Customer Reviews

French Grammar & Usage

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Simply put, this really is the very best book on French I've ever come across, so much so that I bought it on the spot, which is something I very rarely do. It is well-organized, has wonderful examples, and has a particularly good section on adverbs. Although most grammars are simply grammars, I think this is a wonderful book for vocabulary expansion because of all the examples provided, and for the most part translations are provided for both phrases and individual words. It also has a very good index, which is always good in a book, especially so thorough a book. One of the best and most easily-overlooked conveniences is that the formal or colloquial usages are noted right alongside the rest rather than being put in seperate formal or colloquial chapters which would complicate things too much for the student.

I'm not sure how the beginning student would find this book though, but I think I would've liked to have it when I first started out. Perhaps some pronunciation guides would help, but I really don't think that the lack thereof is particularly detrimental.

I'm glad I've finally a decent grammar book for French. It's an extremely helpful reference. The earlier review mentioned that the cover is hideous but I have to say, the cover is *not* a problem.

There are notes on the differences between "written" and "spoken" French. Overall, this is a great book. Easy to use. Even if you're a complete beginner, you shouldn't have a problem.

Hawkins and Towell is a very good reference grammar of written and, to some extent, spoken French. It is best suited to intermediate or advanced levels, although curious and motivated beginners would also profit. The second edition is a definite improvement over the first.

Remember "reference"--it is not a standalone self-teaching grammar. If you are studying on your own and you are a beginner, you will want another book to walk you through French grammar from the basics up. However, the clarity and the organization of Hawkins and Towell make it a superb companion to the solitary student who may not find things explained fully in a step-by-step grammar.

This is an excellent grammar for English speakers. It has a thorough review of preposition usage, an excellent guide to the subjunctive and pretty much everything else I usually get wrong ;-) I browsed for a couple of hours in Borders on Oxford Street and couldn't find anything better. Nicely type-set as well. The only problem is the hideously ugly cover.

I've had this book for about 12 years. This is my favorite book for learning French. The explanations for subtle but important grammatical points are amazing for their simplicity and clarity. (PS: I use a lot of 'grammar words' in this review but don't let it make you think this book is full of jargon and difficult to read. It is not. You only need to have the vaguest notion of what a preposition is to benefit from the discussion in the book.)

Coverage on a lot of topics is superb. For example, in the prepositions chapter, the book goes through every major French proposition alphabetically, followed by all the ways it can be translated into different English prepositions illustrated by way of example. Then it does the reverse, English to French. For an English learner, this is easily the most useful presentation of prepositions I have ever seen.

The chapter on verb complements (which covers, among other things, when to use 'de' or 'a`' or nothing after a verb and before a pronoun, noun, or second verb) is also amazing, and the chapters on determiners and pronouns cleared up some things I always wondered about but could never figure out for certain.

However, after so much experience with this book I feel there are still some topics that have inadequate coverage. Probably the biggest one for me is the explanation of modal verb constructions (sentences with might/could/should/must/devoir/pouvoir/vouloir/falloir etc.). It is simply not explained to a level where you can feel confident making your own modal sentences in French. Part of this I attribute to too few examples of modal constructions in the negative and in past tenses. For example, the sentence "Il ne faut pas le dire" means "One must not say it", not "It is not necessary to say it", and this is a mistake that English learners make over and over again. But unlike so many other such errors pointed out in the book, this one is not mentioned.

Another example is the conjunctions chapter. As just one example, there is a section on "Conjunctions sometimes confused by English speakers" that still leaves me confused. The explanation is too terse. This chapter is the last in the book and it feels like they just ran out of steam.

Finally, the book was reformatted for the 3rd edition. I think the new choice of fonts actually make the book uglier and more difficult to read. Oh well.

Overall, an excellent purchase. The best of the bunch for the intermediate to advanced French learner. At this point I feel confident enough to move on to "Le Bon Usage," the official grammar for French speakers themselves (sort of like the OED of French Grammar as far as I can tell).

I originally checked this out at my local library and it was so helpful and chuck full of information I decided to buy the book. If you are serious about learning French the correct way this is the book for you. It is very easy to find the information and material that you need. It is down to earth and in simple language with tables and examples so you will completely understand what you are reading. I can't say enough about this book it is simply amazing and should be on everyone's bookshelf.

I own seven books on French grammar. Some elementary others purported to be comprehensive. Every book before this one raised more questions than it answered.

This book will answer questions you did not know to ask.

Brilliant!

MJP

_French Grammar and Usage, Third Edition_, by Roger Hawkins and Richard Towell, is one of the best grammar books I have ever used. The explanations are clear, concise, and accessible. The examples given throughout the book are great for learning vocabulary as well as the grammatical rules. This is becoming my favorite French text, and I have quite a few of them. Whether you are learning French for the first time or reviewing what you have previously learned, this book is priceless.

I am a French Teacher and this is a key part of my library for that extra resource on grammar. It has very clear and well thought out explanations for every grammar point that a student of French would need to know. Coupled with the copious examples it really is an insightful text. All that is lacking is exercises to oractice the grammar they present. But there are many grammar drill books that can easily fill that hole.