---
product_id: 5399204
title: "Essential French Grammar: All The Grammar Really Needed For Speech And Comprehension (Dover Language Guides Essential Grammar)"
price: "$28"
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reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/5399204-essential-french-grammar-all-the-grammar-really-needed-for-speech
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region: New Zealand
---

# Essential French Grammar: All The Grammar Really Needed For Speech And Comprehension (Dover Language Guides Essential Grammar)

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desertcart.com: Essential French Grammar: All The Grammar Really Needed For Speech And Comprehension (Dover Language Guides Essential Grammar): 9780486204192: Resnick, Seymour: Books

Review: The right balance - You NEED this book to learn French. There is no ONE perfect medium for learning a language. You need several different tools. Start with a good phrase book (Rick Steve's are the best) to learn enough to be a good tourist (i.e., to have more fun on your trip). Next, use a good computer or online program to learn vocabulary. (The vocabulary comes faster if you have already learned a lot of useful phrases.) These programs are glorified flash cards, but flash cards are actually a very effective way to learn vocabulary, and the best programs (a) teach you the words you will use the most and (b) focus on the words you know the least. The best flash cards also have a combination of written flash cards, spoken flash cards, and picture flash cards. My personal favorite is the free online program is duolingo.com. I like Rosetta Stone, too, but it is expensive. It uses a great combination of written, spoken and picture flash cards. It is also dumb: it doesn't keep track of what you know well and drill you on what you know the least. Still, I think it's a good program if you've got the money. But flash card programs are a TERRIBLE way to try to figure out complicated grammar rules. So, in addition to a phrase book and a flashcard vocabulary program, you need a couple of books on the language that include vocabulary and grammar. I say a couple because reading two books on the subject will teach you much more than reading the same book twice. Vocabulary makes a lot more sense after you've learned a lot of phrases and learned some vocabulary. (You have a lot of "aha" moments about grammar rules if you learn phrases first. If you learn grammar first, it seems like a bunch of capricious rules, and it just won't stick in your head.) THIS is THE BEST little book on grammar, emphasis on the word "little". If you've learned basic tourist phrases, and you've learned some useful vocabulary, NOW you need to learn the ESSENTIAL grammar, and I prefer learning in 125 pages instead of 525 pages. Comprehensive books are too complicated for the beginner. You can't tell the critical from the rare, and there is so much you end up remembering nothing. THIS book teaches you the most important things you need to know, in a logical order, and it is very compact. Perhaps "condensed" is a better word. If you don't know any French grammar, this book can be a little hard to follow. Buy a comprehensive grammar book, too. If you don't understand something in this book, look up the same subject in a second, bigger, more comprehensive book. BUT, as I said, I would much rather learn (a) the most important stuff in (b) the fewest pages than try to learn EVERYTHING in THOUSANDS of pages. So, five stars specifically because this book is NOT comprehensive. (Eventually, in order to learn the language, you also need to speak with other French speakers. There are great sites for this, where you can chat free or cheaply online with native speakers. You will find these sites and other good tips on learning a foreign language efficiently in "Fluent in 3 months".
Review: A great bargain, but what you really need is Michel Thomas - C'est tres bon, et quel bon marche! Covers lots of ground, various topics. including a list of 2,400 cognates. Very light & easy to carry around, mais il y a un problem - the print is small - but the ink is dark and the paper bright white. If you want to learn French, or various other languages, by far the best resource is the Michel Thomas audio CD sets. I've learned basic functional French and German, and improved my Spanish, with these, and it's been easy and fun. They're better than any other method. However, Michel's method stresses getting up and running FAST, teaching minimal grammar. Quickly skimming through this book has filled in many missing puzzle pieces for me - things Michel didn't want to cover, since they're not absolutely necessary for practical functional use, but after you can just function, you start to want to know, in order to feel really in command of the language. This brief book does that well. The trick is, you have to listen to them while you're driving. Not just the occasional road trip, but, say, half of the time you're driving. Listen to them casually, like entertainment, instead of music. Relax and enjoy. Listen on the 2 minute trip to the store. Each disc many times over a period of months. Also good while working in the kitchen. We spend a lot of time there. Most of the people who set out to learn a language for fun fail. If you follow the above you will succeed. It works best if you talk out loud to yourself about what you're doing at the time. That makes it real, like living in a foreign country (immersion). If someone close to you is willing to let you speak to them in French (things like "I'm going to take out the garbage now" or "These eggs are very tasty") even though they don't know French (you can repeat in English (my wife plays this role, I call it a "context accomplice" - by the context of the situation she knows what I mean if I'm walking out the door with the trash bag in hand, etc.) then you will be AMAZED at how quickly you will learn and remember.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN  | 0486204197 |
| Best Sellers Rank | #179,690 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #25 in French Language Instruction (Books) #108 in Travel Language Phrasebooks (Books) #183 in Grammar Reference (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (321) |
| Dimensions  | 5.25 x 0.25 x 7.25 inches |
| Edition  | 39295th |
| ISBN-10  | 9780486204192 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0486204192 |
| Item Weight  | 5.6 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Part of series  | Dover Language Guides Essential Grammar |
| Print length  | 160 pages |
| Publication date  | June 1, 1961 |
| Publisher  | Dover Publications |

