Product Description

With more than 1 million copies in print, the new, updated edition of this all-time best selling language book of Spanish verbs is now printed in two colors for increased ease of reference. The most important and most commonly used Spanish 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 Spanish verbs, helpful expressions and idioms for travelers, and verb drills and tests with answers explained at the back of the book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99286 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 670 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, Spanish

From the Inside Flap
(back cover)
Learning Spanish is Twice as Easy with This Helpful 2-in-1 Combination!

The easy-to-use reference book gives you:

Customer Reviews

The Most Important Book For Spanish Students And Teachers
Without a doubt, 501 Spanish Verbs is the most useful book available to a student of the Spanish language. It is not just for students, however. I have heard that even fluent professors have had to consult this book at one time or another because they were confused about how a word was conjugated. Verbs are the backbone of the Spanish language, and if you don't know how to conjugate them, people won't understand you. I take this book with me whenever I go on vacation to Spanish speaking countries, and it has proved infinitely useful during conversations where I didn't know how to say a verb. Spanish speakers are incredibly patient if you don't understand them and need to look something up, and this book is definitely the most helpful.

I should also add one thing: This book unfortunately does not distinguish between verbs commonly used in Spain, and other verbs used in Latin America that mean the same thing. An example is abrasar (to burn or light) and abrazar (to hug). I was telling a Colombian security guard that I was lighting fireworks, and he was confused. Turns out I was saying that I was hugging fireworks. Abrasar is only used in Spain. In Latin America the word for lighting or burning something is Encender. I hope this book helps you as much as it did for me.

It is a "must have" for the serious Spanish student!
I bought my first copy of this book in 1987 and I wore it out! One could not ask for a more complete and comprehensiver verb reference book. It is put together in an easy to follow, comprehensive manner. It begins with a concise explination of each tense (simple and compound) with examples for each. That alone is reason enough to warrant owning this reference. It then goes on to fully conjugate 501 verbs in each tense, with one verb per page, listed alphabetically. So, for example, if you forget the irregular command for of the verb "dar," no problem, just look it up under "d." And there it is along with the verb's meanings, all its conjugations, and examples of idioms commonly associated with this verb. I studied Spanish for ten years and used it all the time. Now I am a Spanish professor, myself, and I still keep it on top of my reference books and reccommend it to all my students.

Showing its age...
Kudos to 501 for being the bible on Spanish verbs for so long, but it is in dire need of an overhaul. Obviously, what's happened is the publisher feels it can just coast on this books notoriety and rake in the dough. I assume profits are good as the book is rather poorly printed on cheap paper. Imagine a book typed with an old 1940s manual typewriter and you'd be close.

Another weakness is that the book does not have example sentences, so there is no way to see the listed verbs in context. This combines with rather short definitions to cause a problem. An example: I looked up the verb 'colegir' and it says 'to gather.' Every other dictionary I own says that the primary definition is 'to infer.' Worse, the facing page has 'coger' which it says means 'to sieze, grab', etc. No mention that in much of the Spanish speaking world this is actually an extremely vulgar word for 'to fornicate.'

At the end of 501 there are a few verbs listed with idiomatic expressions but it looks like kind of an afterthought, much like the included phrasebook (why would you lug this tome around when you can just buy a pocket-sized phrasebook for a few dollars?)

I would give this book a miss and instead buy The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs, which is essentially a heavily updated version of 501. It gives numerous sample sentences for each verb, provides you with a full extra page of idioms etc. on the 'top 50' verbs, is a much higher quality printing, includes many more verbs, better explanations and definitions, etc.