1001 Pitfalls in German [Paperback]

Henry Strutz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0812096525 | ISBN-13: 978-0812096521 | Publication Date: January 1, 1997 | Edition: 3

A valuable reference guide thatpinpoints and corrects errors students are most likely to make when writing or speaking German. Idioms, exceptions to grammatical rules, word order in sentences, regional variations, and potential confusions between Der and Ein words are among the many problem areas that are clearly explained. A highly useful supplement to standard text books, and an indispensable aid for composition and translation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; 3 edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812096525
• ISBN-13: 978-0812096521
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #460,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have!, October 5, 2000

By 

lenore531 (Wichita, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: 1001 Pitfalls in German (Paperback)

A girl down the hall in college had this book, and I found myself borrowing it probably once a day. Finally, she ended up giving it to me. The reason it is so helpful is that it lists the mistakes you are likely to make as a native English speaker learning German and then tells you how to correct them. It goes through all the parts of speech in a very clear and engaging way. It really had me exclaiming "Ah ha!!" at a rate of something like 3 times per page. Great as a supplement for a German course and for someone trying to learn on their own. If you are looking to buy the essentials for learning German, I would recommend this, "Teach yourself German Vocabulary" of the Teach Yourself series, a good dictionary, a verb book, and a good intermediate short story reader. Then you can feel confident enough to move on to primary texts!

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book with condensed rules and examples to learn from, July 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: 1001 Pitfalls in German (Paperback)

After being out of school for quite awhile, you start to forget a lot of things about the constructions of sentences in your own language that you really have to know to begin learning another language. This book quickly refreshes your memory and then dives right into the German language. Just what I needed.

Then come the language pitfalls. I found this book very good in giving you condensed rules of thumb for every topic that a native English speaker tends to have problems with. I particularly like the way that they gave about 5 different examples and their English equivalent to highlight the points they are trying to make.

The book also alerts you easier ways to recognize the meaning of German words to help build your vocabulary. Like German "d" is English "th". Or German b is English "f". So, German "dieb" is English "thief". If I had to say something bad about the book it would be that the books contents are lay! ed out a bit messy, but not enough to get you to toss it in a corner.

Table of contents:

Parts of speech

1 Adjectives and Adverbs

2 Cases, Articles, Der- and Ein- Words

3 Conjunctions

4 Nouns

5 Prepositions

6 Pronouns

7 Verbs

Sentence Structure

8 Word order and Sentence Structure

9 Punctuation and Division into Syllables

Special Aids

10 Numbers, Measurements, Time Expressions

11 Pronunciation

12 Vocabulary Building, Confusions, Regional

Variations

Bibliography

Index

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Addition to any German Learner's Library, April 24, 2004

By 

J. Teeters (OH, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1001 Pitfalls in German (Paperback)

I've noted that a few of the reviews for this book are doubtful as to whether or not it's sufficient enough to learn German with. I can answer that question: no, it's not. What's more is, it's not supposed to be!

This book is geared towards going over all of the most common mistakes and problems that an English speaker who is learning German will encounter in their studies. All of the questionable points of German grammar, word order, etc., that an English learner will have, is most likely covered in this book.

I generally look over something in this book *every* day, and it's helped me a great deal. Definitely 5 stars from me.