Customer Reviews

New Latin Grammar

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Charles Bennett's New Latin Grammar enjoys a new incarnation in paperback. The text follows a traditional format for Latin reference grammars: phonology, morphology, syntax and prosody. Coverage is descriptive, not historical, clearly designed to answer basic questions about forms and syntax for the student who needs more than an introductory learner's text but less than a 500 page tome, detailing every possible exception.

My own experience in using the book with intermediate students in school ( AP Vergil ) would suggest that there is some resistance to moving from beginners' texts, which are self-contained, to the use of a reference grammar because of the time needed to locate items in indices or tables of contents. Bennett's New Latin Grammar meets this problem of the time-pressed learner by its concision, only 250 pages of text, with a good general index to topics. Concision with accuracy is the key strength of this grammar, as Bennett himself stated in the Preface to First Edition: "The object of this book is to present the essential facts of Latin grammar in a direct and simple manner, and within the smallest compass consistent with scholarly standards." This goal has been met and should be helpful in developing the habit of reference grammar use among students who have completed formal grammar lessons but who, on their own, still need to dig out unusual forms or to address less common syntactical structures. Bennett's Grammar will help less experienced Latin students climb the ladder to becoming their own best teachers in matters of syntax.

This grammar has been around since the early 1900's( all the best latin grammars are of this time period or earlier) and it is as good today as when it was first issued. It is the best short latin grammar available. It will not show you all the nuances of the language, like Gildersleeve's or Greenough's , but it will give you the absolute basics that you need to know to learn this complex language. The explanations are concise and to the point; and the part on syntax is also nicely done. My only complaint is that this book only comes in a paperback edition. I wish the book was available in hardcover or clothbound. Reference works of this quality should always be available in such an edition.

I'm very happy with this book. It's a small, easy-to-use reference. It also has useful information about the history of the language, the Roman calendar, etc., though not in incredible detail. Because of its size and ease of use, it's the first Latin book I grab when I want to learn or remember Latin syntax. I end up skimming through, invariably, because the book makes it easy and interesting to do so. It's compact, useful, well-formatted, and comfortable to use. Know that it isn't a dictionary; for that, you'd need to go elsewhere. (I'm not a Classics scholar - just a former Latin student who's still interested, occasionally active, and someone who always wants to learn and practice more... if I had the time.)

I am an advanced Latinist who spends some time every day studying Latin texts. The PRINTED version of Bennett's is one of the most valuable resources I own. It is concise, accurate, and complete. The most imporant features for me are the excellent Table of Contents and Index that allow me to quickly turn to exactly what I'm looking for. I would give the printed version 5 stars.

The KINDLE version does not feature live links from the Table of Contents and lacks the Index all together. If I need to look up something on page 90, I have to turn the page ninety times to find it. This makes the Kindle version useless as a reference tool. I have removed it from my Kindle.

Bennett's New Latin Grammar is a great book for basic reference. It goes beyond a listing of endings and forms: get grammar reference cards of you need that. But on the other hand it does not go into so much detail that you forgot why you were looking in the book in the first place. It gives just enough information for general reference purposes.

This books is best for the 3rd and 4th year high-school Latin student or undergraduate who needs a reference grammar. Each grammar point gets its own section, and Bennett covers the high points in less than a page for each item. The front section is devoted to the various forms, but the section on syntax is worth the cover price alone.

If at all possible, get one of the old (1961) printings of this book. The type is clearer and the binding is sturdier. But if you can't find a used copy, buy this one.

Disclaimer: I have contracted with this book's publisher, but I assure you, I thought this book was great before I ever got my first dollar from the publisher. I would write the exact same review for it no matter whom I work for. I have in the past and will in the future reccomend it to anyone who asks for a quick reference grammar.

I'm surprised that this book is available in paperbook. I still have our hardcover edition from 1961. This book has simple charts covering EVERYTHING you need to look up to understand Latin. Bennett is the Best!

This review is about ISBN 1440094225 published by Forgotten Books. I don't understand the Amazon detail pages's reference to the Bolchazy-Carducci publisher. Some of the product reviews appear to be about different items.

The New Latin Grammar I got is a print-on-demand, because it is from a scanned image. This is explained on an end-paper of the book, but not explained in the Amazon detail page. The publisher's statement on the detail page continues: "However, the book has been generated from a scan of the original and as such we cannot guarantee that it is free from errors or contains the full content of the original. But we try our best!" I am not impressed by their intention to try their best. They better print a good book or they will get returns and bad product reviews. Furthermore, the Amazon detail page should advise us that the book is not even guaranteed to have the full contents of the book.

But, despite the disturbing message on the end paper intended to wash the publisher's hands from responsibility for bad work, my copy is perhaps the best print-on-demand I've bought. So far, no creased spine. Nothing wrong with the paper. Clear, large, easy-to-read type. The margins are cut too small for my taste. No missing pages: I checked them all. The book was less than $10. I would order from them again.

I haven't used Bennett's Grammars much, but it looks good. If you study Latin, you need several grammars because no Latin Grammar is truly complete.

Amazon says "First published in 1908, New Latin Grammar by Charles E. Bennett remains an outstanding resource for students at virtually any level." However, my copy of the book (1962) states in its preface that, "The present book is a revision of my Latin Grammar originally published in 1895." It seems that Amazon is incorrect. The original publication date is 1895, not 1908.

Offhand, I know very little about this book, other than its original publication date.

Frankly, I was disappointed in this book--I'm an intermediate Latin student, read the good reviews and decided to buy it. The format is cluttered, the grammatical information presented in a very unhelpful way, and the typography contributes to making it a chore to read--some of it looks like a reproduction of typescript. So I'm still using Wheelock, which within its limits is much more user-friendly. Why hasn't anyone written a more comprehensive Latin grammar for the contemporary student?

In short, My kindle froze because of this book.

When I first downloaded a sample of this book I couldn't turn to all of the pages but I liked what I had seen and thought the page turning issue was a problem with the sample format. I bought the full version. Big mistake. The book was slow to open and it took a long time to get to locations from the index. It froze temporarily weil I was turning to a page but I was able to get back to home. Something like two hours later when I tried to open the book again and an error showed up. I couldn't open it so I tried a different book that I can usually read. It also showed an error and wouldn't open. When I tried a third book the error apeared again and the screen froze. Now all I can do is put it to sleep and wake it up with the error screen.

From the content I was able to see this book is seems to be a great resource. Just don't buy it for the kindle version.