Customer Reviews

A Practical Dictionary of German Usage

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There's nothing like a book which gives wonderful descriptions of synonyms for the language one is trying to master. If you're looking for a text that goes into detail showing which word is appropriate when, then this book is for you. It is arranged in dictionary form--with the common or most basic English words as headings, followed by separate paragraphs explaining which German word(s) to use to render the meaning of the general English word AND--most importantly--synonyms of that general word. Once you get through each paragraph, you'll easily understand all the different shades of meaning. Also, at the end of each paragraph are several (say, 3 to 6) examples of the particular German word offered. An added bonus, I think, is that the examples are shown using different tenses. The better your German, the faster you will pick up the information. Note: the sentence examples are only in German; but if your vocabulary is at the intermediate level, it shouldn't be a problem. Don't give a second thought to the price. This is one of the best I've ever seen on German synonyms. Not exhaustive, but more than adequate for the typical non-native speaker/writer of German.

This book is essentially an expanded and updated version of the classic "Dictionary of German Synonyms" by B.K. Farrell, one of my all-time favorite language books. The books share some remarkable similarities and I am incorporating my review of that book in this review.

Recently in my German conversation class I remarked something to the effect that every time I make a presentation to a large group I am thankful that "am mindestens ist es auf Englisch" that is, "at least it's in English," my native tongue. My instructor, a native speaker of German, instinctively corrected my use of the term "am mindestens," saying that I should have said "am wenigstens ist es auf Englisch," but when asked, she realized that although she was sure "am wenigstens" would be correct, she couldn't really explain why.

I naturally turned my old reliable "Dictonary of German Synonyms", one of my favorite language books, for clarification. The distinction is apparently that "am mindestens" should be used primarily with precise numerical amounts, such as for example "I drank at least 2 liters of Gluhwein last night." I say "apparently" because the explanation in Farrell's book is actually a bit cryptic.

Much more clear is the more recent and larger (and more expensive) "A Practical Dictionary of German Usage" by K.B. Beaton. The two books are extremely similar. Farrell was a Professor of German at the University of Sydney and his book was published by Cambridge University Press. Beaton was a Senior Lecturer in German Studies at the University of Sydney and his book is published by Oxford University Press. Why the University of Sydney would be the center of English language research in German synonyms is a curiosity, but if not Sydney, Australia, where should they be studied?

Beaton acknowledges Farrell's pioneering work in the field but clearly believes it was already out of date by the 1960s. If you can only afford one book, I suppose I would recommend the more expensive Beaton, but despite the similarities I still find Farrell's older work more readable. If nothing else, Farrell's book is less unwieldy and easier to read for pleasure.

This book is not for the beginner but it is a great resource for an intermediate and above student. It is well worth the money.

Note: The book is organized by the English words but has an index of the German words in back.

This is the book to own. it will take you deep into the way in whcih German's understand and categorise their world as expressed through language. I would regard this book as the key which henceforth enabled me to feel german from the inside out - and once one does the a language can start to live within you - this is the key to successful language learning. Learning German with this book has excelled my language skills to the point that germans themselves have suggested i should teach German - a nice compliment and i put alot of this down to the effort i have made and the books i have utilised - this book and the books by Martin Durrell - German Synonyms, Usage, and the other one - This book is as good as an one of the persoanl electronic dictionaries from Franklin