Dutch: A Reference Grammar of Dutch With Exercises and Key (review)

Although this grammar is intended for both beginners and intermediate learners of Dutch, I would recommend it only to students with some prior knowledge of Dutch. It contains adequate and clear explanations of different grammatical topics of the Dutch language as well as some vocabulary items that may pose problems to native English speakers such as the translation of English to put, for example. Whenever appropriate, tables are added, and plenty of examples are provided along with English translations. In the foreword, the author claims that this grammar is meant to be practical and user-friendly. Usage of grammatical terminology is left to a minimum, and thus this book is an excellent reference work for students with a limited foreign language background.

The arrangement of the grammatical points is not that good, unfortunately: All topics are arranged alphabetically in short separate entries. As a result, one does not get an overview of one particular category. For example, the verbal system is treated in approximately fifteen different entries, spread all over the book, with the present tense listed under ‘P’, the future tense under ‘F’, etc. Each alphabetical entry is numbered, and for each entry, there is a set of exercises in the back of the book. Such an approach results in exercises that are very specific and in which students always know exactly what is being tested. There are no more general exercises that test a variety of grammatical topics at once. A key to all the exercises is provided. It is unclear why the author selected this arrangement since there still is an index at the back of the book.

As stated before, this book is suitable for intermediate learners of Dutch and as a review for more advanced students. The didactic guide for beginners included in the book does not appear very helpful. There is no systematic treatment of the differences between southern and northern Dutch which may, among others, be relevant when it comes to the usage of masculine and feminine grammatical genders. I would use this grammar as a textbook for a foreign language class and would supplement it with Dutch readings as well as with grammar exercises of a more general nature. It is unfortunate that the key to the exercises is in the book. It would have been nice if it were available separately.