Rating: 
Summary: Retraction: it's pretty darn good.
Review: As I learned more about Portuguese, especially its grammar, I picked this book up again and realized its true utility: a very concise, compact, well-organized reference.This is a complementary book to your language studies. If you are a gifted student of languages this book might be enough, but for the rest of us, this book is a sweet study tool and reference, especially if you're taking Portuguese in college.
Rating: 
Summary: The Strunk and White of Portuguese
Review: I just received this book the other day, and it is a gem. I have gone through many Portuguese and Spanish grammar books in my time and discarded most as cumbersome and unusable. This is by far the most concise, clear book of this type I have ever seen. Between the Portuguese audio course I am working through and this book, I am there! It is the Strunk and White of Portuguese and a whole lot more.
Rating:
Summary: Surprised
Review: I picked up this little gem when I bought a whole host of other portuguese language learning montrousities to try and stuff into my head, and I must admit when I glanced through it my first thoughts were ( on seeing that it was from the 60's ) OH JAYSUS!!!!! NO WONDER ITS SOOOOOOO CHEAP !!!!!!!! but this little diamond book is priceless, it is very well put together as a companion to any portuguese learning course, quick reference etc so what are you waiting for ( I'm not going to loan you mine !! )..... yes its from the last century :))but its silly cheap.... and I can't fault it on content - I haven't been caught out yet here in Brasil - if you want to nit pick ....there have been various orthographic agreements between Brasil and Portugal etc etc since this publication...so some accents may be redundant but....come on !!!!! ( besides some of the portuguese speaking countries still haven't fully implemented all their changes)
Rating:
Summary: Surprised
Review: I picked up this little gem when I bought a whole host of other portuguese language learning montrousities to try and stuff into my head, and I must admit when I glanced through it my first thoughts were ( on seeing that it was from the 60's ) OH JAYSUS!!!!! NO WONDER ITS SOOOOOOO CHEAP !!!!!!!! but this little diamond book is priceless, it is very well put together as a companion to any portuguese learning course, quick reference etc so what are you waiting for ( I'm not going to loan you mine !! )..... yes its from the last century :))but its silly cheap.... and I can't fault it on content - I haven't been caught out yet here in Brasil - if you want to nit pick ....there have been various orthographic agreements between Brasil and Portugal etc etc since this publication...so some accents may be redundant but....come on !!!!! ( besides some of the portuguese speaking countries still haven't fully implemented all their changes)
Rating:
Summary: An Inexpensive Way To Learn Portuguese
Review: Published by price-conscious folks at Dover Publications, "Essential Portuguese Grammar" is a great, compact book to learn and/or brush up on your Portuguese grammar. Considered by many linguists as one of the most difficult languages to learn due to its' many nasal verbs and differences among Brazilian and Lusitanian norms, Portuguese will require many hours of countless study before anyone can speak, read, and write like a native. Author Alexander da R. Prista does a great job compiling the essential of the language in this 114-page book. Although the small font size might be something that might make it difficult for anyone with a visual impairment to read, however the book is well researched and organized. If you're preparing for a trip to Brazil, Portugal, or anywhere in Portuguese-speaking Africa, this book makes a great buy and investment for anyone interested in travel or business in these areas.
Rating: 
Summary: Same old song and dance...
Review: This book is good in one way: it is very short and doesn't waste your time. If you want to read Portuguese, this is a useful book. If you actually want to converse with Brazilians, you're going to need a lot more than this, but I don't know that any book really and truly covers spoken Brazilian Portuguese. Most of the grammars you will find are trying to uphold the outdated ideals of so called "educated" portuguese but nobody talks like this anymore. It's as pity. If anyone knows of a book that really does this, please, do us all a favor and recommend it here. I would love to get my hands on a true guide to modern spoken Portuguese before I return to Brazil.
Rating:
Summary: Great concise grammar book
Review: This book was a valuable book in my study of Portuguese. Coming from a bi-lingual English and Spanish speaking background, this small book gave me all of the essential elements of Portuguese grammar in a concise format. I highly recommend it for your study of Portuguese, especially if you are at all familiar with Spanish.
Rating:
Summary: A great assest for the beginner or intermidiate student....
Review: This book was shockingly simplified. Many of the books I turned to only showed me how little I remeber from even English class let alone learning a new language! I been out of school a couple years and was glad to find this book even had a glossary of grammatical terms in case I needed to refresh my memory of what the heck a reflexive verb or a superlative was! You must have this book if you can relate...it really gave me a proper understanding of what I was forming language wise...taking me that step beyond just being a parrot and mimicing phrases!
Rating:
Summary: Just Great
Review: This is a must have. It has rules on conjugations, highlights differences between continental and Brazilian Portuguese, and explains the background behind grammar. It's also concise and not all that voluminous, therefore, I bring this book when I travel.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: This is the best portuguese grammar book I have come across out of my vast collection of portuguese study materials. The author simplifies the distinction between the use of various tenses, demonstratives, articles and other aspects of grammar usage through narratives and examples. This book has been absolutely essential to my learning. My fiance's family have commented that I articulate better than their relatives in Portugal. With the help of this book, I am able to write letters overseas. My fiances' family overseas are very impressed especially since I am not portuguese. I highly recommend this book. The overall format, content and strucuture is better than any language textbook I have come across.
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