Essential Italian Grammar

by Olga Ragusa

Book Overview

In this very useful manual, Dr. Ragusa has presented all the Italian really needed in everyday life and contemporary situations, without devoting space to the intricacies of literary, archaic and poetic forms that you are not likely to need. It is remarkable how readily Italian grammar lends itself to this form of essential grammar, for within this book Miss Ragusa has presented her material with so great clarity that you will probably remember most...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 048620779X
• ISBN13: 9780486207797
• Release Date: June 1963
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

The only grammar book you really need

I love the entire Dover Essential Grammar series, and I actually own most of them. I used Ragusa's Essential Italian Grammar in my language preparation for a trip to Italy last year, and it works extremely well. It isn't going to teach you enough vocabulary for true facility with the language, of course, but that isn't its function -- it's meant to encapsulate all the basic grammar of the language in a very clear and concise form. Because of its size, I was able to go through it numerous times -- and each time, a little bit more sticks. A far superior approach to going through a large, padded, overly wordy grammar full of redundant exercises and dialogues just once. It also works very well as a quick reference guide which you can easily and quickly open up to precisely what you need to refresh yourself on. It goes without saying that you're still going to need a good dictionary or other book(s) to help you acquire vocabulary. But for the basic grammar, this one slim volume is all you really need.

The best book on Italian grammar

If you want a good reference book for Italian grammar, this is the one to buy. Ragusa manages to get lots of information on every page with no wasted space or words. Also, and very important to me, she gives literal translations as well as common usage for those who are trying to learn the lanuage. I just wish the book would be updated. You will find "egli" for he and other outdated words. That's like using "thou" in English. "Egli" hasn't been used in decades. Still, if you are interested in an excellent book on grammar, this is the one to have.

Parla Italiano! Great book for beginning and intermediate students!

A great book to get extra practice with for serious students. It explains things in an easy way to understand. Don't forget that PRATICA, RIPETIZIONE, and PAZIENZA will be the winning combination to learn this musical language!

priceless book!

if you want to know how to speak italian, this is the guide for you. you'll learn about italian grammar in easy to understand and concise language.

classic

Olga: I have the 1962 version and it's been back and forth to Italy with me numerous times. It's the clearest most brief summary i have seen. The short 100 page small format book is a natural for those who like to pack light. Take it on the plane and refresh your memory on major verbs, key tenses, agreement patterns, whatever you need to review. Would work equally well as a reference of essential grammar for beginners working with other learning materials.