Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses, Premium 3rd Edition

To me verbs are the heart of learning Spanish. If you don't understand the verbs, you can miss the whole point of what is being said. But since they can be very different in how they are formed versus English verbs, I find making sense of them and how and when to use them correctly, somewhat challenging. To try and unravel the puzzle of Spanish verbs, I have purchased many books on the subject. The structure of how some of them present the different moods and tenses was to me often not very clear and straight forward-and unfortunately I was almost as confused as I was after I read those books as I had been before I did. For me, this book does the very best job I have seen of presenting Spanish verbs in a logical way, that helps make sense of all verb forms. Unlike many books I have seen on Spanish verbs, it not only tells you the changes in each form, it explains why the changes are made, which really helps me because I need to see how each individual thing works with the whole in order for it to "click" in my mind. So although Spanish verbs still take a lot of effort to learn with this book (or any book or teaching course) I felt I at least understood the structure of using each verb tense and I no longer had that "deer in the headlights" feeling when I approached a verb I thought I knew but was made totally unrecognizable to me because of the changes to its stem. I buy a lot of things on Amazon, but seldom leave reviews, but this book was such a help to me in sorting out something that had continued to confuse me because of the way other authors and courses had approached the subject that just didn't make things clear to me; I thought I should pass my impressions on to others that might be experiencing the same confusion. I just wish this had been the first book on Spanish verbs I had bought because it would have saved me a lot of time and frustration. I will add that although most of the exercises in the book will work for you -no matter if you are a complete beginner in Spanish or are more advanced in studying the language- the Translation exercises (Traducción) will be difficult if you don't already have a decent Spanish foundation to work with. While it will certainly help a beginner learn the structure of Spanish verbs, it may also frustrate them in trying to do the exercises, as they may not have been able yet to grasp enough of the other aspects of Spanish to understand and complete all the exercises . If you keep that in mind, it will help you understand how Spanish verbs are used and how to learn them. But if you are someone that gets frustrated if you can't correctly answer every question-this book might not work for you. But if-like me- you have been studying Spanish long enough to have a decent vocabulary and structural foundation in Spanish, but still find verbs challenging, this will be a great help.

The title of this book, tho accurate, doesn't do it justice. It is so much more than just verbs. I've done quite a bit of teaching, writing, editing, and instructional design. This book is very well done. The exercises are varied and effective. Take the time to actually DO them. Instead of writing in the book, I bought some notebooks and do the exercises there. I'm on my second pass through the first half of the book. You learn verb conjugation and build your vocabulary, and a bit of conversational skills, and of course reading comprehension and writing skills. Now add the Pimsleur approach and you get listening, speaking, conversational skills. It is a very good combination.

Whether starting out or refreshing previous knowledge, this book explains the fundamentals of Spanish grammar in a clear, easy and educational format. Great vocabulary, conjugation lists, and written exercises to reinforce the rules (answers in the back of the book). Purchased to supplement a class but it is absolutely clear enough to use on its own. I will keep it on hand as a reference book always. Highly recommend!

Lots of very good info - hard to access details I've gone back later to look for due to a lack of an index

I am an intermediate Spanish student, trying to kick my Spanish up a notch. This book was extremely helpful, and I did all the exercises and my knowledge of Spanish verbs improved accordingly. I showed some of the exercises to my teacher and he was impressed. He felt that the exercises were demanding and pertinent. The exercises where they give you a whole paragraph to translate are particularly good, I feel, because they push you beyond one line sentences. I think that this practice makes perfect series is good quality and I will be buying more of their books.

So far I can't complain. This book is exactly what I was looking for as far as verb tenses. I am trying to learn it naturally by reading and listening via Lingq, but this is a great resource to have to zoom in to the intricacies of Spanish verbs. I must forewarn like others have, this is NOT a beginner book. Just in the third exercise you are translating a paragraph of text, so if you don't have any Spanish knowledge going in, I'd wait before purchasing this book. Otherwise, if you are at Beginner Level 2 or higher, go for it!! I'm glad I purchased the book! And thank you to everyone who warned about the Kindle version. I purchased the paperback version and it's nice to take a break from the monitor and write responses to the exercises by hand instead of typing.

This is a great book for learning Spanish verbs. I don't learn quickly so I go back through this book year after year. What I really like is that you can download the app that goes with it and do the exercises using the app. It makes it easier to view the answers and the best thing is that if you have wifi it will read you the answer in perfect Spanish which is really important for getting your accent right. I have used this book more than any other book resource I have.

I have been enjoying this book. It goes over all verb tenses, and also irregular verbs. Each chapter is concise with several examples and exercises. The dictionary in the back is very handy and a great study guide on its own. This is an excellent companion to a more traditional Spanish text.