language.
In Questions of English, Jeremy Marshall and Mrs. Fred McDonald have gathered some of the most curious and enlightening questions that OWLS has fielded, in a volume that will fascinate word lovers everywhere. The topics range from the mundane to the exotic, from common questions of punctuation or
pronunciation (why, for instance, is the River Thames pronounced temz?), to queries about bizarre words and neologisms (such as "nephelococcygeal," which means "of or related to Cloud-Cuckoo-Land"). Logophiles are in their element here, with fascinating discussions of obscure words as well as
intriguing facts about the familiar. We learn, for instance, that the political term "Tory" was originally an insulting nickname (probably related to the Irish word for thief), as were the terms "Whig," "Quaker," and "Methodist." The editors tell us that the word "gopher" comes from the French
gaufre or "honeycomb" (because the gopher's burrows honeycombed the ground) and that "zimbabwe" is an African word meaning "walled grave," a name given to the numerous ruined medieval settlements found in the state of Zimbabwe. And we discover that the plural of "octopus" should perhaps be
"octopodes" ("octopi" comes from the mistaken idea that "octopus" is a Latin word; it's actually a Latinized form of the Greek oktopous, whose plural is oktopodes), but either "octopi" or "octopuses" are considered correct. In addition, the Owls puzzle over many spurious etymologies, such as for the
words "posh" (which probably does not stand for "Port Out Starboard Home"), "quiz," "snob," or "OK," and they provide a brief discussion of British and American English, which covers pronunciation (we say tomado, they say tomato), spelling, and vocabulary (in America, "mean" means "nasty," while in
Britain it means "cheap").
A joy for any lover of language, Questions of English brings the language to life with bright and often irreverent style. It is a browser's goldmine, packed with fascinating and useful facts about our native tongue.

Customer Reviews:

A perfect gift for word-lovers.......2005-10-01

This is a British book on the english language, so many of the answers will not perfectly fit an American audience.
But, it's a very cool book.
It includes great, weird facts about words, and is very readable.
Buy it to learn what the longest word in the english language is, whether to write "a hotel" or "an hotel" (a), about palindromes, about the only word to have three consonants in a row in it (godessship), and about obscure and obsolete words of interest. It's very interesting, and very entertaining, too.

Longman Dictionary of French Grammar and Idioms

Average customer rating:

Longman Dictionary of French Grammar and Idioms
Andre O. Hurtgen
Manufacturer: Longman Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801305470

The Cassell Guide to Common Errors in English

Average customer rating:

Terrible book, and highly misguided.
Facts???
Well presented facts

The Cassell Guide to Common Errors in English
Harry Blamires
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0304350281

Customer Reviews:

Terrible book, and highly misguided........2004-09-06

This is by far one of the worst books I have had the misfortune of stumbling across. The author is clearly misguided in his approach. In addition, the endless series of mistakes makes this, ironically, a most unlikely guide to "Errors in English". The author's glaringly superficial understanding of grammar and etymology undermines what attempt this book makes of being an authoritative voice on the subject.

Facts???.......2002-10-10

Another reviewer refers to this book's "facts". Facts??? Whose "facts" would those be? The facts according to WHOM? (Phew, narrowly escaped a grammatical error, there). There may indeed be some fascinating and interesting bits of information peppered throughout the book, but the overall thrust leaves me with no doubt that Blamires's (I put the extra "s" in there to appease those of the "proper English" ilk) understanding of language is seriously deficient.

The assumption underlying Blamires' nitpicking guide to supposed "errors" is that language ought to follow a pre-existing set of rules and conventions in order to be "correct". The result is that Blamires can claim that all kinds of sentence constructions and word-usages are "wrong", even if only a handful of speakers of everyday English follow the "rules". An example of this pretentious and nonsensical approach to language is found on the very first page, on which Blamires castigates those who use "able" and "ability" in reference to non-humans. What??? Does the fact that just about any native speaker of English uses "able" and "ability" in this way have no bearing on it? If the answer is "no", what then does have a bearing on it? Some magical platonic principle of language use?

Most of Blamires' (hee-hee, snuck that misuse of the apostrophe in there) examples seem to rely on an appeal to some unwritten rule of which most English-speakers are evidently ignorant. This being the case, what ancient unwritten (and unprovable) rule could possibly be more important than the facts of everyday, common usage? Blamires is clearly living in cloud-cuckoo land. Whatever language he is trying to defend, it is clearly not the English language with which any of us are familiar.

