Introduction to Portuguese Grammar

Rating:
Summary: Complete Explanation of the Grammar
Review: This is not a bad little book - don't be deceived by its thin size. It covers Portuguese grammar completely, including those thorny items that Spanish students have trouble with when taking on Portuguese, like the personal infinitive, the pluperfect and the future subjunctive. It even covers the proper rules for accents in the orthography, and I have rarely seen that even attempted in any work designed for English speakers. What it doesn't provide you with is a lot of illustrative usages and examples, so as a stand-alone course it has its limitations. As one other reviewer says, use it in conjunction with other conversational materials, and you should be fine.

Rating:
Summary: O melhor!
Review: This is probably the best book on learning Portuguese (grammar) out there in English!

I found the lessons and explanations concise, comprehensive, and easy to understand. Each lesson comes with exercises at the end with the answer keys at the back of the book. The first chapter is dedicated to going over the orthography and phonology of the Portuguese language - a must as it works rather differently compared to the other Latin languages. And a complete glossary of the words used in the lessons is included, too.

This book is best accompanied by a collection of Portuguese and/or Brazilian music, and a book on Portuguese conversation (like Conversational Brazilian-Portuguese in 20 Lessons, also rather inexpensive) that has ample dialogue examples and practise.

The emphasis of An Introductory Portuguese Grammar is on the Portuguese of Portugal (pronunciation of Lisboa); but it includes examples and alternates found in Brazilian-Portuguese (pronunciation of Rio de Janeiro) for those who wish to study that form of Portuguese.

Those who have a Castilian-speaking background will find that learning Portuguese is a snap. :-)

The book is bound in signatures and is made to last with acid-free paper. The typography is warm and easy to read.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Ever
Review: You will love that book! You will learn basic Portuguese in just few days.