Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar

Practice Makes Perfect

by Annie Heminway

Polish your French grammar skills and communicate with more savoir-faire The only way to build your confidence in a second language is to practice, practice, practice. From present tense of regular verbs to direct object pronouns, this comprehensive guide and workbook covers all aspects of French grammar that you need to master. Focusing on the practical aspects of French as it's really spoken, each unit of Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar features clear explanations, numerous realistic examples, and dozens of engaging exercises. Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar makes mastering grammar easy with:

Genres: France, Reference, Language, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Linguistics

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2007

Reviews

[OSKR · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am halfway through this book and I'm pretty mad about some of the editorial decisions.

A good grammar drill is about memorizing rules and patterns. After learning a new piece of grammar a good drill should go over and over the thing you just learned.

Unfortunately the exercises in this book rarely stick to the grammar point covered in the preceding pages. Only around 50% of the questions can be answered with the information at hand. The rest of them require access to either dictionaries, google translate, the answer key or sometimes all three of them. For example many of the "Traduire les phrases suivantes" exercises aren't any more helpful than just translating a random sentence from a newspaper.

Another complaint I have is that the spaces for your answers are usually too small. Who has such tiny writing? This is a fairly common problem with grammar textbooks.

On the positive side I do like the structure of this book which puts the nasty bits of the verbs right down the front. It's generally a different structure to french grammar books, and so far it's working for me. Also the "tone" of the questions is right for an adult, the sentences etc are fairly useful.

I just wish I could sit around with ONLY this book and smash through the drills. :-/

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent review book for French grammar.

I thought some of the explanations of the grammar were a little too cursory/superficial, but I'm the kind of person who wants all the boring nuts & bolts of grammar explained to me at length, so your mileage may vary on that front. I also thought that the vocabulary index in the back was a bit short considering the vocabulary needed for the translation exercises throughout the book. And the way the book is ordered seems a bit odd - the first half of the book is entirely focused on verb conjugations, so when the earlier exercises involve direct object pronouns or relative pronouns, it's a bit disorienting for someone who doesn't have a background in the language.

But it's still useful as a workbook/overview of French grammar and it's great that it provided so many review exercises with a helpful answer key in the back.

[Simon Brass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the series. This was an invaluable resource in my learning - my copy is old, worn and faded now. I continue to use the Practice Makes Perfect series but now for Spanish and Italian.

[Lana Velkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good French book I worked on and finished, having started 2 months or so ago. Really good for a basic grip of the grammar and the understanding of tenses.

[kelana wisnu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Menuntaskan buku ini membuat saya lega. Sekarang pada hari belajar Prancis ke-22, saya dapat membaca teks sederhana serta mendengar Prancis tidak secara fonemis saja, berupa bunyi-bunyi yang tidak dapat saya pilah kata per kata. Saya sekarang dapat mendegar dengan jelas bahasa Prancis.

Buku ini cocok sebagai pegangan untuk penutur asing yang sama sekali tidak mengerti dan pernah berjumpa dengan bahasa Prancis. Setelah membaca buku ini saya beralih ke buku pegangan dalam bahasa Prancis seperti seri Bescherelle yang menjadi pengangan wajib siswa-siswi Prancis atau seri dari CLE International seperti Grammaire essentielle du français.

[Andy]

i like it but find some hard understanding all content

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a staple in the French-learning community for a reason. If you need to drill grammar rules until they stick, this is the book to get. It’s not "fun", but it is undeniably effective as a workbook.


The Good:
• Clear Explanations: The grammar rules are explained in English, which I find crucial for understanding complex concepts (like the Subjunctive or Pronouns) without getting lost in translation.
• Volume of Exercises: There is no shortage of practice here. It follows a "drill-and-kill" approach which helps build muscle memory for sentence structure.
• Comprehensive: It really does cover the spectrum from beginner basics to advanced tenses. It serves as a great reference manual when I get stuck on a specific rule.


The Critique
Lack of Audio/Context: While it teaches you how to write the grammar correctly, it doesn't help much with the "feel" of the language or listening comprehension. It’s best used as a side-dish to a main course (like a class or immersion reading).


An essential tool for the serious learner's bookshelf, but best paired with something more engaging (like a story or podcast) to keep your motivation up.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read/Did this in preparation for a French oral exam. I scored B2 - they will check conditionals and subjunctives at this level. I learned French as a kid but let it rust for 20 years. It took me about four months to revive it, mainly through Kwiziq and this book. I wish I had started with this book first because it is a cheap way of going through the basics. I finally tested out at C1 a year later. It would have been more beneficial for a DELF preparation as this helps bolster writing. Overall, this is an excellent book for starters, and I might introduce my eight-year-old niece to this, who may be entering French Immersion (officially gifted in verbal intelligence, so it won't be a huge problem).

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, albeit a little abbreviated given the subject. I found that this was a good tertiary book, as interesting for its grammatical drills as for the introductions / reminders of the rules. Part of a great series.

[Shiraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely book:
1 has lots of idiomatic expressions which helps
2 All french grammar

[Mohit Aneja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good supplementary book when moving from beginner to an intermediate level.

The content is crisp and covers a lot of expected exceptions in the language. But it lacks review exercises as one progresses with the book. They could have helped solidify the topics, for which, right now, one has to refer to other sources.

Overall a good resource to grasp grammar structure in French. Recommended.

[Lex Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up once a week or less, and I skipped nearly half of the exercises along the way. But I'm not lazy in learning French; I wanted to speak the language since the first ever episode I saw of Madeline, a forever and a day ago. It's not me, book, it's you. You're just really boring.

The writing is as concise as possible, which is generally good. In doing it this way, however, it sacrificed personality. There aren't any gimmicks, cute diagrams, syntax trees, jokes, or recurring themes to establish some sort of friendship with the reader. Even the exercises lacked power, being a bit on the easy side — even the translation ones.

I leaned quite a bit, though, so it has done its job. That's enough, perhaps.

[Ashish Ahsan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must say I'm deeply disappointed. I had practised with the second edition and found it very very helpful. So I rushed to buy this "premium third edition." Surprise, surprise! There is not a word different from 2nd edition! Just the cover. I matched from page one to the last, and fund everything exactly the same. Can't believe McGraw-Hill and Annie Hemingway pulled up such a cheap trick to earn some extra money.

[C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was perfectly adequate, but it was so much less good than it should be. French grammar is so absurdly simple that there really is no excuse for unclear explanations (if you don't believe me, try studying Arabic). Plus, the unacceptably high number of mistakes, omissions, overly-literal translations and the inconsistent use of grammatical terms kind of pissed me off.

[Riobhcah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome review of my beloved French language. And the Language Lab app that I was able to download for free after buying the book was a great study aid. French is one of my mother tongues, along with English, but I'd not used it in awhile and needed a little review, and I think that this book was very good.

[Ashish Ahsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know some French, and want to learn the language at your own time, this the best book. It is a complete coverage of advanced beginner and intermediate grammar. There are lots of practices. I have been benefited a lot from this book. The accompanying website is helpful for pronunciation.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't believe how long it took me to complete this book (I did 90% of the exercises), but the grammar explanations were very good, and although American (getting past the spelling), the exercises and introductions were great! If you are learning French, then this book is for you!

[jg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for befriending french grammar. Rules are clearly explained, exceptions listed, exercises short and to the point.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

very helpful and complete, would be good though if their weren't any inconsistencies or errors in the exercises or answers as it can be confusing

[Ci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reference.