Czech: An Essential Grammar (Essential Grammars) [Paperback]

James Naughton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415287855 | ISBN-13: 978-0415287852 | Publication Date: April 13, 2005 | Edition: Bilingual

Czech: An Essential Grammar is a practical reference guide to the core structures and features of modern Czech. Presenting a fresh and accessible description of the language, this engaging grammar uses clear, jargon-free explanations and sets out the complexities of Czech in short, readable sections.

Suitable for either independent study or for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types, key features include:

* focus on the morphology and syntax of the language
* clear explanations of grammatical terms
* full use of authentic examples
* detailed contents list and index for easy access to information.

With an emphasis on the Czech that native speakers use today, Czech: An Essential Grammar will help students to read, speak and write the language with greater confidence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; Bilingual edition (April 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415287855
• ISBN-13: 978-0415287852
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #505,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Nonfiction > More Languages > Czech
  • #9 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Czech
  • #20 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Turkish

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This, the David Short Teach Yourself Czech and the Fronek Dictionary are all you really need..., June 26, 2006

By 

T. Berry (Indiana) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Czech: An Essential Grammar (Essential Grammars) (Paperback)

Really! First, use this work. I know it means seemingly meaningless memorization, but then the Short Teach Yourself Czech will make a lot more sense, and you can concentrate on the colloquial expressions and phrases. Then you can polish off your knowledge with Radio Praha (which has the printed Czech of their articles and sound in RealAudio or Windows Media) and the Fronek dictionary. The Fronek IS hideously expensive, but since you're not gonna find "2,000+ Essential Czech Verbs," you'll find all you need on the irregualr conjugations and declensions there.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars KINDLE EDITION IS UNUSABLE DUE TO MISSING ACCENTS AND DIACRITICAL MARKS, December 2, 2009

By 

* - See all my reviews

This review is from: Czech: An Essential Grammar (Essential Grammars) (Kindle Edition)

The Kindle Edition of Naughton's Czech, an Essential Grammar is useless. Despite multiple downloads and discussions with Kindle customer service, the book downloads to the Kindle without many accents and diacritical marks on the letters -- for example, throughout the entire book, "R" with hook/hacek -- has no hacek. Same for "r" -- no hook/hacek. The same holds true for other letters with hooks/haceks. Thus, THE BOOK IS USELESS IN ITS CURRENT FORMAT. Without the accents and hooks/hacky, one cannot learn the language. I speak Czech and can see that all the accents are missing, but a non-speaker or learner of the Czech language would not know this, and thus would learn many, many words completely incorrectly. THE PUBLISHERS NEED TO CORRECT THE KINDLE VERSION OF THIS BOOK.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!, January 28, 2009

By 

B. Languages "Joe R. Jr" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Czech: An Essential Grammar (Essential Grammars) (Paperback)

Czech, an essential grammar is exactly what it is called.
Author managed to explain complexities of Czech language in logical, brief and easy to understand chapters. I was particularly impressed by the section, cases and prepositions, which was very well presented to anyone who would be interested in studying this very difficult language. Each section covers one element of the grammar which includes nouns, pronouns,numerals, verbs, prepositions and conjunctions In fairly short sections, the author was able to cover basic usage in plentiful examples so students can learn a simple conversation in short time.
I have discussed the textbook with my student, Dr. Lois Potter and she found the book to be an excellent tool for her understanding of basic structures of today's Czech.
Last but not least positive feature of the book is usage of proper and updated forms of Czech language which does not include slang or terms no longer existing in everyday communication. While Czech language is difficult by itself, many outdated textbooks make it impossible for non-native speaker to understand complicated czech grammar. In Czech An Essential Grammar, the author accomplished a very difficult task of simplifying it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to learn Czech without being discouraged by complexity of Czech grammar.

Val Berzinz, Berlitz Czech instructor