Customer Reviews

Greek: An Essential Grammar of the Modern Language (Essential Grammars)

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

 

 

Simply put, this book is amazing. Given the horrible lack of decent english-language texts on Modern Greek, I feel this is the best text around to master the nuts and bolts of Greek. My Modern Greek course at McGill University was taught with a Greek text that contained not ONE word of English, so this book filled the holes.

Bear in mind it is a bit top-heavy with linguistic terminology (much of which is quite simple once you get the definition on the internet or Wikipedia, etc.) so the book would be better suited for those who are seeking to learn truly fluent and correct greek, as opposed to those hoping to pick up some greek before their summer vacation.

All in all, well written, contains all the major verb forms/noun declentions/case structures that a foreigner needs to succeed in Modern Greek.

The book in print version seems good. But I cannot be certain. It is unusable in its digital form. It has not been proofread. Mistakes abound. The book frequently confuses the 'nu' and the 'upsilon' and other letters (e.g. the 'Xi' and the english 'x'). This book wavers between Greek and English font often in the same word and with no consistency whatsoever. It seems that in changing it to digital form the editors used some kind of text replacement software and did not proofread the product.

I am pleased with the book, definitely for the more advanced student. Good for someone who writes/reads Greek already and has a good grasp of the basic sounds and spellings. I have been learning seriously, mostly self-taught at home for a few years. It is perfect for me, plenty of new vocabulary and easy-to read tables. Unusual book, as it is all written and explained in good, fluent English. It is best to know English grammar to read it without a struggle.

A true grammar book, designed for English-speakers that want to learn Greek. Clear, concise explanations are in English. As a trained French teacher learning Greek on my own, I have pretty tough standards - and this book meets those standards with flying colors. I've been using this book for about 5 years, and have not yet found a better Greek grammar book. If you take time to understand how the book is organized - and to understand some of the linguistic vocabulary used - you will be able to fully utilze this book. And if you don't take the time to do that, you will still find this book helpful. As noted by another reviewer, this book is NOT for those that want to quickly learn some Greek for a two-week vacation.

This book is the best grammar and usage book I've seen. It presents all the topics and gives many examples for each. If you are a beginning modern Greek learner you will find it most helpful.

The authors of this book are to be congratulated for its sheer comprehensiveness and depth of detail. There are thousands of examples given so that you can see the various contexts in which parts of speech are used. I turn to this book again and again whenever I need to understand the correct way to use a language feature in everyday life. Indispensable for a deeper understanding of Modern Greek grammar and usage. Highly recommended.