Customer Reviews

501 Latin Verbs (Barrons)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Barron's has always produced some good academic tools (they are best known for their standardized test aids), and this work is no exception. As the title read, there are 501 Latin verbs, fully conjugated in every tense. This, of course makes for a great reference tool for anyone who is studying Latin, or translating Latin, and is having a tough time trying to find (or learn) the correct conjugation of a verb.

There is also a nice intro to this volume explaining certain things about Latin verbs, and this same introduction includes charts for English verb conjugations. The book is formatted like a dictionary, in alphabetical order, and each verb is listed with its conjugated form thoroughly described/demonstrated. 501 verbs may be limited but not too many students of Latin (who are perhaps simply trying to finish their languages in school) will use this many verbs, so in that sense 501 is enough. However, for the scholar of Latin, perhaps more might be needed. Nonetheless, the book serves it purpose well with the verbs that were included.

There are several appendices in the back which include an Index of English-Latin verbs, verb form locator, and Latin verb index. Each of these give added aid to the student and user of this volume. Overall, this is a great volume, and has been a big help for me in my past studies of the Latin language.

The first year I studied Latin (using an early edition of Wheelock) I used the 201 Latin Verbs text, part of the same educational series as the 501 verbs series from Barrons. This book has more substance than that earlier volume, not merely from the 300 additional verbs, but also from additions to the text's introduction. Richard Prior (not the comedian) took the contributions of Joseph Wohlberg (whose 201 Latin Verbs I also own) and expanded and revised those with his own additions for this text.

This is at heart the most basic of basic books. Each of the numbered pages 1-501 has one verb laid out in all its tenses, voices, moods, persons and numbers. The pages are laid out with Active Voice on the left (the most common voice found in Latin writing), and Passive Voice on the right. The page is broken into Mood - these include Indicative (the most direct form of address), Subjunctive, Imperative, and Infinitive. The verb tenses in each of these subsections is laid out in first, second and third person, singular and plural, in a chart. . The bottom of each page lists the participle forms, forms of verbs used as modifiers. There are also alternative forms of the verb, compound and related words, sample sentences showing context - these are not 'fake' sentences, but give the sources (Cicero, Horace, etc.). Each page has one verb dedicated to it.

As Prior indicates, the series by Barrons has the limit of 501 verbs (an arbitrary but useful number) - but, in fact, since there are patterns for verbs (called conjugations), knowing one is often knowing them all; the exceptions to these rules for the various conjugations are certainly included, as are the strange verbs (sum, esse, to be, which ends up being strange in every language, and many others like eo, ire, to go).

Some verbs are not fully developed - the authors explain that while there are theoretical constructs of verbs, sometimes we have no evidence that such tenses or constructions were ever used, and so these are omitted. Also, there are lots of verbs whose construction parallels each other precisely (many verbs are formed from prefixes being attached, much as languages like German also do); these verbs are parenthetically linked to other, similar verbs.

There is an English-Latin index, and a Latin-English index at the end of the book. These indexes are handy, as is the Verb Form locator at the end. The word selection comes from frequency counts of verbs on Latin exams of the New York State Regents and other College Board entrance and/or placement examinations.

There are few additions here - little grammar, no pronunciation, nothing by way of history. This is simply what it purports to be - a book of verbs. In that, it is very useful, and as I studied Latin beyond the first year, an invaluable aid.

Here are some answers to questions posed in customer reviews: - Why stop at 501? That's the cap on the series. Check the other languages. Besides, how many 1st conjugation verbs do you need to learn endings? The base changes, the endings are the same. The important weirdos are in there. -As for "doubtful scholarship", try reading the intro. The inclusion of unattested forms for the sake of a pattern is no great sin when the intended audience is students of the language, not pedants (i.e. classicists). (By the way, "and, moreover" is redundant. We call it English. Look into it.) Nevertheless, I'll see about square bracketing the unattested forms next edition. Thanks for the tip. -Another one whose knowledge of the language is so immense that s/he bought a book geared for tyros laments the lack of ALL verb forms. Well, the so called "future imperative" doesn't exist. It's nothing more than an archaic inflection. Consider your vast linguistic training, examine the testaments, and you'll see. Archaic forms (short of the Duenos Vase) are indexed. Advise me of lacunae for the next edition. Concerning future infinitives, I considered including this constructed form, but for 99% of the verbs, it would be unattested! (Gods forfend -- see above.) -The cover art is atrocious. I admit I suggested a signum. The other books of the series have flags. Any better suggestions? -The the mere fact that this book is intended for students in the early stages of learning in no way cheapens the product. Was the reviewer who wrote that a native speaker?!! We all start somewhere. How about some humility? -Finally, send suggestions and constructive criticisms to me directly for the next edition at: rprior@furman.edu. Pedantic posing is useless and therefore not welcome. -I gave this 4 stars because there's always room for improvement. Sock it to me!

