Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive review
Review: And easy to follow--I've been away from the formal study of French for several years, and this book really has helped me to dust off my grammar. Great for someone who already knows some French, and refreshing not to have to start with level one, as in most books. The exercises have lots of repetition but don't get dull.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for a "refresher" in French
Review: Having taken over 10 years of French lessons through elementary and secondary school, I learned the grammar and had a decent vocabulary. However, after 5 years off of French lessons while attending university, I found myself struggling to form even simple sentences. I bought this book because of its many (many!) exercises and complete "answer key" for instant feedback. It is organized almost exactly the way I learned it in school which I find very helpful. This book would be very difficult, however, for people with absolutely no background in French. It truly is for the intermediate level. The book does not have much help for people with poor vocabulary skills in French, but it will drill the grammar into you, if you're diligent about regularly doing the exercises. That being said, if you own a dictionary and a verb conjugation book, the combination of those plus "The Ultimate French Review and Practice" would be a ***** combination.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent resource and review
Review: I am trying to relearn my French after many years. I am taking lessons and bought this book to reinforce what we are doing in class. It is excellent. The descriptions are clear and complete. There are zillions of exercises in each chapter with the answers in the back so it is easy to get instant feedback on how you are doing. I spent the morning working through the exercises on the IMPARFAIT and I think I have finally pounded it into my head. I definitely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Exactly What I Needed
Review: I bought this book to relearn all the grammar I used to know. Having had six years of French (last class was ten years ago), I needed something that would take me through grammar lessons fairly quickly. This book does that. This is a handbook on grammar and conjugations. It follows a simple pattern for presenting material--it provides short lessons with examples, and then gives 8-12 practice exercises (with answers in the back of book), and so on. This book emphasizes grammar over vocabulary, but translations are provided for the words that are used in examples and exercises. Translations also appear for idiomatic phrases. I learned of this book by researching the materials used in upper level French composition classes at various universities. This one came up several times as a companion to the literature that students were required to obtain. Here are the contents of Ultimate French Review and Practice: Part I, Verbs--Basic Forms and Uses: 1. Present tense, 2. Present tense of irregular verbs, 3. Negative sentences, 4. Interrogative sentences, 5. Imperative, 6. Passe compose, 7. Imperfect; imperfect versus passe compose, 8. Reflexive verbs, 9. Future and conditional; conditional sentences, 10. Pluperperfect, future perfect, and past conditional; conditional sentences, 11. Passe simple, 12. Present participles; uses of the infinitive. Part II, Nouns and Their Modifiers Pronouns: 13. Nouns: gender, number, and articles; uses of articles, 14. Stress pronouns; subject-verb agreement, 15. Possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, 16. Interrogative adjectives and pronouns, 17. Adjectives; comparative and superlative, 18. Object pronouns. Part III, Other Elements of the Sentence: 19. Numbers; time; dates, 20. Adverbs, 21. Negative and indefinites, 22. Prepositions; prepositions with geographical names. Part IV, Verbs in Two-Clause Sentences: 23. Relative clauses, 24. The present subjunctive, 25. The past subjunctive; literary subjunctives, 26. The subjunctive (continued). Part V, Idiomatic Usage: 27. The passive voice and substitutes for the passive, 28. Important idioms and proverbs. Don't be fooled by the price. This is a great resource.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely THE BEST
Review: I don't know if I can begin to describe how great this book really is. I bought this on one of my many days spent at the language section of Borders. I had considered buying it after seeing it on Amazon for quite some time but I didn't really feel I would be ready for it as it stated that it's recommended for intermediate and advanced learners. Well that was about a year before that day at Borders. I skimmed through it, and WOW! It covered just about everything in French grammar and answered all of my questions. It even helped me find new questions that I hadn't realized and answered those ones too! But then there came the little problem of money - I wasn't about to shell out forty dollars for a grammar book on the French language, no matter how many of my questions it answered. So I looked at the price tag... TWELVE DOLLARS! The publishers did not skimp on quality at all, because the book is very durable. It's not made up of cheap pages that disintegrate at the slightest sign of moisture, like the pages in my beloved-but-very-fragile Larousse pocket dictionary. The book starts out by explaining the conjugations for the verbs, something I thought was rather elementary but it really does help. French is full of irregular verbs that are used in everday speech and the conjugation of these verbs can be a real task if you don't know the right rules. Most of the irregular verbs in