Customer Reviews

The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own and use both of the major Italian conjugated verb books: "501 Italian Verbs" and "Webster's New World 575+ Italian Verbs." While both are very good, this one surpasses them. When I have not been able to find a verb in either one I have invariably found it in the "Green Book." It would be a valuable addition to your libary of Italian books.

The first thing I did when I got the Green Book was compare which verbs were covered in each book. First of all, there are 149 verbs in the "501" book that are not in the green book. The better news is that the Green Book has 203 verbs not included in the "501" book. That means I now have conjugations for 704 Italian verbs between the two books. I love all the examples and will use them as a study tool. I also appreciate the double pages for the 50 most important verbs. Finally, as an English major and avid grammarian, I was fascinated by the 36 pages which explain in detail how Italian verbs are formed. At Amazon's price of $10.17, this is a must for all those learning Italian.

This is a practice book that is good for any level of student of Italian. That it comes with a CD makes it even more useful. Only one problem I see --- it did not work on Windows Vista for me; but, there are no problems with XP.

I went to my local bookstore (Powells!) and examined every "big verb book" they had. I decided on this one due to its easy-to-read layout and general comprehensiveness. There are plenty of contextual examples of usage for each verb, with expanded examples for the more commonly used verbs, especally in idioms (very helpful). There's a nice introduction to the various kinds of tenses. Honestly, though, the clincher was how well laid-out each page was. In a book like this, where the information is going to be essentially the same from version to version, ease of use and general clarity become the essential selling points. This has become my constant companion in my study of Italian. Oh, great index, too!

I'd read that this book was better than Barron's and I agree. It has good explanations of the tenses, with adequate examples. I like the layout of the conjugations in the format
1st person singular 1st person plural
2nd singular 2nd plural
3rd singular 3rd plural
much more than Barron's listing, I find it easier to read. There's a lot more examples given of usage, idioms, and related expressions. The CD I thought was a bit of a non-event, rather boring, and the multiple choice answers fairly obvious, testing you more on your ability to be a good guesser than to actually have a deep knowledge of the verbs. I definitely recommend this book, but don't bother with the CD version.

I found this italian verb book to be the best so far. What I like about it are all the examples, how to use, listed at the bottom of each verb section. The verbs that have similar patterns are also listed which gives the reader many more verb choices.

This is a big but comprehensive book. The explanations are clear but not as spartan (thankfully) as some other texts. The usage examples are good - in the sense that they ring true. As always, one would like more examples but most of them connect the verb with its aligned prepositions (which is pretty essential in Italian). Overall, no complaints.

I have been studying Italian seriously for a couple of years and can't imagine how I would have been able to manage without this book, it's like my Bible. It is structured extremely well and has excellent and varied examples of how to use each verb. All my classmates who don't own this book are envious and want to know how to get a copy here in Rome. In my opinion and that of others who have used multiple Italian Verb books, this one is far superior. Get it from the beginning and you will be happy you did!

Learning Italian verbs is a hard process - there are so many forms to learn and this book organizes them well. It gives examples of how to use the verb forms and how the verbs change meaning. I find it easy to use for a difficult subject.

Learning Italian through self-study, I found this book indispensable. The verb grammar is explained clearly, and with all the forms of each verb listed, you can easily check if you got it right. Lots of examples of use in sentences, too.