The Big Blue Book of French Verbs

I have basic knowledge of French and I wish to extend my knowledge of the language. I want to read and study French books, magazines and read newspapers. I find this to be an excellent book to help me understand and communicate. The book provides a comprehensive list of French verbs showing how they are conjugated. Various examples help you to understand the usage of the verbs. If you need a comprehensive resource on how French verbs are conjugated, then you cannot go wrong with this book. The book comes with a CD-ROM with 200 exercises which helps to reinforce the learning experience.

I used the 501 Verb series in studying Spanish and French years ago. I still occasionally use those for reference. I picked this French volume up on a recent trip to Canada. Unfortunately, my copy did not include the CD, so I can't comment on whether that is a helpful tool. Many of this volume's virtues are described in other reviews. But one of my favorites is the Irregular Verb Form Index. This Index is an alphabetical list of verb forms for many verbs which are different enough from the infinitive that someone (like me) who is studying the language cannnot readily identify the infinitive. For example, while reading in French I come across the word "sachant". Most dictionaries won't have it listed since it is not itself a separate verb, but the present participle of the verb "savoir". To keep you from having to search endlessly for what verb this is, the Index lists "sachant" and identifies it as relating to savoir". Another nice feature is that for each of the Top 50 Verbs, there is a full page of examples of the verb's use as well as some idiomatic phrases. I now use this volume in place of 501 French Verbs, but you can't go far wrong with either of these reference tools.

I was searching for a book to help me with my French classes and was very pleased to find this one. The price was so unbelievable that I had to order two. I would recommend this book to anyone as a source for learning French. Yes, the book is not small, but if you are a college student, carrying books that are huge is nothing unusual. It is a fantastic buy!!!! I'm thrilled that I bought it.

The only thing I don't like about the Big Blue Book of French verbs is its bigness; the 8 X 11 format combined with the book's thickness, makes the volume a chore to carry around especially if you are usually packing a dictionary, textbook and notebook to complete your foreign language study arsenal. Otherwise, the book is great, consisting of introductory pages that explain the simple and compound tenses and provides usage examples. The bulk of the text devotes a full page to each of the 555 verbs with full conjugations and examples of regular and idiomatic usage. Verbs which fall under the TOP 50 include an extra page of examples and related words. ALong with drills to help test your knowledge of verb forms, the text concludes with three indices: an English-French verb list, and Irregular Verb Form cross-referenced by infinitive and a list of over 2500 verbs with their English translation, cross-referenced to their verb model. Its bulk intimidates, but this book is a great reference guidel its dimensions may make it cumbersome to carry about, but it is a worthy desk aid.

This is the ultimate French verb book. It's got every verb conjugated in every sense. It also rates the top 50 most used verbs, a very useful feature. It's very nicely packaged, and in my opinion better than 501 Verbs, although I have both and both are truly great resources.