Product Description

The new, updated edition of this popular book of French verbs and general language guide is now printed in two colors for increased ease of reference. The most important and most commonly used French verbs are presented alphabetically in chart form, one verb per page, and conjugated in all persons and tenses, both active and passive. This thorough guide to the use of verbs features many additional references and tips, including a bilingual list of more than 1,250 additional French verbs, helpful expressions and idioms for travelers, and verb drills and tests with questions answered and explained. French language students will also find an index of English-French verbs, a section on verbs used in French idiomatic expressions, and more than 1,000 additional French regular verbs conjugated like the book’s model verbs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141274 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-01
• Original language: English, French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 720 pages

Amazon.com Review
What you see is what you get when it comes to this popular series of foreign-language grammar titles, and here what you get is 501 French Verbs, fully conjugated in every tense the French language has to offer. (That would be 28, in case you're counting.) You'll also find verb drills and tests as well as definitions of important grammatical terms, an index of irregular verb forms, lists of vernacular expressions and idioms, and much more. If you can't find the verb you're looking for in the 501 "model" verbs, author Christopher Kendris provides an index of 1,000 additional verbs that are conjugated in the same way as one of the 501. A lifesaver for anyone who does much writing in French, 501 French Verbs is an absolutely essential reference for every serious student of the language.

Language Notes
Text: English, French

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Essential
If you could only buy one French reference book, buy a good French dictionary. If you could buy two, buy this 501 French Verbs. It is a well-known theory among linguists that verbs are the backbone of any language. If you don't know a noun, fine...look it up. Verbs, however, change forms easily. They're unpredictable, hard to understand, difficult to construct. Did you forget if "sortir" conjugates like "dormir" or like "finir"? What about the the subjunctive of "faire"? There is only one solution for navigating through this jungle of verbs...501 French Verbs!

In this easy-to-understand, easy-to-use book, all your verb questions are instantly answered. In addition to fully conjugating every verb in every tense and mood, there are idioms with each verb (such as "faire des achats" under "faire"). There are quizzes in the back, as well as useful verbs and sentences for many different situations (such as "at the grocery store", or "at the hotel").

If you consider yourself a student of French at all, whether a seasoned expert (such as myself, who still uses this book every day) or just learning "etre", this book is one to keep on your shelf.

Indispensable Quick Tool to Further Your French Skills
As an adult studying French, I find this nicely sized trade style paperback indispensable for its sheer simplicity. Verb are listed alphabetically and lookup is easily fascilitated with the appearance of the verb on the left or right upper corners respectively. A page is devoted to each verb, with all of the tenses conviently arranged for reading ease. On the bottom of the page, the author cites some sentence and idiomatic sentence examples as well as a small list of verbs that take on similiar properties. The back of the book is devoted to an English-French and French-English Glossary list as well as idiomatic usage of the verbs and specific situation topics like "talking about the weather" or "buying a train ticket".

My one complaint about this series is the lack of English translation especially for tricky verbs like savoir, pouvoir, vouloir and devoir which when conjugated in the different tenses take on different meanings in English. More explanation should be devoted to these verbs, perhaps in the form of further examples. I think it would suffice if English translations of the all tenses of the verbs were simply listed next to their French counterparts. The author does discuss each of the tenses at length in the front part of the book, but for quick look-up purposes, this does not work well.

Ce livre, c'est extra!
I have studied French for over six years and I am putting in an order for this book -- for the third time.

This is the best verb compilation of verb conjugation charts I have come across. Each verb is completely conjugated into all 14 tenses in French. For those just learning French the book has detailed explanation of when and how each conjugation is used.

The appendices are just as valuable as the conjugation charts and include idiomatic expressions, and which infintives are preceded with à and de.

It is a bit pricy (that's why it is rated 4 stars instead of 5), but is still a wise investment for the serious student of French.