## Images

![Essential French Grammar: All The Grammar Really Needed For Speech And Comprehension (Dover Language Guides Essential Grammar) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91CnzNFnnQL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The right balance
*by E***3 on May 11, 2014*

You NEED this book to learn French. There is no ONE perfect medium for learning a language. You need several different tools. Start with a good phrase book (Rick Steve's are the best) to learn enough to be a good tourist (i.e., to have more fun on your trip). Next, use a good computer or online program to learn vocabulary. (The vocabulary comes faster if you have already learned a lot of useful phrases.) These programs are glorified flash cards, but flash cards are actually a very effective way to learn vocabulary, and the best programs (a) teach you the words you will use the most and (b) focus on the words you know the least. The best flash cards also have a combination of written flash cards, spoken flash cards, and picture flash cards. My personal favorite is the free online program is duolingo.com. I like Rosetta Stone, too, but it is expensive. It uses a great combination of written, spoken and picture flash cards. It is also dumb: it doesn't keep track of what you know well and drill you on what you know the least. Still, I think it's a good program if you've got the money. But flash card programs are a TERRIBLE way to try to figure out complicated grammar rules. So, in addition to a phrase book and a flashcard vocabulary program, you need a couple of books on the language that include vocabulary and grammar. I say a couple because reading two books on the subject will teach you much more than reading the same book twice. Vocabulary makes a lot more sense after you've learned a lot of phrases and learned some vocabulary. (You have a lot of "aha" moments about grammar rules if you learn phrases first. If you learn grammar first, it seems like a bunch of capricious rules, and it just won't stick in your head.) THIS is THE BEST little book on grammar, emphasis on the word "little". If you've learned basic tourist phrases, and you've learned some useful vocabulary, NOW you need to learn the ESSENTIAL grammar, and I prefer learning in 125 pages instead of 525 pages. Comprehensive books are too complicated for the beginner. You can't tell the critical from the rare, and there is so much you end up remembering nothing. THIS book teaches you the most important things you need to know, in a logical order, and it is very compact. Perhaps "condensed" is a better word. If you don't know any French grammar, this book can be a little hard to follow. Buy a comprehensive grammar book, too. If you don't understand something in this book, look up the same subject in a second, bigger, more comprehensive book. BUT, as I said, I would much rather learn (a) the most important stuff in (b) the fewest pages than try to learn EVERYTHING in THOUSANDS of pages. So, five stars specifically because this book is NOT comprehensive. (Eventually, in order to learn the language, you also need to speak with other French speakers. There are great sites for this, where you can chat free or cheaply online with native speakers. You will find these sites and other good tips on learning a foreign language efficiently in "Fluent in 3 months".

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A great bargain, but what you really need is Michel Thomas
*by B***A on August 19, 2017*

C'est tres bon, et quel bon marche! Covers lots of ground, various topics. including a list of 2,400 cognates. Very light & easy to carry around, mais il y a un problem - the print is small - but the ink is dark and the paper bright white. If you want to learn French, or various other languages, by far the best resource is the Michel Thomas audio CD sets. I've learned basic functional French and German, and improved my Spanish, with these, and it's been easy and fun. They're better than any other method. However, Michel's method stresses getting up and running FAST, teaching minimal grammar. Quickly skimming through this book has filled in many missing puzzle pieces for me - things Michel didn't want to cover, since they're not absolutely necessary for practical functional use, but after you can just function, you start to want to know, in order to feel really in command of the language. This brief book does that well. The trick is, you have to listen to them while you're driving. Not just the occasional road trip, but, say, half of the time you're driving. Listen to them casually, like entertainment, instead of music. Relax and enjoy. Listen on the 2 minute trip to the store. Each disc many times over a period of months. Also good while working in the kitchen. We spend a lot of time there. Most of the people who set out to learn a language for fun fail. If you follow the above you will succeed. It works best if you talk out loud to yourself about what you're doing at the time. That makes it real, like living in a foreign country (immersion). If someone close to you is willing to let you speak to them in French (things like "I'm going to take out the garbage now" or "These eggs are very tasty") even though they don't know French (you can repeat in English (my wife plays this role, I call it a "context accomplice" - by the context of the situation she knows what I mean if I'm walking out the door with the trash bag in hand, etc.) then you will be AMAZED at how quickly you will learn and remember.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good primer
*by M***S on October 4, 2011*

I am a fairly new French student - I found this little book to be quite helpful and easy to read. The small size adds to the appeal and it is the type of book I can see myself returning to, to refresh my learning. It is good value for money. It does not contain everything you need to know but is a good little primer.

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*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-03-10*