Learning the ins and outs of a new language can be a long and tedious process - especially when it comes to grammar. Yet good grammar is an essential aspect of fluency - one you cannot fake. With "The... This description may be from another edition of this product.
I found this book to be VERY helpful in understanding Spanish sentence structure. It was like turning on a light! Teaching yourself Spanish isn't the easiest thing, but this book actually EXPLAINS things in clear, concise, easy to understand bits. It also provides the LOGIC behind WHY certain verbs have irregular conjugations. As I said, after reading this book, it was like the old "light bulb" in my brain lit up. Now I can actually read Spanish and understand the 14 tenses. But, as other reviewers have noted, the editor could have done a better job! The ordinal/cardinal mix-up and a few other small English text errors keep this book from getting five stars. But, as practical help to understanding sentence structure, direct/indirect objects, pronouns and verb conjugation, it's great! Handy "tests" (with answers!) at the end of each section so you can practice and see how much you are actually learning! It will even give you pause to contemplate ENGLISH grammer and sentence structure. Suddenly ser, estar, am, are, is, were, was, will all make SENSE! You'll realize just how much more convoluted the ENGLISH language is when compared to Spanish! I'd recommend this book. Simple, easy to use and USEFUL!!
Good but could have used a better editor
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
This book is nicely done. The writing is welcoming and the layout does not overwhelm the reader. The presentation of Spanish grammar is broken down into palatable chunks. Overall it is a useful grammar book that engages the reader. It could have used a better editor. For example, on pages 28 and 29 the text reverses the meaning of "ordinal" and "cardinal" numbers, giving false informations. Ordinal numbers are used for ordering things, like first, second, etc, hence ORDINAL for ORDERING, but the book wrongly labels them as cardinal. On the other hand, cardinal numbers are used for counting, but the book wrongly labels them as ordinal. A good editor would have caught this reversal. Despite such little glitches, the book does a good job of teaching essential Spanish grammer.
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