Hammer's German Grammar and Usage (Routledge Reference Grammars) (German Edition)

I bought this 7th edition (the current one as to Sept 2024) of Hammer's German Grammar and Usage to replace the 4th edition, since both the German and the English languages change, and the German text data base continues to grow. This is a book for the advanced learner and user of German. I lived in Germany for two years when I was a teenager around 1954 (US Army dependent), majored in German at Harvard (after which I went off to medical school), and still read the language nearly every day, and speak it when I get the chance - but I still find this book heavy going. With frequent asides of "Yeah, that's how you say it, but I never understood why before" and "Uh-oh, I've been saying that wrong for the last 70 years." The book walks you through what you remember of English grammar (you DO remember the pluperfect subjunctive, of course!), and proceeds to compare and contrast how German handles the same situation, in unbelievable detail. When to say sollen and when to say müssen, which prepositions govern the genitive case in formal and informal usage, how gender and plurals happen (with the exceptions, and the exceptions to the exceptions). I find it best to read it in small doses! Every grammatical principle is followed by copious examples (sometimes translated and sometimes not), drawn from a huge data base of German texts, and sometimes followed by attributions (to individual authors, newspapers, and other public sources). An occasional minor impediment for the US user is that the translations of the examples are into British English. This is NOT a book for beginning German with (I don't know how many semesters it takes, since I didn't learn the language in school), not a stocking stuffer for your grandchild who's taking first year German. I think you need Hammer's German Grammar when you know you need it. I'd be curious to know what the book looks like to a native German, and how useful it would be for someone competent but not native either in English or in German. I noted some favorable reviews in Spanish and Portuguese.

I'm sure the authors spent a lot of time to help the learners read in what I believe to be the most effective text book.

German desk grammar reference!!++++++

Now I'm going to spend my summer studying German!

Despite being voluminous and having lots of grammatical details, the book does not have a table that lists all the possessive adjectives/pronouns (my, yours, his, her, theirs. . . ). It only lists them for the first person. There are smaller cheaper books that have the complete information on the possessives.

You can bring it up on goodreads but when you buy something for kindle it should be able to be downloaded to a kindle.

Nice affordable copy

Doy 4 estrellas. Deberían ser 5 por el contenido, pero la calidad de la impresión no es muy buena. En cuanto al contenido, lo encuentro perfecto. El libro es claro, bien estructurado y exhaustivo. Es difícil encontrar una duda que no sea resuelta por el libro. Elegí éste después de mirar otros más "amigables". Prefiero un libro muy detallado, incluso si al principio resulta un poco abrumador, que uno más "fácil" que deja aspectos sin tratar. Sin embargo, la calidad de impresión no es buena. Compré la 7ª edición en tapa blanda e inmediatamente la devolví. Las letras no son muy nítidas, tiene poca definición; y el fondo blanco está salpicado de puntitos negros. Quizá esto se debe a la decisión de que los títulos de apartados y de tablas sean en color, lo cual creo que no aporta nada. Habría preferido una edición con el texto todo en negro y mejor calidad de impresión. La versión en tapa dura, que compré para sustituir a la de tapa blanda, tiene mejor calidad de impresión, pero tampoco muy buena.

Good product but written mainly for more advanced students. A novice might find this a little overwhelming.

Antes de comprar esta gramática, eu usei a Gramática Prática Michaelis e a "Gramática Alemã" do Herbert Andreas Welker (HAW). A "Hammer's German Grammar and Usage" deixa as duas no chinelo. Ela é MUITO mais completa e MUITO mais didática que a do HAW. Sinceramente, seria uma benção se todas as línguas tivessem uma gramática tão completa e didática quanto essa. Se você consegue ler em inglês, NÃO PENSE DUAS VEZES: compre essa e aproveite.

I'm taking a German course on Duolingo which is fine but the course doesn't say much about the grammar other than learning by rote. I needed a grammar book to fill in the background and this certainly fits the bill. I did research on which grammar publication is best to buy and overall this topped the list in a number of places. If you're a serious learner you'll not be disappointed.

I can only say that the book is excellent. Thank you very much!