Using French Synonyms

This is a very interesting book. It lists synonyms by providing a description of any differences in nuance between the words, and ranking them according to register (from very formal to vulgar). It is a great book to browse at your leisure and study in small snippets. However, if you are looking for a complete dictionary of synonyms, this is not the book you're looking for. It is not comprehensive. However, it is not pretending to be, and instead does does a very good job of explaining the subtleties of choosing one particular word over another. In that respect, it is an excellent help for non-native speakers, for whom those subleties are not usually apparent.

I highly recommend this book for the enthusiastic student of French at any level beyond the most basic. I am teaching myself French, and one situation that has confused me is the blank wall I face when discovering in my readings various French words that share the same dictionary definition. Are the words truly identical, or are there subtle or not so subtle distinctions of meaning or "register" (formality or informality) that I need to know? I could find a native speaker to help me out time and again, but that is impractical. Instead, I was delighted to find this book, which answers these questions and does it very thoroughly. It fills a big void in the educational materials available to French students, as you will see when you look at it for yourself!