A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Blackwell Reference Grammars) 2nd Revised Edition

by Terence Wade (Author)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"With the additions of a helpful glossary and of a major section on word formation in the Russian noun, Terence Wade's Comprehensive Russian Grammar, already the best reference book of its kind, has, in its second edition, become even more useful for students of Russian." Barry P. Scherr, Professor of Russian, Dartmouth College

"Students (and other readers) will now have quick and easy access to some of the finer (and very tricky) points of Russian language, in addition to very solid and thorough materials which already make up the Grammar." Margaret Tejerizo, Lecturer in Russian Language and Literature, University of Glasgow

Reviews of the First Edition:

"The coverage and fresh, interesting examples make Wade's grammar attractive . . . It will certainly be a standard reference work over the next fifty years." The Slavonic Review

"The most complete, accurate and authoritative English-language refernece grammar of Russian ever published." Choice

From the Back Cover

A Comprehensive Russian Grammar provides a definitive guide to current Russian usage, taking many of its examples from the press and contemporary literary sources. Since it was first published in 1992, the book has become the standard reference work for students and professionals alike and is used as the basis for Russian language teaching across the English-speaking world.

The new edition draws on feedback from users of the first edition to build on its existing strengths. Sections dealing with all parts of speech have been modified or supplemented, with pronunciation, the noun, the adjective, the verb and the preposition most affected. There are entirely new substantial sections on word formation in the Russian noun. Elements of post-Soviet vocabulary have been introduced to reflect changes in usage. The Second Edition also contains an expanded bibliography and a glossary of linguistic terms.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley-Blackwell; 2nd Revised edition (August 3, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 632 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0631207570
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0631207573
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.96 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.36 x 9.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #704,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews:
154 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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C F

A steal at the price.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 12, 2022

Very very useful.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 18, 2007

Verified Purchase

I use the Oxford Concise Russian Grammar by Terrence Wade all the time.
This book attempts to cover a lot of ground and it's very commendable that he has assembled so much information from various Russian grammars that are totally written in Russian and presented it for English speakers. You can answer many questions from it and it has many interesting insights into the grammar of Russian.

That said...

He attempts to cover parts of spoken grammar and usage and I wish he hadn't because he is sometimes dead wrong and it mars an otherwise well thought out book. Supposedly it was reviewed by many top academics in Russia but they could not have read it carefully because the mistakes are not typos but gaps in his understanding of Russian, that despite a lifetime of study, are things that every child there understands.

For example, there is the imperative form of the word to eat which he claims is usually replaced by a more polite verb. He's dead wrong and this is something that people say to each other all the time. In the movies I rarely hear the ones he claims people use though it's definitely a word people use and I do sometimes too. This is a mistake that no child in Russia could make. By the age of 2 they know this word because it's what their mother tells them when she wants them to eat. I verified this with my Russian friends. There is a prefixed version of the verb too which is the verb "to finish eating" (yes, in Russian there is a verb for everything) that is very common too. It's what your parents say to you when you try to leave the table before you have finished eating.

I have been to Russia too for vacation and the same comments apply from my experience speaking and hearing people there.

He commendably mentions the alternative imperative verb form in Russian where the infinitive is used but fails to elaborate on this significant item. I have actually never seen this discussed in text books.

Russians often use the infinitive in place of the imperative. I first started to hear it in movies and it was always in a setting where police or military people where giving some kind of order. It's like "I order you to stop" but the just say "to stop". It's common in Russian spoken language to omit anything that can be omitted that would be obvious from the context.

But in real life there on the street, I hear it all the time too.
It's originally from the military but it has filtered into general life.
For example, a little kid was starting to go into the crosswalk and I heard his mother yell this at him.

In Russia as a result of the soviet union, there are three separate sub languages: normal spoken Russian, that spoken by police and military and that from prisons (there were a lot of people in prison) but now it has all filtered into the general spoken language.

Anyway, this is a very deep subject and it's not covered very well in this book.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kolya

Better in the hard copy, but worth it even for the Kindle Version

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

This a very good Russian Grammar resource that I got for free in hard copy and then purchased in the Kindle version when the other one was "decorated" by one of my cats. While the Kindle version has a few printing errors (certain stressed Russian letters appear in a larger font then the rest of the letters in the word and there are (very few) typos), it is still worth the buy for the portability and I would recommend it if you intend to study it from start to finish. If, however, you need it as a reference book to pick up and look something up at random, the hard copy is a better choice since the Kindle, by its very nature, is harder to navigate (it does have a searchable Table of Contents which is a nice feature, but not a searchable index for specific words/ideas which would be great technology to have). In either format I highly recommend it.

