Customer Reviews

Berlitz Italian Grammar: Handbook (Berlitz Language Handbooks) (Italian Edition)

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This is a great book. The title is misleading because grammar handbook seems to imply boring and disjointed. Quite the contrary. It proceeds through 30 chapters in a logical order. You can start from the beginning if you like or simply open up to any page and learn something. This is because they use great and USEFUL expressions to explain each point. And the book is set up with Italian phrases in a pleasing gold/yellow background with English and everything else in the normal white background of the page. Your eyes easily go to the yellow areas (blocked areas not highlighted sentences) and you've learned something new. Great to take along when you're staning in the USPS post office line here in the San Francisco Bay area ;).

Ciao!
Daniel Leo Simpson

Bravo to Berlitz for having produced a one-stop comprehensive source of information on the Italian language. I find Berlitz Italian Grammar Handbook to be invaluable in its depth, clarity and precision in explaining and deciphering often incredibily difficult concepts in Italian.
This handbook can be used either as a strict grammar reference or to acquire a general or specific understanding of most aspects of Italian grammar. It may also be used as one of several means of acquiring a working knowledge of the `syntax' of the language.
Syntax means `word order' or how words fit together to convey meaning. I find the handbook to be quite good at demonstrating common everyday syntax in a simple fashion by means of the direct examples it provides.
Fortunately, this grammar handbook does not assume that you know the meanings of different grammatical terms. It contains abundant explanations for each specific point of Italian grammar and there are always complete explanations provided for all grammatical terms. The way in which the classic grammatical term and explanation is followed immediately by a practical
example of everyday use is one of Berlitz Grammar Handbook's greatest strengths.
Another major plus to this grammar handbook is the huge number of practical and authentic mini-monologues which utilize different points of grammar in actual real-life contexts to illustrate a point of grammar as it's really spoken.
It is obvious that Bertlitz intended this manual for individuals who actually wish to `use' their Italian in real life situations. The handbook also makes clear which constructions are only for formal and not everyday use.
Overall, I recommend Berlitz Italian Grammar Handbook as a very good reference guide and learning tool for Italian. With Berlitz Italian Grammar Handbook you will be satisfied whether your are a complete novice or a language expert. It literally has something for everyone.
MARK FROBOSE/ AUTHOR OF THE BEHIND THE WHEEL CD COURSES IN ITALIAN, SPANISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, PORTUGUESE, CHINESE, JAPANESE, & ARABIC

Great for the confused learner. Clears up a lot of the harder things in Italian