Essential German Grammar

by Martin Durrell, Katrin Kohl, Gudrun Loftus

Essential German Grammar is a student-friendly grammar and workbook designed to give learners a firm foundation on which to build a real understanding of both spoken and written German. The reference grammar section offers clear explanations of key grammar points while a separate exercise section gives students the opportunity to test themselves and put into practice what they have learned. This new edition has been revised and updated throughout. Explanations, tables and exercises have been improved and a number of the authentic texts and illustrations have been replaced by new material. Key features of this second edition Written by highly experienced lecturers in the field, Essential German Grammar is an invaluable resource for intermediate and advanced students of German (CEFR levels A2 to B2, ACTFL Novice High to Intermediate High). It is designed to function equally as a free-standing grammar or as a foundation grammar for Hammer’s German Grammar and Usage and is suitable for both classroom use and self-study.

Genres: German Literature, Reference, Linguistics, Language, Germany

392 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2002

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very good for a very thorough explication of German grammar. However, this is not optimal for self-study imo and would be best paired with teaching.

[Kugan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does what it says on the tin

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this one months and months ago! But the thing about Grammar books is that you don't usually read them start to finish. This will be a great reference work, but it is set out in a way that makes it quite hard to read more than a few pages at once.

What this is not: this is not a guide to teach yourself German. It is wrongly set out for that purpose, for a start. Early chapters go through all the structures of German sentences that can happen, but I think it was not until chapter 10 that we finally had a discussion of word order that made sense of all those structures.

There are exercises and chances to practice what is presented, but if a student were handed this book and nothing else to learn German, I don't expect they would get very far.

Still it is a thorough grounding in the grammar of the language, and having read it once, I hope I will feel confident to go back to those sections that I only have a hazy recollection of to try to really get to grips with the grammar.