Customer Reviews

HarperCollins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition (Harpercollins Unabridged Dictionaries)

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

 

 

I think this is the best single-volume, bilingual dictionary available for French and English. However, one word of warning, if you already own the sixth edition of this work, do not think you're getting much in purchasing the seventh. Every section has an identical number of pages. Really, the only updates you're getting (other than corrections) are a few words inserted here and there--not enough to change the total page count of any particular section. For instance, I found the new terms "weblog" and "webmail" (although "blog" was not included) in comparing one page between the sixth and seventh editions. So if you already own the sixth edition, realize that you will get very little more in upgrading to the seventh. For this reason, I'm thinking of returning it. One nice change, however, is that the seventh edition does not have the fairly useless thumb index and has a plain edge.

That being said, in comparison with the Larousse and Harrap's single-volume, bilingual dictionaries, I definitely think this one is the richest in terms of defining real usage. I keep Larousse as a backup and have dispensed with my Harrap's all together.

While it is certainly impossible for a dictionary to be completely up-to-date and 100% comprehensive, this dictionary is very close. It is a great primary dictionary and can almost stand alone without a backup dictionary. No translator should be without it. And the price is phenomenal for the value.

Although I cannot begrudge this fine dictionary that fifth star, it doesn't come close to reaching the bar set by the word "unabridged" when applied to English dictionaries. As others have noted, this is ideal as a dictionary of first resort. That said, for a dictionary whose cover boasts "Thousands of...Technical...Terms," I still find myself returning to my HARRAP'S NEW COLLEGIATE for such things as botanical names, culinary terms, and the like. What's more, the tiny LAROUSSE DE POCHE is still a much better authority on the French/English cognates. Still, the ROBERT will almost supplant those half-dozen books of French slang you have beaten to death, and it is unparalleled in its organization. You can't beat the price, and if you spend any time reading in French or listening to French, it is easily the best bargain out there. Just don't throw away your other dictionaries.

Hardcover: 2364 pages
Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.8 x 2.9 inches

This French/English, English/French dictionary is the best one I have ever used over the past 30 years, it's truly magnificent. It's been a great help to me to translate some of my favorite chansons sung by Jacques Brel such as on his 3-CD set, "Quand on N'a Que L'amour" (ASIN: B00000IYC9). If you buy this dictionary, you might want to pick up a book of all his original French lyrics, such as "L'Oeuvre Integrale" (ISBN: 2221088492) or "Tout Brel" (ISBN: 2264033711), to really exercise that nice new French dictionary of yours!

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Some of the thousands of new terms in this 7th edition mentioned on the back of the dust cover are: biopiracy, bird flu, cyberterrorism, webmail, exit strategy, smart bomb, and eye candy.

Here's how the French to English part of this dictionary works:

For each word, the definitions are divided into sections according to what part of speech it is. For French verbs, translations are grouped into separate sections for its use as a transitive verb, intransitive verb, reflexive verb, impersonal verb, substitute verb, auxiliary verb, etc. At the beginning of each verb section there is a box around an explanatory sentence telling about the verb's usage as that particular grammatical type.

Each definition in the section starts with a synonym or a short phrase inside a box, illustrating the meaning of that particular usage. The definition is followed by many French idiomatic phrases with English translations, illustrating the usage and meaning of that French verb, and these phrases are bolded, making them easy to find.

This hardcover version of Harper Collins Robert's French Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition, is jacketed, has a navy-blue binding stamped with gold lettering, and is plain-edged (no thumb indexing).

The inside flap of the dust cover has this to say about it:

"With over 820,000 completely revised and updated entries and translations, the HarperCollins Robert offers complete coverage of contemporary terms in business, technology, politics, culture, and medicine. The HarperCollins Robert is the most comprehensive single-volume French-English dictionary available."

"Consistently Updated: The HarperCollins Robert is compiled in conjunction with the leading dictionary publisher in France and updated on a regular basis. The dictionary is highly praised for its accuracy, especially in the notoriously slippery area of French slang."

"More colloquial usage than any other French-English dictionary: the HarperCollins Robert places emphasis on current French and English, extensive cross-referencing, and has an in-depth guide to usage of idioms and phrases."

"More effective guidance: The HarperCollins Robert contains a 76-page 'Language in Use' section designed to facilitate self-expression in the foreign language and a comprehensive system of style labels that identifies whether a word is formal, informal, literary, vulgar, dated, or euphemistic."

Tens of thousands of phrases and idioms help distinguish vocabulary utilization for language learners. Special sections include a dictionary usage guide (16 pages), a French pronunciation guide (2 pages), an English pronunciation guide (3 pages), and a 76-page "Language in use: a grammar of communication in French and English." There are also appendices on "The French Verb" (22 pages), "The English Verb" (6 pages), "Numbers, Time and Dates" (6 pages), and "Weights, Measures and Temperatures" (4 pages).

I believe the only French dictionary better than this one is probably "Le Robert et Collins Super Senior, 2 volumes" (ISBN: 2850366420) selling for $113 (Nov. 2005) on Amazon.com.

HarperCollins does offer several smaller dictionaries besides this Unabridged one:

HarperCollins Robert French College Dictionary: "Perfect for use by students and scholars everywhere, this dictionary is the best buy in its price range." ISBN: 0060748931.

HarperCollins Robert French Concise Dictionary: "The portability of a quality paperback dictionary. Ideal for home, office, travel and study." ISBN: 006057576X.

HarperCollins Robert French Gem Dictionary: "An ultra-convenient reference source packed with information (more than 70,000 translations!), this mini-sized dictionary is indispensable to the frequent traveler and the new learner alike." ISBN: 0007126220.

HarperCollins also offers bilingual dictionaries for Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Latin, Japanese and Irish. More information is available at the HarperCollins website.

I know very well through the ordinary version (=paper) that this is a marvelous dictionary. But dictonaries are just tools. so I would like to say for this digital version :" the simpler, the better."

The window of the dictionary seems to show a little too much information for me, non native of English or French.

The most disappointing thing is that this software cannot be installed in a normal Japanese version Windows, without a special means.

This dictionary has every word possible (well, a good amount anyway). lol. Definetly a great purchase.