La Conjugaison Pour Tous (French Edition) [French]

The Bescherelle is the must-have French verb conjugation book. It is used by French schoolkids so I was surprised when I saw that my French school in Paris used it for its (foreign) students. However, it is really the best verb conjugation book out there. It does not have the flip-to convenience of 501 French verbs, but once you get the hang of it (find your verb in the back, then flip to page with conjugation of "model" verb belonging to same family), it will become 2nd nature. At first I thought that this was a disadvantage; since you are looking at the conjugation of a model verb and not of the verb itself (unless it's the model verb whose conjugation you're looking for), you miss the visual component of memorization that you get with 501 FV, which has the full conjugation of each of its verbs. Since, I have found that this is an ADVANTAGE. Memorizing the conjugation of each French verb (the 501 approach) is daunting. Memorizing conjugation by "family," i.e., associating the conjugation of related verbs, is MUCH EASIER. And unlike 501FV, Bescherelle allows you to find the conjugation of every French verb out there! 501 gives you decent coverage, but once you reach an intermediate level of French, you will find more and more verbs that are NOT in 501FV. I bought a variety of French books for study while I was in France, but left most of these behind when I came back to the States, including 501FV... but not the Bescherelle! I take it with me wherever I move, and since it's hardcover, it won't die on me anytime soon neither.

Useful, especially working with French linguistics or writing papers- conjugates any verb you can imagine and more!

I purchased this book while in France last fall. I also own 501 French verbs, which I love, but this book is great because it helps you conjugate any and all verbs. Plus, it all fits into one neat little volume. It's helpful that the instructions are in French because you learn some good vocabulary as you go along. If you also own Bescherelle La Grammaire and L'orthographe, you have a great French reference selection in a fraction of the space taken up by other books!

Indispensable. It's THE reference for verbs and verbal grammar. I much prefer it to "501 Verbs" because (1) it concisely provides each unique conjugation pattern once and only once (which makes it easier to learn the pattern), and (2) irregular forms are highlighted in red.If you haven't finished at least one year of college French (maybe two) I'd suggest that you start with the English version. There's a tremendous amount of information in the grammer section that you really won't understand well until you speak pretty decent French. What I'd really like to suggest is that you buy both versions, Use the English book until you are comfortable with the one in French and then pass it on to some budding Francophile. Bonne chance!

This book is a must for serious students of French who want to easily understand the conjugations of regular and irregular French verbs. Bescherelle's is the best I've found. I strongly recommend the French version because it forces you to read French directions instead of a translation.