Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Blackwell Reference Grammars) [Paperback]

Terence Wade (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0631175024 | ISBN-13: 978-0631175025 | Publication Date: April 16, 1992 | Edition: 1

A Comprehensive Russian Grammar is an essential reference tool for all students of the Russian Language. It provides a definitive and complete guide to current Russian usage, taking many of its examples from the press and contemporary literary sources. Designed to be clear and easy to use, it contains graphically-presented declension and conjugation tables as well as detailed indexes and a table of contents for speed of reference. It features substantial chapters on all parts of speech and helpful sections on stress accents well as extensive coverage of all problem areas, including: - problems of gender and agreement - aspectival formation and usage - clear rules of word order - thorough analysis of all categories of prepositional usage - differentiation of long and short adjectival usage - use of numerals, including the collectives - verbs of motion - use of particles - use of partitive genitive and genitive after negated verbs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"As the most complete, accurate, and authoritative English-language reference grammar of Russian ever published, this work supersedes two others widely used by teachers and students of Russian; every academic library ought to obtain this book." Choice

"Excellent. The book succeeds admirably and is almost always illustrated, sometimes generously, by examples from contemporary journalistic and literary sources. This book is excellent and satisfies a long-felt need. At the price, the paperback is a bargain and it should be invested in now by anybody contemplating years in the study or teaching of Russian. It deserves a long and successful life." Modern Languages Review

"The coverage and fresh interesting examples make Wade's grammar attractive. It provides information not available in other English-language descriptions and some of the explanations are insightful and helpful. It will certainly be a standard reference work over the next fifty years." The Slavonic Review

"Essential for any Russianist's reference shelves and an important tool for any English-speaking reader of Russian. Students ... should be encouraged to buy themselves a copy." Journal of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association

"The comprehensiveness of this new reference grammar, which is referred to in its title, is complemented by a no less important feature, its practicality. On both scores, and in their combination, Prof. Wade's work is a remarkable achievement that will indeed fulfil the stated intentions to be a guide for students of the Russian language, and an aid for teachers and others who use the language professionally. It will be essential for the former, and often referred to by the latter.

It is accompanied by a keen sense of the actual student learning Russian, with notes and markers concerning relative usefulness and common problems. The dual perspective is one of the Grammar's great strengths. The practicality of Prof. Wade's Grammar rests fundamentally on the clarity of presentation and ease of use ... it is the clarity - the precision and conciseness - of the explanations which guarantees that the comprehensive coverage will translate into actual advantage in terms of the student's progress. This is an invaluable book which is set to be the principal aid for students, teachers and other professionals for many years to come." Slavonica

"This grammar is comprehensive indeed, written with great clarity, and very helpfully indexed. ... Special merits include an excellent discussion of aspectual usage ... If regularly updated, it is likely to remain the standard of Russian for generations of English-speaking learners." Rusistika

Review

Praise for the previous edition:

"With the additions of a helpful glossary and of a major section on word formation in the Russian noun, Terence Wade's Comprehensive Russian Grammar, already the best reference book of its kind, has, in its second edition, become even more useful for students of Russian."
-Barry P. Scherr, Professor of Russian, Dartmouth College

"The coverage and fresh, interesting examples make Wade's grammar attractive . . . It will certainly be a standard reference work over the next fifty years."
-The Slavonic Review

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (April 16, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631175024
• ISBN-13: 978-0631175025
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,653,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best existing Russian grammar in English, March 31, 2001

By 

Howard D. Rowland (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Blackwell Reference Grammars) (Paperback)

Wade's "Comprehensive Russian Grammar" is no doubt the best work of its type for English-speaking students of Russian. It deals exhaustively with virtually every aspect of the language and gives copious information which should satisfy the curiosity of both intermediate and advanced students of the language. Some American learners might have a bit of difficulty with "Britishisms" such as the use of the first-person future "shall" instead of "will" and a few other such things, but this is no significant barrier. Once in a great while there are a some very peculiar usages in the English translations of Russian utterances (such as "I'll give you argue!" and "I'll give you gallivanting around!" on page 301) which are incomprehensible to Americans (and perhaps also to British people), but such problems are rare. All in all, this work is the answer to the dreams of serious English-speaking learners of Russian.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not advanced enough., March 31, 2001

By 

Ultimate Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Blackwell Reference Grammars) (Paperback)

What no one has mentioned here yet is that there is a grammar workbook by the same author that acts as a companion to this grammar book. This was a recommended work when I was doing a degree in Russian. It is a good and thourough work on the Russian language that you will, undoubtedly, find useful. However, I think that there are some sections that really need more detail. First of all the (painful!) verbs of motion need more clarification and explanation in relation to the variations used by Russian speakers. There have been whole books written on verbs of motion so the little that has been devoted to it here is not enough in my opinion. There have been times in my own interaction with Russians when I have been corrected in my use of a verb of motion even though what I said was grammatically correct. We need to know when and where to use them. Secondly, the section on perfectives and imperfectives and the way affixes are used is just not advanced and thourough enough. If you are going to spend your money on a grammar book you want the full story, don't you? Examples used tend to be from Soviet/Russian press, which is Ok, but also from authors such as Chekhov. I think it would be better to stick to modern sources as much as possible instead of gining readers the idea that what they may be learning might be older style Russian. I think that all the examples will be perfectly OK in modern Russian, but I think you should consider the impression you give readers as well as the actual information. Still, a good book and a good combination if used with the grammar book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for any truly serious student of Russian., April 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Blackwell Reference Grammars) (Paperback)

This book is one of the best Russian grammars I have ever read. It is very thorough and detailed. It covers virtually every grammatical aspect and complexity of the Russian language. It is a must for any truly serious student of Russian who wishes to perfect their language ability.