This is an excellent reference book I use all the time - doing my Latin homework, finding words to "enrich" English essays, or just reading for fun.

Looking up verbs in this book is 100% better than doing so in a dictionary - you're lucky if you even find the principal parts in a dictionary.

This is a great book to have for any Latin student.

An absolute must-have for anyone learning Latin. In case you don't know it yet, Latin is a language in which most verbs have, no kidding, more than 130 different forms each. There are rules, of course, but the sheer volume of things to memorize can really fracture your brain. This book is my constant companion while I do homework, and I'd be lost without it.

This book was great. It really helped me with my college latin class. One great feature of this book is a section in the back that has strange forms of verbs listed alphabeticaly. When you are reading latin and you come across something you dont recognize, this section can help you figure out which verb the form is from. Buy this book. It is worth it.

Those who need to brush-up on their verbs will find this book very handy. But it is primarily geared towards those who have an intermediate knowledge of the Verb forms and tenses. I would not recommend for beginners until they have learned when to use the different tenses and persons.

This is the type of book one would like to have besides whenever reading a Latin text. The help it provides goes much beyond the one found in good and traditional Latin dictionaries, focusing on ALL the tenses of some of the most important Latin verbs, passive voices included, although it should be remembered that the purpose of this book of verbs is not to substitute a dictionary, given, for instance, its narrowness of scope when translating verbs meanings (in fact , just one meaning, which in a language like Latin may be misleading).

Why 501 and not more? It seems there is no true reason behind the number except to compete with some 201 book of verbs; in fact, there is a lot of important verbs not listed and some repetitive verbs from the so-called regular conjugations in Latin.

The latin sentences avaiable on the end of the page adds content to the book and help readers to better understand the meaning of the verb and are in fact a true trove of good traditional latin sentences. I just think that translating them in to English would be a plus. Don't know why some verbs are not accompanied by latin sentences (no more than 10% of the cases).

The verb locator is a very good idea, but it should be expanded to additional irregular conjugations. Also, the extensive listing of co-related and compound verbs in the very same page of the fully conjugated verb is a good help.

A table with all the so-called paradigms of regular conjugations would be helpful, the same being valid for a table with depoents and semi-depoents verbs.

In all, the book is a very good one, and I use it as a precious tool to help me decipher the beauty and the intrincacies of Latin. I hope you feel the same.

Although it may not include all the verb forms this is a very useful tool indeed. It is very user friendly and is a must for translating from English into Latin, especially if you haven't been able to memorize all the forms and paradigms of the many conjugations within the Latin syntax. It has been extremely useful and would benefit anyone, especially the novice, who is interested in learning Latin.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by Christopher Kendris' "501 French Verbs, 4th edition", a very lush edition in the 501 verbs series. Prior and Wohlberg's "501 Latin Verbs" seems rather bare bones. Compare the front cover listing of each of these book's contents.

Helpful features I find missing from the Prior-Wohlberg text are:

- the rules of formation for the verb stems, verb tenses, noun cases, etc.
- common expressions showing each verb's usage in various meanings.
- the translation of these and other phrases.
- summary of when the various tenses and moods should be used, again hopefully with translations.
- helpful grammar (when to use the subjunctive, sequencing verbs, orthographic changes, which prepositions are appropriate and how they impact the verb meaning, etc.).

In the "501 Latin Verbs" I would also like to see some explanation of deponent verbs. Pronunciation would be helpful. How does the long mark over a vowel change the pronunciation? Why do we care if a vowel is long or short?

The high frequency verb "sum" (to be) has I believe (I am in the early stages of learning Latin) an error in its conjugation table, p. 441. The active, present, indicative, first person, plural is given as "eramus." I believe this ahould be "fueramus."

I also cannot confirm one Prior - Wohlberg definition of "precor" as "pay" in any of the Latin dictionaries I have access to. Most likely a typographical error of "pray" but my confidence in the text is diminished by these two errors.

Prior and Wohlberg do provide "compounds and related words" for most verbs, and show some alternate orthographic forms (without explanation).

I found the Betts and Franklin "The Big Gold Book of Latin Verbs" a more useful verb text, and a dollar cheaper. For example, high frequency verbs get lengthened usage explanations with examples of various meanings. All quotations are translated, with an explicit citation reference. There are 5 translated example sentences for each verb. A lengthy introduction examines each tense, its formation, and if/how it differs in meaning from English language parallels. Additionally, Betts and Franklin provide detailed discussions of moods and tenses, and three pages or so on the subtleties of the subjunctive.