15 people found this helpful

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Dr. Victor S. Alpher

Important to filling in your Russian Grammar!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 22, 2018

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If, like myself, you started with a shorter course in Russian Grammar, such as that of Nicholas J. Brown, you are going to want to know more about Russian grammar, with extensive examples. This is just the book you need, for once you have become familiar with all of the cases, case endings, and so on, you are going to need to systematize your knowledge and broaden it. I believe Terence Wade has done this for you. A tutor I hired had to point out things that I've already recognized in this book, so I know I will be referring to it as loon as I'm learning Russian (probably forever!). I highly recommend the book, but not as your first introduction to Russian.

7 people found this helpful

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Urban living

An excellent Russian Grammar, but a disappointing Kindle version.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

If I was just judging the content of the original work I would have given it an unconditional 5 stars but, once again, it seems the Kindle version is an inferior product because of the number of typos and transposed letters in the Russian text. In fact, I have not purchased a single book from Kindle that does not have typos, but this one is particularly annoying because a) it cost over $30, and b) for those learning a foreign language, it is rather important that the words you are trying to learn are spelled correctly! Also, certain Russian characters appear very tiny compared to others and are barely legible on the Paperwhite. Why is there so much less quality control for Kindle products than works printed on paper? I really don't understand this. Finally, could Amazon please develop a Russian dictionary for the Kindle so that students of Russian, like myself, can download Russian-language texts and look up words as we are going along?

12 people found this helpful

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Abby Anderson

Great Reference

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 21, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book is a must have for learning Russian grammar. It is very thorough with lots of examples. Each example in Russian has a full English translation. Every part of speech gets its own chapter that explains its usage in detail. There is also a workbook that accompanies the grammar book. Like most texts written for English speakers learning Russian, this text is written in British English. I had to Google some things like "gawper." Some grammatical rules are different between American and British English. As long as you don't mind that, this book is great. A must have for anyone learning Russian.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 30, 2018

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I was having trouble figuring out the different endings for nouns and other words. Just the little amount of time that I’ve spent with this book has helped immensely. The book is very thorough in both the grammar and how to pronounce Russian words. I highly recommend this book be used with any other training you might be using.

12 people found this helpful

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science-guy

Book is great; Kindle version is sloppy

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

The content in well-written and completely approachable, well, so far as Russian can be for a native English speaker. Thorough and well documented.

The Kindle edition can’t even be bothered to use proper UTF-8 (read: some letters in text are low-resolution pictures instead of letters) and sloppily copied independent of that.

Bought it having read the warnings because I couldn’t lug around the real tome.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mr BW

Expect nothing less from this author than great.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 30, 2007

Verified Purchase

This book is, of course, the best around for those learning Russian. It has clear explanations of ALL of the grammer bits and pieces, and uses very good examples; it gives abnormalities also.

I have been learning Russian now for 6 years, and I hope to study it at University in 2008, and I know that this book will be a bible to me in the coming years.

My only problem is that this book is aimed at university students, and so it can sometimes take a while to understand exactly what is being said, however that is the problem with buying books aimed at people above your ability. Although, this book has already been a lifesaver for me in many situations in my IB Russian.

Along with the Russian Grammar Workbook (by the same author), one can find it easy (or should I say less difficult) to pick up the different grammar rules.

My teachers also use this, as a reference book for their use, but mainly as a teaching aid; they seem to swear by this book, recomending that my fellow higher students purchace this book on starting the course.

10 people found this helpful

Jay Bee

a highly recommended resource - an essential reference guide

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a well-structured, comprehensive and user-friendly reference guide for serious students of Russian. Explanations are particularly well reinforced by numerous examples of contemporary usage. The format is logically presented, progressing in a coherent, methodical way. Wade goes to particular efforts to ensure coverage of the intricacies and nuances of every aspect of Russian grammar with notable effort to identify "oddities" and exceptions. For determined students who are about intermediate level (and beyond) and are serious about perfecting their Russian, this is a highly recommended resource - an essential reference guide.

One person found this helpful

Peter Ellis

It's much better formatted and gives a better balance between the general ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

I was very impressed by this Russian grammar book and the fact it has an exercise book (with answers) than accompanies it. If you are choosing between this and Derek Orford's 'Modern Russian: an advanced grammar course', definitely go for this. It's much better formatted and gives a better balance between the general rule and the inevitable exceptions, which helps understanding and use.

3 people found this helpful

George Best

I am very pleased with this purchase because it does exactly what it ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

I am very pleased with this purchase because it does exactly what it says "on the tin" i.e. it is a Comprehensive book on Russian Grammar.

One person found this helpful

Vero 58

This book is really excellent. I strongly

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 14, 2017