Grammaire progressive du français - Niveau perfectionnement (B2/C2)

This is a brilliant grammar book. Each little section has one page of theory and another page of practice questions, which takes me about 30-45 minutes. At the end of each chapter (eg Nouns), there are some examples of texts relevant to the topic and a little quiz. I’m working my way through it over the summer holidays doing one or two sections a day, as revision before I start a French degree in September. I personally like being immersed in the French way of teaching grammar and I find the book easy to understand. I think it’s good for DALF and DELF as there is a lot in how to write essays and the all important “mots de liaison” that the French Insist on seeing scattered through texts. Be sure to buy the Corrigés as well, so you can check your answers. I have so many grammar books and this is my favourite Bon courage et n’hésitez pas

I studied BA in Translation Studies with French and Spanish. This book is great to carry on with the French Grammar and understand it even more in-depth

Very well-organised. What a useful grammar guide for those who expect to improve their French!

You can see the first 20 pages of this book via the preview (click ''feuilleter'') on the website of fnac. That will give you a very good idea of what this book is about. --There is another listing on Amazon.co.uk with a cheaper price than this listing; find it here [..] (but "corrigés" means the answer booklet, not the textbook !) As a workbook, it is based around 'communication areas' almost as often as it is based around traditional grammar categories. For example, while it dedicates one of its seven main sections to 'verbal mode' and another 'verb tense' it has no section on 'adverbs' or 'prepositions'; instead it covers them under its sections on 'place' and ''les articulations logiques'' (linking words) among other places. I think this book is very well organised, and each of its 82 'chapters', (you have explanations on one page and exercises on the other), are self-contained, making it very practical. Although I am working my way through it progressively, I suppose that if you know you have a particular difficulty you would easily be able to see where you can find help. Something like chapter 4 or chapter 6 (in section 1), dedicated to words which are often misused or misunderstood by advanced learners, might not fit into my idea of grammar. Anyone familiar with the Monique Jackman book 'Better French' (a popular book, which I would also recommend) will be familiar with this sort of thing. Compared to the Jackman book, this book really covers much more, and in greater detail - which also makes it harder work (although a determined intermediate-advanced student should be able to cope with it). I can also compare it to Hawkins and Towell's French Grammar and Usage, (another popular book although not one I'm very keen on) and its accompanying exercise book, and I can say that on areas that both books cover, this book goes into more detail and its exercises will allow you to achieve a higher level. I also find the explanations - they are always brief, this is a thoroughly practical book - far clearer. They are probably more 'statements' than 'explanations'. If you are someone who owns other advanced grammar books and you are trying to work out whether or not you will learn anything from this book, or if you are just curious as to what 'niveau: perfectionnement' might mean, here is a little test: can you write down the meaning of 'retourner', 'rentrer', and 'revenir' and are you confident that you would use them all correctly (and would not say something which translates at 'what time are you going back there again?' or ''...coming back here again?'' when you mean ''...coming back home?') How about 'Apporter, amener, emporter, emmenner'? And which do you use, 'faisait' or 'ai fait' in ''tous les jours pendant 4 heures, je (faire) du piano.'' and, how about in ''tous les jours, pendant 5 ans, je (faire) du piano,''? And the difference in meaning between 'hier, il faisait beau, je voulais sortir, mais je ne pouvais pas'' ans ''... je voulais sortir mais je n'ai pas pu''? but that is just a small sample; I'll repeat, this book is more comprehensive than Hawkins and Towell, and it also covers areas that a book aimed at Francophones, like le petit Grevisse or (in the same series) le Francais correct do not cover. Decide for yourself whether you need the answer book. As none of this is entirely new to me, and the explanations are very clear, I have not bought the answer book. The texts are mostly texts about practical everyday life in practical everyday language. Many are lively, some are rather witty.

Unfortunately the book didn't arrive with the answers booklet; you need to order this separately. Only the answers for certain quizzes are included in the book.Very frustrating, as the book already took 2 weeks to arrive, now I have to order the answers on top. Otherwise the series is very good.