Customer Reviews

Manual de gramatica: Grammar Reference for Students of Spanish, High School Version

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

 

 

If you are looking for a book that will thoroughly teach you both the grammar and idiomatic usage of Spanish, there is no better introduction than this. Even for the native speaker, this book is a great resource for learning why certain expressions not only 'feel' wrong but infact are incorrect in usage. The book's divisions make it slightly dry reading but if you persist and complete all of the exercises, you will notice a dramatic improvement in your Spanish. Whether you are a novice or a third-year college student of Spanish, this book will help you advance from conversational spanish to advanced constructions and expressions including the dreaded subjunctive. Enjoy!

This book is a must for any serious Spanish Major/minor, graduate student, and even those who are interested in learning the intrinsic grammatical nuances of the Spanish language. From its inception to this 4th edition the book keeps demonstrating that it is on top of the game. The authors, having listened to their readers and students, implemented thorough yet simple down to earth explanation of grammar structures and usage. This book belongs on your shelf beside your Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, El diccionario de uso del español de María Moliner, and your MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. The exercises and writing suggestions are current and should I dare say, fun? This is the book to own.

As far as I can tell this is an excellent book. I gave it one star to call attention to two things.

1. WTF. This book is horrifically over-priced. It does not provide new access to engineering equations or a cure for cancer that was published last week. It is a Spanish grammar reference for crying out loud. I paid over $80.00 for it. Most of us are having to buy it as required for a college curriculum. Like the cost of the US medical system, this is one of those "something is wrong here" moments. That is just the painful truth.

2. It is a good idea to buy the used version of the edition you need. I did not. There were used versions available on Amazon for more than $20/less per copy, but when I went to buy, on checkout I found the used books had caveats, error messages, on the order of "Used version does not include online text key or supplemental materials."

Since in the past I had gotten stuck buying used textbooks and then finding out I was missing vital supplemental materials, I decided to play it safe and buy the new version. When I got my copy however, I found a that there are in fact no supplemental materials attached to this book. It is just a book. The caveats are meaningless, so you can get the whole package in a used version at a lower price. I suggest you do so.

With this, my own caveat rendered, I give this book back the rest of its stars, *****, for the hard work of its authors, who I doubt extremely are getting rich by the over-pricing of this book.

I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to Spanish grammar I guess. While others loathe it, I absolutely love it. So I study out of different spanish grammar books almost on a daily basis. I thought that I had found the best and most organized grammar book in "A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish" by John Butt. And as far as content and detail goes it wins out over "Manual de gramatica" but in clear explanation "Manual de gramatica" far outstrips the former. I should they are also both aimed at different groups too. The former aimed more at advanced speakers and professionals and the latter obviously an intermediate to advanced student guide. So I suppose it isn't fair to compare the 2 but I think they together are a good compliment and I use them both quite a bit.

If you are purchasing this book for use in a Spanish course, be aware that if purchased from Amazon, the book does NOT include a "book key" for online access to publisher tools.

Be sure to check with your college bookstore or your instructor to see if the key access is something you will actually need before purchasing from Amazon.

To purchase a key from the publisher will cost $53.00 on top of the original purchase price of the book.

I have gone through many Spanish grammar references before finding this gem. It can answer just about any nit-picky question you have, and in absolutely clear, plain English. Outstanding. It is the only Spanish reference text I've hung on to after a class. Highly recommended.

I LOVE grammar. This book is amazing. It covers some of the deepest darkest corners of Spanish grammar that people forget to even teach or mention. It has tons of clear examples and plenty of exercises in the back with included answer key pages to check your responses.

If you get it for a college class, you might want to hold on to this one forever, because grammar never really changes, and this book covers it all extremely well. If you're just buying it for your own reference library, GOOD CHOICE. This one is a great one for it.

I had to buy this book for a college course and soon found that my $10 Practice Makes Perfect texts are just as good.

The seller was prompt in his/ her sending it. He/she was prompt inreplying to my email.

The product came in a lot faster than I thought. There were folds in the cover and some of the pages were bent, but it wasn't anything that they didn't say on the description. For the price, it was moderate, but by no means a bargain. I'm happy with the book, but I just wish it were cheaper!