French actually have rules on how to conjugate them and their relatives, making it seem as if French is the most gramatically regular language in the world. This book teaches you those rules and provides the necessary exercises for remembering them. And while I am on the subject of exercises, this book has a plethora of them. My hand actually gets doing all the exercises, which perhaps is the book's only flaw. Don't feel obligated to do all the exercises though if you feel you're a faster learner. Some of them are actually rather lengthy so if I feel I've mastered the material I may only do half of an exercise. Also, sometimes it can help to create your own exercises or notes for material that you just CANNOT grasp. For example the distinction between the passé composé and the imparfait is virtually non-existent for me, and while the book really does do a thorough and concise job of explaining the two tenses, the concept is just too foreign for me. So I make my own notes and exercises and still keep my faith in the book. At the end of each chapter there are two challenging activities. In the first you translate English sentances into French, something that is actually more challenging than one may think. The second is an oral exercise where the writer tells you to talk with a friend about a certain subject while using a certain tense/verb/etc. I'm a solitary learner so I didn't find this of very much help to me, but I imagine that if you were using this book with a friend or another student it would prove to be very beneficial. I really do swear on this book and it has taken place as my Bible. EVERY and I mean EVERY SINGLE French student should have this book. There are no excuses for not having it on your shelf. Even if you are beginning you'll soon find that this book comes in handy, espeacially for the first two chapters on verb conjugation. It's cheap, it's durable, it's concise. It is perfect.
Rating:
Summary: good grammar review for intermediate students
Review: I had been looking for a French grammar book for some time that offers clear, concise reviews of verb tenses, etc... to brush up on the common mistakes I made. This book offers all that and on top of that, it is the book used in my current French course taught by a native French speaker. The price is hard to beat!
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Summary: Le plus meilleur!
Review: I had French in college for 1 year, I was trying to find my class notes to review what I had learned. Since I couldn't find them, I searched for a reference book and this book is exactly what I was looking for! It covers a lot of grammar rules (and their exceptions), the conjugation of verbs in all tenses (from passé composé to pluperperfect tense and more), rules for definite and indefinite articles, and lots of good examples and exercises (with answers on the back)! I specially liked the "note culturelle" sections. It even comes with a French idioms chapter. The authors did a great job on this book and the price is excellent! I wish I had had this book back in college, but now that I have it, I know it will serve as a lifetime reference. I strongly recommend this book for anyone seriously studying French!
Rating:
Summary: good review for grammer, light on vocabulary
Review: I studied in French a few years ago, but haven't used it in quite a while. I picked up this book for a refresher, and have found it to be an excellent review of grammer. The exercises are practical, and the subject matter is relevant (IOW things you might actually hear and say). The book does touch on some vocabulary, but it is assumed that you already have a basic understanding of French. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has already studied French, and wants to brush up their grammer skills. Not for the beginner or someone who wants to focus on vocabulary.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic price on a frantastic book!
Review: If you have already studied French and want to strengthen your skills, this is the book for you. It would also be a good supplementary text for first, second and third year students of college level French. Better than most books that cost twice it's price, it not only gives you clear, well thought-out, and well organized descriptions of all the essential grammar points in French, it also includes copious exercises to drive the points home. This "workbook" aspect of the book is an invaluable asset, since once you have understood the grammar point, you still need to practice it a bit make it second nature. I guarantee that if you work you way through this whole book and absorb its contents, you'll have a very good grasp of French indeed. Coupled with something like the Pimsleur courses, a person could get quite fluent is six months of solid daily study.
Rating:
Summary: Accurate Title, Excellent Book
Review: If you're new to French, this isn't your book. They're not kidding when they call it the ultimate review. But if you're a solid intermediate in the language and want to freshen your chops, you won't do much better than this title. The material is clear, with exercises that boost your communication skills (unlike the stilted palaver I was force fed in my first few years of French--e.g., "J'ai un crayon. Mon crayon est jeune." Very useful in conversation.) And the authors include contemporary advertisements and brief articles to get you used to the language as it is actually used today. On the other hand, if you are a beginner, and have the money, buy the Comprehensive Pimsleur French tapes (cher, mais excellent) and this book. The only other thing you'll need is France.
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