Customer Reviews

Advanced French Grammar

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have many French language books, but find myself returning to this reliable reference book whenever I want to look up something specific about the French language. It is well organized, and touches on many aspects of parts of speech. It clearly define rules and exceptions, and it offers examples of each. There is an extensive index which aids in research. This is the most thorough French grammar book I have seen that is written in English.

For more subtle points which are not mentioned in this book, I refer to Le Bon Usage (de M. Grevisse) which is THE French Language "Bible" ... Le Bon Usage is written entirely in French and offers many examples from famous works, and while it is the most thorough, I find it too complex at times. Most of the time I am able to find my answers in Advanced French Grammar.

I must warn that this book may seem a bit "overwhelming" at first (especially for the beginner), but I promise you'll soon become comfortable with it and then wonder how you ever managed without it ! I recommend this to any intermediate/advanced French student/language lover who is serious about learning and perfecting this beautiful language...

For generations, Fraser, Squair & Carnahan's Standard French Grammar, no longer extant, has been the definitive French reference for all levels. Now, thanks to Ms L'Huillier, Advanced French Grammar succeeds admirably. A giant text for beginners to versed reviewers. Tedious it may be, but essentials of grammar cannot be supplanted by other methodologies. The author keeps these tenets in mind, minimizing boredom with splendid examples throughout. I prefer to regard and use this text as I do an encyclopedia, thesaurus or dictionary, so thorough is its content. Though not for the faint-hearted, all will certainly benefit from any level of entry.

Je ne suis pas d'avis qu'il faille écrire une grammaire avancée dans la langue dont elle est une grammaire. Quand on se sert d'un tel livre, c'est pour clarifier les précisions les plus subtiles et les plus probables d'être mal comprises. Donc, à moins que vous ayez quelqu'un pour vous corriger, je crois qu'il est préférable de lire les explications en anglais ou en quelle que soit la langue que vous sachiez le mieux. Après tout, apprendre n'est pas le même que de pratiquer, il ne faut pas les confondre: celui-ci dépend de celui-là, et peut renforcer une erreur autant qu'il peut le bon usage. Je suis heureux que ma grammaire latine ne soit pas écrite en latin!

Il faut savoir ce que c'est une grammaire de référence, parce que la plupart des grammaires avancées la sont, celle-ci incluse. Une grammaire de référence ne s'écrit pas pour être lue du commencement jusqu'à la fin, mais pour faire facilement disponible à l'étudiant ce dont il lui arrive d'avoir besoin pour une tâche particulière. C'est ainsi un outil qui au fond n'est pas si différent d'un dictionnaire, mais alors que lui ne présente que les significations des mots, elle en traite les détails de l'emploi. Donc, comme le dictionnaire est arrangé par l'ordre alphabétique, il faut une seule chose afin qu'une grammaire de référence soit vraiment utile: c'est un index aussi minutieux que possible. À quoi sert une veritable mer d'explications et d'exemples, s'il n'y a pas de carte pour la rendre navigable?

À cet égard, ce livre-ci satisfait parfois, parfois pas. Par exemple, la locution "avoir beau" est mentionnée à la page 210 et encore à la page 670, mais on a beau la chercher dans l'index, on ne la trouve ni sous "avoir" ni sous "beau." Et j'en veux un petit peu à l'auteur de n'avoir mis "en vouloir" nulle part dans l'index, bien qu'on le trouve à la page 505.

L'écrivain ne peut se passer de la grammaire de référence, mais il n'a pas de temps à perdre en la feuilletant quand il faut écrire. Donc Advanced French Grammar ne mérite que trois étoiles.

One way or another, all of the other posted reviews sound accurate to me. I chose this book because it was the portable grammar reference of choice for a very accomplished French-speaking American student who I know. The book has a decidedly linguistic slant, and is indeed too much for a beginner. However, when I recently started re-studying French via the Alliance Francaise in my home town, I decided to "dig in" and try to understand every nuance imbedded in my lessons.... which of course ended up being an incredibly humiliating experience, as I began to assess exactly how much I did not really know. This book provides me with an extremely thorough and organized reference at a very reasonable price.
I would add that once or twice I was wishing for a less detailed explanation... but I suspect that that says more about me than it says about this text. And, less detailed grammar references are easy to find.

This book should be on a French Grammar lover's bookshelf. "Advanced French Grammar" is the closest version to Grevisse's "Le Bon Usage" that is written entirely in English (with TONS, I mean TONS of French examples taken from different works of literature, plays, French newspapers, radio transcriptions, etc.)
Although it may seem a bit 'too' advanced, this is an invaluable reference to anyone who hopes to ameliorate his or her French abilities. Get this to use as reference book (not only is the glossary/index extremely well laid out, but the grammar topics are covered in great detail). Even if you're an intermediate student, it's well worth the 22 bucks, because you will use it frequently when all the other grammars leave you still a bit perplexed...

This is an excellent book for intermediate to advanced students of French, particularly those who are grammar buffs. If you are coveting your own copy of Le bon usage : Grammaire française (Relié) (French Edition) but can't afford to fork out hundreds of dollars, you will be pleasantly surprised by Monique L'Huillier's book.

She deals with dry grammatical concepts exceptionally well and thoroughly. This is definitely a good reference book, as well as an interesting book to browse.

Before you buy any books of synonyms or vocabulary, or how to swear in French, buy yourself a good dictionary and this book. You're future, grammatically correct, French-speaking self will thank you.

I read a number of grammer books in french but I saw that most of them has useless. However this book is very usefull, it is for every level of person. If you really want to learn french you must buy this book. This is my advice to you.

I bought this book thinking "how complex can it be?"

There is a lot of stuff in this book, but way too advanced for a beginner.

I do not regret buying it, as one day I will know enough to make use of this book.

Do not buy this one if you are still learning the very basics like I am. It is not for us.

I don't know how advanced French students would feel.

This is a pretty rudimentary book of French grammar. It leans more to the prescriptive side than to the descriptive one, and doesn't have in itself much in the way of analysis. The are many admonitions on the part of the author concerning correct usage with a view of speakers of English, but in my opinion, anyone with a decent feeling for the English language would know what one shouldn't say even in French. There are some things that are repeated without the need to do so, e.g. in chapter 39, Interrogative and Exclamative Structures, the examples of questions in the formal, informal and very informal registers of French are repeated for the different interrogative pronouns, adjectives, etc, though this doesn't contradict the introductory nature of this grammar book. Overall, this book is good for anyone who wishes to read a summary of the grammatical rules. For the advanced learner and especially for the experienced linguist, however, this book is of little use.
There is one thing which is especially annoying in this book. The "real-life" sentences that should be found in grammars have been partially substituted with ones whose antagonists are cats. Sentences are constantly popping up, in which cats are chasing or eating mice, or are doing some other feline activities. The book itself has apparently the names of cats in its dedication.

This book is more of a book that explains how the language is used. It doesn't offer any examples or other tools to learn. In this case, if you already know French then half of this book is obsolete if you just going to converse on how the language works.