Customer Reviews

Merriam-Webster's French-English Dictionary

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Merriam-Webster's French-English Dictionary was a great buy for my husband and I. My husband who is American wanted to be able to communicate with my family overseas. So I started to look for a Dictionary in order to help me teach. What I was finding is that alot of the Dictionary's where to complicated for someone who was starting to learn the lanquage. Then I found the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, and was very impressed on how simple and helpful this Dictionary is. With the help of the Dictionary my husband has greatly progressed in his french. I recommend this Dictionary for anyone who is trying to learn the lanquage or who just needs a good Dictonary to help them translate words. You will find the Merriam Webster's French-English Dictionary simple to use and each word comes with a clear and helpful pronunciation. The purchase of this Dictionary is a buy you will not regret.

I bought this book for my French class in college. I can't recommend it strongly enough! If you are taking French in high school or college, be sure to get this book; it has helped me tremendously. The only thing I regret about buying this book is that I didn't do it sooner.

One really nice feature that this book has (this feature being one of the reasons I bought it in the first place) is their use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for each word. For those who don't know what that is, that is THE standard way of representing sounds, particularly between languages. Each symbol corresponds exactly to one sound, regardless of what language is being spoken. If you know IPA, that is a TREMENDOUSLY useful feature of this dictionary. If you don't know IPA, I'd recommend learning it, it's not that hard to do (I think they even have an IPA guide in the dictionary) and you won't regret it.

This dictionary is very well done. Its definitions are clear and concise and it gives good examples of actual usage.

The Merriam-Webster French-English Dictionary offers more than 80,000 entry words and phrases organized with clear, concise definitions. Of special interest are the sections on "Nations of the World", "Metric Conversions", and "Sample Correspondence" (including email) that will prove invaluable for business travelers and vacationers. International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciations are providers, as are introductions to french and English grammar, tables of regular and irregular verbs, French and English abbreviations. The Merriam-Webster French-English Dictionary is an indispensable aid for traveling through France, as well as a core reference title for personal and school French language reference collections.

I studied French in high school 30+ years ago and hated it. Then I took four semesters in a community college 20 years ago (after learning Spanish) and loved it, but had little use for the language in any daily use. However, in planning to spend a month in France next year, I decided that I should study French again. This dictionary has been a wonderful aid in my studies. Although there are better, more expensive dictionaries (I personally own Petit Larousse Illustre and Harper Collins French College Dictionary), this one has an amazing amount of information and is so small and light that it can be easily referenced where a large bulky dictionary will be left on the shelf as an impediment to reading.

To resume learning French, I am reading Harry Potter A L'Ecole Des Sorciers (the Sorcerer's Stone book) and this dictionary is always at hand. The dictionary includes a surprising number of idiomatic phrases, a handy verb conjugation section, pronunciation and grammar sections. It is also handy that it includes words such as "eu", which is the past participle for avoir, and references one back to the infinitive form of the verb -- very useful when one hasn't yet mastered the past participles that are essential to the passe compose (a common past tense).

For just a few bucks, this is an amazing trove of information.

This dictionary is useful and includes quite a few words--I can't argue that point. But its main promlem lies in its simplicty. It has a strong lack of synonyms, which makes it more of a beginner's dictionary. If you are a beginner, why buy a dictionary that will only support you for a year or so before you have to buy a more comprehensive one like Oxford-Hachette's or Larousse's. Also, I noticed that my copy wore rather quickly, which isn't good if you DO intend to keep it for very long. If you really like Webster's then buy this, but otherwise there are better, safer alternatives.

Although this is not a large scholarly Larousse, it serves as a great "pocket" dictionary--good for carrying to/from school. It also has the most extensive coverage of Québécois vocabulary that I have seen in a standard dictionary. This is a very useful tool for a student or traveller who is concerned about knowing Canadian terms and needs a portable dictionary.

Translates French words to English, and English words to French. Awesome. It also has Canadian terms for the Québécois! Merci!

For those complaining about the binding and calling it flimsy -- let's remind ourselves that it's a six dollar *pocket* dictionary. It's going to get torn to pieces eventually with heavy use. If you're using this for other than a trip overseas, or your kid's 8th grade foreign language requirement, then purchase the hardcover -- you linguophile you!

Useful for traveling and basic translation purposes, but very limited in word meanings. This is particularly true for the English to French section, where a word will often have only one corresponding meaning.

This dictionary goes both ways, French to English and English to French. The dimensions are 7" x 4" x 1.5", fairly compact and light, and easy to carry in a backpack. My daughter is taking French, and she's found this a perfect companion for her.

My need for a French Dictionary determined the quality of this review. It's an adequate solution to my need for translating copy and for finding the correct word in French. So, three stars shows that it's O. K., but not superb.