750 French Verbs and Their Uses(750 Verbs Series) »

JAN R. ZAMIR, PhD, is the series editor and coauthor of the 750 Verbs books. He holds a doctorate in linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and has been teaching languages for 22 years. JEAN-PHILIPPE MATHY studied at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris and holds a doctorate from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. He is a professor of French at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. ROSEMARY McCLUSKEY has been teaching French and English as a second language in France and the United States for more than 10 years.

Essential grammar taught simply and directly. 750 French Verbs and Their Uses gives you the backbone of language study — correct verb usage — by showing verb conjugations in their contexts. To understand the value of such an approach, consider the English verb "to hold," the meaning of which can change dramatically when used in expressions such as "hold on," "hold up," "hold off," and "hold down"; in French, as students of the language have perennially learned to their frustration, the changes are far broader and apply to many more verbs. Now you won't have to guess how a verb is used in a sentence: 750 French Verbs and Their Uses gives you all the correct variations and grammatical interrelationships. Correct usages are illustrated in common phrases and idiomatic expressions. Unusual or troublesome expressions are emphasized throughout. And special attention is given to reflexive verbs (often difficult for English speakers) to make their usage clear. Perfect for students and travelers, ideal as a text, a grammar book and a reference, 750 French Verbs and Their Uses will help you not only to conjugate verbs, but also to use them correctly and comprehensibly. Series Editors: Jan R. Zamir, PhD, and Sonia Zamir, MA Also available in the series: 750 German Verbs and Their Uses and 750 Spanish Verbs and Their Uses.

Library Journal

These three volumes present a systematic compendium that will help readers overcome one of the trickiest obstacles to acquiring a foreign language: learning its verbs in context with the right preposition(s) (e.g., hold down , hold off , hold in ). Each volume lists alphabetically its language's most frequently used verbs with their respective prepositions and then for each verb gives several examples illustrating contemporary usage, including idiomatic expressions. A handy reference grammar is provided at the back of each book for quick review. Especially recommended for language learning and review; these are too comprehensive and unwieldy for tourist use.-- Edward B. Cone, New York