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Reviewed by:
  • Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, and: Modern German Grammar: Workbook
  • Monika Smith
Dodd, Bill, Eckard-Black, Christine, Klapper, John, & Whittle, Ruth . (2003). Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. Pp. 454, $25.95 US (paper).
Dodd, Bill, Eckard-Black, Christine, Klapper, John, & Whittle, Ruth . (2003). Modern German Grammar: Workbook (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. Pp. 144, $17.95 US (paper).

The second edition of this exhaustive German grammar does not differ greatly from the first. Spelling has been brought in line with the recent German orthography reform, some grammar explanations have been expanded, and cross-referencing between grammar and workbook has [End Page 596] been improved. The grammar book itself is about 40 pages shorter, while the workbook has been expanded by 40 pages, and the index has been revised. Workbook exercises remain basically the same. The useful combination of traditional grammar with a large pragmatics section has been retained. This makes for a very large book with an overwhelming wealth of material. It is an excellent reference guide for German teachers or for serious students of German, but it may be altogether too much of a good thing for the group of learners it is supposedly aimed at: intermediate learners of German or adult students at university. According to the introduction, users of this grammar are expected to have a basic knowledge of German; what exactly is meant by this is not made clear. The workbook offers a wide range of often very imaginative exercises, contains an answer key, and is meant to be used either in conjunction with or independently from the grammar book. An excellent feature of this guide is that it assumes no previous grammatical training and provides explanations and a glossary for the grammatical terminology used freely throughout the book.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part is traditional German grammar, dealing with phonology, word order, the case system, and different word types. Confusingly, articles and determiners are dealt with under the heading 'Nouns.' The sections on word structure and word formation, as well as a short discussion of the spelling reform, are well done. Negation, especially the difference between nicht and kein, could have received more attention. The second part deals with language functions, such as apologizing, voicing an opinion, requesting information, or expressing regret, and great attention is paid to the formality levels of such expressions. The functions are given by themselves as well as in larger contexts, and good examples are offered in authentic, up-to-date German. All examples are usefully followed by good translations into English.

The combination of grammar with pragmatics and the detailed cross-referencing make this book a useful and reliable reference on most questions likely to come up in a German language class. Rules and exceptions are dealt with thoroughly, possibly too thoroughly. No indications are given as to which sections may be more or less important than others, which may lead the too-diligent student to try to learn absolutely everything in the book, including less common or esoteric exceptions. It is obviously not a textbook, or even a companion grammar to a language textbook, but a resource for teachers to dip into. It may also be useful for students working on a written assignment – a formal letter, for example. However, the vocabulary of the many examples, as well as of the exercises in the workbook, is rather above the intermediate [End Page 597] level and certainly not suitable for beginners (e.g., Kupferstich, Aussenhandelsbilanz, Fallstudie). This makes the examples and exercises more entertaining and interesting, but it also means that the student using this grammar will frequently need to consult a separate dictionary to make sense of the texts.

The cross-referencing system is good but sometimes confusing. While it is easy for the reader to find the relevant grammar explanations for a workbook exercise, it is less straightforward to find a suitable exercise to illustrate a grammar point. Because the numbering of exercises in each of the three workbook sections begins again at 1, it can take a while to find the answer in the key. As always in such cases, the key cannot give...

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