The Portuguese Concise Dictionary

I've seen the edition that the picture depicts, and the binding is very flimsy, however the copy that was shipped to me looked a bit different, and had a MUCH more reinforced binding. I'm just so incredibly happy with this book! The breadth of vocab is just amazing for a learners dictionary, and even better, the words are ALL defined in context! Oh, it's just so wonderful. This is like a linguist's wet dream come true.

This is a great book. While it is a little larger than I would want, it has everything I have needed while here studying abroad in Brazil. It has helped me in my school work and with learning new words. Definitely would recommend it.

I have made 12 trips to Brazil since 1998 and have used this dictionary for most of them. Although a bit bulky for travel, it is truly encyclopedic in scope and nearly always provided me with the translation I need. A dictionary, of course, won't teach you grammar, and for that you need to look elsewhere. The dictionary is also unusually helpful in that it reflects Brazilian Portuguese as it is actually spoken, meaning that it has many slang and "dirty" words that many dictionaries won't include. I agree with several of the reviewers that the binding is very poor and that the pages started to come loose after only moderate use. None of them have fallen out, although they are still loose and will fall out if I am not careful. This is definitely a flaw that the publishers should correct.

What do Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tome e Principe, East Timor, Macao, Guinea-Bissau, Goa, Diu, and parts of New England (U.S.A.) have in common? Well, if you didn't know already, these nations and territories encompass the Portuguese-speaking world, and if you are looking for an excellent, well-researched Portuguese-English dictionary on the market,Harper-Collins' Portuguese-English dictionary is simply the best one out on the market. Recently revised and redesigned, the dictionary offers the best coverage on Portuguese vocabulary, grammar, and structure that other famous foreign-language dictionaries such as Lagenscheidt and Oxford have never been able to grasp. The book, which is in a condensed collegiate edition, is great for its' classification of usage (e.g. it distinguishes words used in Brazil vs. those used in Portugal), and the book's overall design is excellent. Other dictionaries don't take the time and organization in clearly stating where each word is used in the Portuguese-speaking world, and unless you're well known with Lusitanian and Brazilian norms, then not including this classification will make it more difficult when learning or using the language. If you need the best Portuguese-English dictionary on the market, then you have found it! Somente o melhor dicionario no mercado!

I work in a restaurant where over half the staff is Brazilian. They are wonderful people trying very hard to learn English, but between my intermediate Spanish and minimal Portuguese and their scant English, we sometimes slam into a language barrier. This dictionary has had every word we've ever wanted to translate, including slang, vulgarities, and just random words that are hard to explain to someone who's not native to this country, yet the dictionary itself not heavy or oversized. You could easily carry it around with you when traveling. The definitions also include all of the possible contexts and different tenses (eg "bouncing" as well as "to bounce"). In the front of book there is a pronounciation guide, but it is just that: a guide. I looked it over, but it was too lengthy to really be an effective quick reference for pronounciation. The only other complaint I have is that the dictionary is starting to fall apart from so much use! (To be fair, we are a little hard on it - throwing it around and such.) But if you need an excellent, accurate, and extensive Portuguese-English English-Portuguese dictionary, this is the one to buy.