Practice Makes Perfect: French Pronouns and Prepositions (Practice Makes Perfect Series) 1st Edition

Working through this book brings back memories of junior high school when I first struggled with many of the concepts covered here. I wish that resources like this had been available back then -- my life would have been easier.I only have a couple of qualms about this volume, which is why I assigned only four stars.First, it has errors that should have been caught before publication, such as this example sentence on page 11:"Je ne n'ai pas ceux dont tu as besoin."A native French proofreader would instantly have spotted the superfluous "ne" above.Second, some of the examples, while technically correct, sound awkward and not at all like any actual French person would speak or write. Thus, from page 76:"Les lui avons-nous communiqués?"But the pronoun information is generally helpful, and I understand that it's necessary to contrive examples to illustrate various rules.The second part of the book, addressing prepositions, is competent, and acknowledges with refreshing candor that much of the material simply must be memorized -- there is no particular logic, for instance, to why certain verbs normally are followed by "à" whereas others are followed by "de" and still others by no preposition at all.There are a number of exercises throughout with answer keys in the back.All in all, a fairly inexpensive tool that offers useful help with two of the more significant bêtes noires of students of French.

It is a good book. But The preposition section is a bit lacking. Eg. Unit 16 Common Prepositions - I actually expected more explanation of the "one-word" prepositions. All that was there was a list of the "other" prepositions with their translations. Some words have more than one meaning depending on the context. Eg. "Pendant" can mean "during" or "for". There could be more explanation. I RECOMMEND "The Ultimate French Review and Practice". It covers and explains a bit more.

I've found this book very useful. I'm fluent in both English and Spanish so I understand verb conjugation and have a fairly broad vocab. Yet I felt like a three year old grasping to make sentences. This book helps fill in the spaces, making you sound more fluent and boosting confidence. The workbook style is effective in helping you to remember. I would definitely recommend to anyone willing to put in the effort needed to learn french. It's well worth it.

I'm an intermediate speaker of French (native English speaker). While I wouldn't normally buy a book written in English to learn French, I thought it might show me where I was erroneously applying English sentence structures to French sentences. I was wrong.My main issue is that this book does not delve very deep. If you know enough French vocabulary to complete the exercises, you already know the basics of French prepositions, which is what this book will give you in the preposition section. But it's more a set of lists than an explanation of the logic underlying preposition choice. Consider this bizarre excerpt:=============To describe how to do something, with is translated by de:Jé l'ai remercié d'un sourire.I thanked him with a smile.Il a quitté la salle d'un air triste.He left the room with a sad look.D'un geste, elle lui indiqua la porte.With a gesture, she showed him the door.The preposition with is left untranslated when describing a way of doing things or carrying oneself.Il avance vers eux, les manches retroussées.He is walking toward them with his sleeves rolled up.Elle le regarde, les yeux écarquillés.She is looking at him with wide eyes.============So, if you're describing a way of doing things, do you use the preposition "de" or no preposition at all? Are both always grammatically correct? If not, what makes "with wide eyes" a no-preposition expression whereas "with a smile" merits a "de?" Annie Hemmingway and her editors at McGraw Hill obviously didn't think it was very important, because you won't find the answer in this book.My other issue, along a related vein, is the answer key gives a single answer for each exercise, when there are in many cases two or more answers that are correct. So you might understand how to phrase a sentence correctly in French, only to unlearn that correct sentence structure to replace it with another that is no more correct.I wanted to give this book one star, but it isn't wholly without merit, since it does provide lists of prepositions, albeit with very sparse explanation, that some students might find useful. Nevertheless, I don't think you should waste your money on this dubious text.

helpful

This is a very handy workbook, simple and fun to use. If you want more advanced, go to"Le Francais Correct: Guide Pratique: Grevisse", 5th edition, 2007

I like this book. Good exercises and good format.

Love the Practice Makes Perfect range of language books. I have them in 3 languages now and use them both for my learning and also as a teaching aid. Clear and thorough, explained simply with well constructed exercises. A true all rounder for foreign language grammar learning.

Most grammar books cover a lot very quickly with just a couple of examples. This book covers a smaller area but very thoroughly. The workbook format encourages you to write on the book but at it's minimal cost, that's fine. Fairly heavy going, as you'd expect but by the time you've worked your way through this, you will have a good A level understanding of pronouns/prepositions. Recommended.

Excellent book to revise

Your fluency in a language is always betrayed by your prepositions. This is a great book for helping get them right.

Good book to read whilst studying the French language.

Great product

I recommend this helpful book to learning French. It is easy to follow and will re-enforce and speed up assimilation of the dreary part of language learning.