Customer Reviews

Collins Portuguese Concise Dictionary 2e (HarperCollins Concise Dictionaries) (English and Portuguese Edition)

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

 

 

This is an excellent resource for anyone who is an English speaker and seriously interested in learning Portuguese, or vice-versa. (For those who only want a tourist pocket dictionary, there are others that are smaller and lighter that will meet your needs.) This dictionary has sufficient breadth without being too large (physically). Most importantly, it is the best on the market in terms of providing correct definitions as well as differentiating between word use in Portugual vs. Brazil.

I'm from the U.S. and have been living and working in Brazil off and on now for 3 years. This dictionary has continued to be invaluable from my journey as a beginning speaker to a fluent translator.

My only complaint is that the binding eventually begins to come apart. It is because of this that I only gave the book 4 stars. In terms of content, it is 5 stars. I believe it is the best Portuguese/English dictionary you can buy on the U.S. market.

I have been using this dictionary and the Larousse Concise Dictionary: Portuguese-English/English-Portuguese in translation work over the last six months or so. Together, they are quite serviceable. This one is definitely easier to read, as it is printed on white paper, as opposed to the newsprint Larousse uses. This one, however, lacks any verb tables, while Larousse does include such. No one dictionary will prove perfectly satisfactory, so I recommend getting both, and for easier reference to the vast array of sometimes quirky verb forms, add 501 Portuguese Verbs.

P.S. December 2009: After using this dictionary for a couple of years I finally chanced upon two pages with the briefest possible notes on some verb forms. They are not proper tables, as in most dictionaries. Nor, in contrast to other dictionaries, is there any reference to these notes in the entries for the verbs covered. Again, in contrast to other dictionaries, these listings are not at the end, but in the introductory material at the beginning of the dictionary. They are on the pages with the Roman numerals xiv and xv. I hope that in a future edition HarperCollins sees fit to include full, normal verb tables at the end of the dictionary, and to put cross-references to them in the entries for the relevant verbs. This addition would remedy the only serious defect I have found in this dictionary.

I have been working on a rotational assignment to Angola, Africa. Their first language is Portuguese, but it is very different from the Portuguese that is spoken in Brazil and in Portugal. I have bought several dictionaries over the years, but this one is by far the closest to the Portuguese that is spoken in Angola. I have bought many of this brand and will continue to do so while I am working there. Typically I take 12 back with me each time I go back for my rotation and give them to people that I have met as part of my "pay it forward" program. I LOVE This dictionary. Thank you!

I've seen the edition that the picture depicts, and the binding is very flimsy, however the copy that was shipped to me looked a bit different, and had a MUCH more reinforced binding. I'm just so incredibly happy with this book!

The breadth of vocab is just amazing for a learners dictionary, and even better, the words are ALL defined in context! Oh, it's just so wonderful. This is like a linguist's wet dream come true.

This is a great book. While it is a little larger than I would want, it has everything I have needed while here studying abroad in Brazil. It has helped me in my school work and with learning new words. Definitely would recommend it.

This looks just like a reprint of the Harper Collins Portuguese Dictionary, which states that it has "over 80000 entries" and is copyrighted in 1991. Also, the binding looks very flimsy and the book may quickly fall apart.

I have made 12 trips to Brazil since 1998 and have used this dictionary for most of them. Although a bit bulky for travel, it is truly encyclopedic in scope and nearly always provided me with the translation I need. A dictionary, of course, won't teach you grammar, and for that you need to look elsewhere. The dictionary is also unusually helpful in that it reflects Brazilian Portuguese as it is actually spoken, meaning that it has many slang and "dirty" words that many dictionaries won't include.

I agree with several of the reviewers that the binding is very poor and that the pages started to come loose after only moderate use. None of them have fallen out, although they are still loose and will fall out if I am not careful. This is definitely a flaw that the publishers should correct.

So far, this is the most complete and accurate dictionary that I work with on a regular basis. I was able to find about 90% of the words I was looking for, but to be fair, the Portuguese language I'm dealing with is ancient and suspect that I would need a Spanish, Galician, and Latin dictionary to find those obscure or "obsolete" forms of the words I've come across.

If you're learning the modern language, this dictionary is a must have.

This item is a good buy. It has most words you'll want to look up in Portuguese (there were a few I couldn't find, but could figure out, more or less). I wish there was some more information on grammar such as how to conjugate, recognizing different verb forms, etc. Due to the nature of Portuguese, some words that are very common won't be in there, such as a conjugated form of a verb. This can lead to confusion if you don't already know all the conjugation tables. That's why 4, not 5.

This particular is very light, small, but very compact. I found everything I needed was already in here, which was great. I would recommend it.