Customer Reviews

The Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (2nd ed) (Thumb Index ed)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a practical guide to modern usage, this dictionary can't be beat, even though because it was written by British and French editors with an eye toward the American market as well, there is a good deal of duplication, marked "GB" and "US" respectively, that can be a little awkward. For a francophone contemplating a piece of writing in English this would be immensely useful; in the opposite direction it is a little less so. On the other hand, because it doesn't limit itself to words approved by the Académie, it will resolve many a doubt caused by slang or franglais. Though le footing comes from English, not every English user would know that faire un footing means go for a jog. it seems a little silly to define le football as "American football GB, football US," but it is precise. Very well done and useful are the guides to drafting every imaginable kind of business correspondence in French, preparing a résumé, and other supplmenary materials. I admit that if I'd had my druthers I'd have bought a French dictionary with the definitions in French and some etymological information, but couldn't find on the web good advice on which to choose. Perhaps no other language has the equivalent of the Merriam Webster Tenth Collegiate. But I would like to know, for example, how croquer and les croquants became le croque-mort and croque-monsieur/dame. It is a grownup dictionary, giving full definitions for words such as tringler, apt to be missing or Bowdlerized elsewhere. Though its bulk and style can make it a trifle slow in checking a word quickly enough not to lose the sense of the paragraph you are reading, but that's in the nature of the beast. For what it is--a writer's and translator's dictionary more than a reader's or a traveller's--it is first-rate.

More definitions than you will ever need. Many examples so that you can understand how each word is used. The examples also bring out subtleties of meaning that should help you avoid making a fool of yourself. Many insets and extras. So thorough that you won't have to spend money on an army of books for conjugations, idioms etc. Don't get me wrong, this is not a complete stand-alone guide to the French language (who could lift it), but it is a damned good start.

Five stars means that I don't see how this could be any better.

As a French major, I must recommend this book to anyone who needs a really good french dictionary. Not only is it great for difficult reading assignments, it's especially good for writing essays. Not only does it have just about every word in existance, but it gives you in depth examples of how to *use* all those words, which is just as important. It is a bit hefty, so I'd also recommend getting a paperback dictionary to take to class ;)

As a college student who is majoring in French, I found this to be the most useful French-English dictionary. It provides a complete and accurate translation of any word from English to French and vice versa. It also includes various examples of the different usages of any word or phrase. This dictionary has been very useful to me in my studies of French because of its thoroughness. There is not one semantic group that is not included in this dictionary. On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the best), I give this a 12!!!!

This is the only French dictionary you will ever need. It is so thorough, it's unbelievable. I found words that I couldn't even find in my English Random House or Merriam Webster dictionary - amazing! Including a plethora of slang expressions, as well.

This is an excellent dictionary. I'm a high school student in an upper level French class, and I'm just beginning to translate French novels; this becomes more and more important every day. A word to the wise; if you don't like large dictionaries, don't buy this. It's also not the most concise dictionary--Larousse takes that honor--but it is the most superb one for usablity. Even with its large size, this book stands out because the words are large and readable, the references easy to read, and the amount of words stunning.

One other note is that it doesn't include a lot of synonyms; this is both good and bad, as you will not be forced to use a word that does not fit the particular nuance of your sentence but are on the other hand limited to a specific vocabulary.

Overall this takes the top of French-English English-French dictionaries simply because of its usablity and breadth of words, but it's not hard to see that one can find everything they need in this book. It also comes with a Speak French CD-ROM, which I don't think they mentioned at the time I bought it two months ago or so. At any rate, this dictionary can make a great supplement to whichever resource you are using to increase the knowledge of the French (or English) language that you foster.

The OXFORD HACHETTE bilingual dictionary is a superlative work. I am using the 1997 edition and it serves me well as a language enthusiast and a translator. It provides many, many different examples of translations, always easy to find and in the idiomatic language. In the French-English section for instance, the development given under the word TEMPS is just oustanding. One learns new ways of saying things: "Ils sont cruels, témoin le massacre de tout un village." - "They are cruel, as evidenced by the massacre of an entire village." This was interesting: "They have been badly serviced by their advisors" -"Les conseillers ne leur ont pas été très utiles." The various encyclopedic features such as the subject and grammar boxes are very useful. One would have liked a more North American approach, or even Canadian, but that does not distract from the overall quality. It is interesting to find a word such as DÉPANNEUR (convenience store), while one cannot find GUIGNOLÉE or BANC DE NEIGE. It is a modern dictionary, with equivalents given for email (one slight mistake there... MESSAGE PRÉCÉDENT given as NEXT) and such things. Verbs, model letters, etc. One would have liked the use of colour, but the dictionary is still well presented. I have used the Harrap's Shorter and I have the Collins Robert on CD-ROM. This is equal to any of them, it is perhaps even superior. Do not hesitate to buy it.

This is one of the best foreign language dictionaries I have used. Each word entry is filled with example usages and phrases, each shown in both French and English. This is very useful because it goes far beyond the basic meaning of a word and allows you to see how to actually use it, and therefore also understand some of the subtle differences in its usage as well.

There are also lists of idioms that use a particular word. This has also proved to be very useful, since foreign idioms can sometimes make little sense if you translate them literally word by word.

I liked the print version so much that I also purchased the software CD version. My French girlfriend and I would spend hours talking on the phone with our Oxford Hachette programs running so we could look up a word in a second or two and hardly slow the conversation down. Highly recommended.

This is a review for The Oxford-Hachette French/English Dictionary: Windows. CD-Rom.

I see that other older reviews are for the paper dictionary, but not this one. Anyhoo! I really get a kick out of using this. Its so handy to have the WHOLE 1945 page dictionary downloaded onto my PC desktop. {XP PRO} I also downloaded to my laptop which runs Vista and NO Problemo to report. Of course the best feature is the terrrifffic pronunciation of the software. The "Real Speak" feature allows you copy text form whatever website your on, be it a single sentence of a few paragraphs and click the button and a extremely well spoken lady repeats all the words back to you! Nothing even comes close to this state of the art software! Also you can write in your own words or phrases for playback or just look up individual words. Click one at a time or hold the shift key and right click for the whole sentence to be spoken.

And lastly let me tell ya once again! That this is the whole monster dictionary that is in hardcover at 1945 pages! The whole thing! I know I checked it out! So you only need one. For me, the talking dictionary is a no brainer! Salut!

I'm French and I have been living in the US for almost 15 years. About 10 years ago, I outgrew my pocket dictionary and started to look for something heftier. I did a thorough review of the few serious French-English dictionaries and finally went with the Oxford-Hachette. At the time, it was the only dictionary that was based on computer-generated corpuses originating from millions of pages copied from books, magazines and newspapers. It means that the editors saw every single word listed in all the possible ways. Result: I haven't found a single expression, as modern as it could be, that I haven't been able to translate in one way or the other. It's a perfect dictionary for the modern world, for expats who want to understand the movies, lyrics and modern language from the country they live in, whether they are a French-speaking person like me living in an English-speaking area, or - God forbid - an English-speaking person feeling at home in one of these oh-so-stinkin' but fascinating French-speaking countries.

I would have given 5 stars to the edition that I originally bought in 1997. I just bought the new edition in 2008 but the blue color that they used for the main titles is a bit annoying. It looks like the words are floating on top of the paper and it gives me some kind of headache. The dictionary is as good as it used to be but I realize that I don't spend as much time as I used to just browsing through it to learn new words. Result: 4 stars. Ok, 4 1/2 because it's second best only to the first edition...