Customer Reviews

Harper Collins-Robert French Unabridged Dictionary (French Edition)

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Once you buy this dictionary, you can throw away all other French dictionaries. No other dictionary compares to the quantity of words in this one. With its quick grammar reference at the end, this dictionary is ESSENTIAL to the serious student of the French language who occasionally needs to look up grammar. Every word imaginable is in there, it's equally beneficial for native speakers of either language. Stop wasting your money on inexpensive but useless dictionaries, make the investment that will stop all your frustrations with not being able to find crucial words in other dictionaries!

As a college student majoring in French, I can guarantee that this dictionary is wonderful. My friends have dropped by on occasion to look up words that their dictionaries don't have. I get requests over email for word look-ups. I can recommend this dictionary wholeheartedly.

I wholeheartedly agree with those who say that this particular dictionary is THE French dictionary for students of French (and French enthusiasts). Not only is the vocabulary comprehensive, but the usage notes are invaluable; symbols indicate British versus American usage, the "slang quotient" of a word, and archaic and colloquial words, among others. The entries are full of examples that make it very easy to find out exactly how to use the word in context. There is also a special "Language in Use" section in the middle for particular cases, especially idiomatic phrases. The pronunciations are in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), with guides in English and French. Highly recommended!!

This dictionary is what you would expect fromCollins-Robert, extremely thorough and containsjust about every word you could really think of(apart from 'kwashiorkor', I noticed!). It isvery easy to use and contains a comprehensivegrammar section in the centre to help withjust about every need. If you are thinking ofbuying a French-English dictionary, make sureyou buy this one.

Not a French Unabridge Dictionary, this is, in fact, a very good French-English English-French dictionary. While it is quite good, you should realize the title is misleading and it is written and compiled in England. You will find unfortunate translations which skew the real meaning. Example: 'tetes brulees' is translated as "desperado", when it really means 'hot-head', 'daredevil'. Another: "foutu" is translated as 'damn', 'bloody', when it really means the four-letter word "f---".

While this book has great definitions, a nice font so everything is easy to read, the section on verb forms is a little lacking. Since irregular verbs are probably the hardest part of this language, I didn't feel it was a good idea to put all the irregular verb tenses in a very simplified table form with just the verb endings. You really need to see the entire verb spelled out properly. This may not bother everyone, but it did me.

For a person who is hungry for words, this is THE dictionary to opt for. The umpteen entries make this dictionary the most sought-after bilingual dictionary to look up for new words. The additions of recent words, which have made an entry into French, make this a contemporary dictionary of the French language. This would have proved to be the best in all possible ways if only the manner in which the skeleton has been structured was more pragmatic. One would be dissatisfied after futilely looking up in the dictionary to find how to express certain expressions native to an English user like "receive a proposal" et al. If only this dictionary had been more user-friendly (by drawing heavily from corpus) like Oxford-Hachette is, it would have been an indispensable tool.

As someone who has a great understanding and passion for French, I found this book extremely helpful in my studies. I was frustrated with my pocket dictionary because while I would be reading French books, it often would not have the word or would not have a very accurate definition. This unabridged dictionary has it all. It's very up to date, and will most likely have every word that you can think of in it.