Customer Reviews

Spanish Grammar: Essential grammar for all students of Spanish (Oxford Minireference)

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If you are seriously studying Spanish, and need a compact, complete resource for Spanish grammar, this is the book for you. It is extremely comprehensive, yet very manageable. This book is fantastic as a supplemental resource for any student in formal Spanish training. The book is beautifully arranged, containing clear explanations without sacrificing utility. I grabbed this book so many times that I almost wore it out! I cannot list the number of times that I have used grammatical constructions that I learned through the use of this book.

I have had this book for over 5 years. I use it so much that it is now falling apart. The book is very concise and provides practical examples and indcludes references to regional differences in the Spanish language. If you are serious about learning Spanish - this book will help you quickly find the answers that you need. It is the most complete grammar reference that I have seen in a book this size. This book can be used by beginners, but it is most useful to those that have attained some level of comfort with the language and are looking for specific grammar and usage examples.

After living in El Salvador for nearly a month now, this book has been absolutely essential to gaining a better understanding of the formalities of the Spanish language. The test is extremely well written with short, concise entries that do not bore the reader. The organization is impeccable and extremely easy to use. In short, I would recommend this as an excellent reference to anyone trying to learn the ins and outs of written spanish.

NOTE: this entire book, page-for-page, including the index, is included in The Oxford Spanish Dictionary and Grammar.

DO NOT dismiss this grammar as just dry reading. If you care about becoming proficient, or at least minimizing sounding like a dork, you will love it.

For example, there is a section called "TRANSLATION TRAPS" that covers, among MANY other things,

1. Similar Spanish words that are in fact different, e.g., solo and sólo.

2. English words that have multiple meanings and must be translated into Spanish differently. E.g., the English word, "some", which can be used to imply vagueness, or mean a small number, or mean "certain" i.e., some but not others.

Another example is from the section called "PRONUNCIATION". Here the author differentiates clearly between American English and Southern British pronunciation. Furthermore there is a lot of advice like the following:

1. Writing about the pronunciation of "i", the author states, "_seen_ but much shorter and with no trace of a _y_ sound at the end.

2. Further on he writes, "English-speakers, American and British, must learn to pronounce adjacent vowels without a trace of a pause (glottal stop), _y_, _r_, or _w_ sound between them: sea o no _whether it is or not_ is [seaonó], not 'sayer-ou-nou', lo ha hecho _he's done it_ = [loaécho], not 'lo-wa-echou'."

In short, this is a great grammar; but you might want to get it for much less, and with a dictionary in The Oxford Spanish Dictionary and Grammar.

This Spanish Grammar is okay. It was written with the English speaking person in mind who is attempting to understand the structure of the Spanish grammar in a comparative basis. It is useful, don't misunderstand me, and portable, but I have found an even better grammar book in "A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish" by John Butt & Carmen Benjamin. It's not as portable, but certainly extremely useful and thorough for those English speakers who want to delve into grammar intricacies of the Spanish language.A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish

This book seems like a great essential tool for the student who wants fluency. I hope it helps me become "completa bilingue"!!! ~HTHY


*I just rec'd today (18 march 2009)----Maybe I'll update sometime as a post review. ~HTHY