Well presented facts.......2002-01-27

This is the enthusiasts book that exposes common errors in current English usage, and shows how to avoid them. Containing a host of grammatical blunders (some obvious, some less so) and examples that highlight the problems.

My favorite (being my own pet hate, and the one that even top writers fail to understand) is the use of which, or that... The grasscutter which is in the garage is the better one... OR The grasscutter that is in the garage is the better one.

In fact the two sentences have two different menings... The grasscutter, which is in the garage, is the better one:: simply tells you where the grasscutter is.

The grasscutter that is in the garage is the better one:: differentiates between this particular grasscutter and another one (which may, for example, be in the back yard).

Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy, a Step-by-Step Manual
Average customer rating:

Very thorough introduction to a once practical hand of calligraphy

A beautiful work

The best Copperplate-hand book to be found out there so far

Outstanding

Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy, a Step-by-Step Manual
Eleanor Winters
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Calligraphy in the Copperplate Style

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ASIN: 0486409511

Book Description

Admired for its beauty, grace and fluidity, copperplate calligraphy is perhaps the most popular writing style for social correspondence. This practical guide teaches students to handle the alphabet, numbers and punctuation, color and paper; how to write simple paragraphs, quotations, poems, cards, invitations and more. Numerous black-and-white illustrations. Bibliography. Index.

Customer Reviews:

Very thorough introduction to a once practical hand of calligraphy.......2007-02-26

First to Eleanor--thank you thank you thank you! For giving me a handwriting style that will last centuries yet.

Ahem... Copperplate hand is beautiful, and instead of having to guess how to go about making it right from a one-page sample, you have a kind and considerate teacher walk you through a complete tutorial in a real-world classroom pace--with every intention of actually passing down this beautiful hand--warts and elegance--all--from her years of experience into your fingers. This text will be your guide to teaching future generations this beautiful hand. I am honored to have found this book and even more honored to have the chance to learn this hand from a true master. I hope you will find it, as I did, that her tone is considerate, experienced, and helpful every step of the way--she made _every_ _word_ _count_. She will never bore you.

At this moment I plan to work on this hand whenever I take notes. I have a Namiki/Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pen, and although the default nib cannot vary stroke width through pressure--it's a hard nib--I have every intention of enjoying the styling of copperplate in my everyday writings. Like any others who have recently rediscovered the pleasure of writing a journal, I am using a fountain pen or a roller ball on a Moleskine brand notepad. There are many blogs and online write-ups helping you get into this fun activity. Check them out. But I realize I need a cursive hand to work on, otherwise my handwriting would remain illegible! But thanks to Ms. Winters--I am saved!

A beautiful work.......2006-07-23

I have a number of books on Copperplate. This is the most thorough, and produces the best results. Winters sweats the details, both in the letterforms (which all the books cover), but in the fine details of them, details of posture, help in choosing paper and ink (A real issue when trying to learn copperplate -- the right paper can make all the difference).

Absolutely, if you're trying to learn Copperplate, get a copy of Winters and read it. It will make all the difference.

The best Copperplate-hand book to be found out there so far.......2003-09-20

After studying calligraphy through workshops and lessons since 1989, I decided to add Copperplate to my repertoire. I found learning this style requires a whole new "think" on writing: different flexible pen nibs, pen angles, paper slant, stops, bold and hairline strokes, and of course incredible(albeit refined)embellishment. This book holds prime position in my library, is ink-stained and spotted, has pages unbound from overuse, and is the most perfect way to learn this hand as any I have ever seen. Every time I want to use Copperplate on a commission or project, I haul it out to have beside me, to remember all the little specifics that make Copperplate so beautiful. I love this book!

Outstanding.......2001-01-29

I was looking for a book to explain everything from soup to nuts. This is it. A little history, an equipment guide, and then into the basics. Advanced and commercial techniques are covered also. I highly recommend this book.

Mastering Copperplate: A Step-By-Step Manual for Calligraphers

Average customer rating:

Mastering Copperplate: A Step-By-Step Manual for Calligraphers
Eleanor Winters
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0823030229

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