501 German Verbs

by Henry Strutz

Book Overview

Choose Barron's for language learning-a trusted resource for over 50 years This brand-new edition of 501 German Verbs provides language learners with fingertip access to a carefully curated selection... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764102842
• ISBN13: 9780764102844
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series
• Length: 550 Pages
• Weight: 1.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Achtung!

Henry Strutz was an associate professor of languages at State University of New York in Alfred, New York, when he put this book together. The volume I have has a publication date of 1972 - this is, however, the kind of book that doesn't really go out of date. Language does change, but the basics of languages remain steady over several generations in general, and German is no exception. The basic core of the language remains constant, so this book holds up over time. Subsequent printings of this book may add a verb here and drop a verb there (given the title, it will always try to stay at 501 verbs), but the vast majority will remain the same.I studied German at university almost 25 years ago, and first purchased this book to go along with my studies. While German is fairly standard in the patterns of conjugations for most verbs, German like most languages has exceptions to many rules, including exceptions to some of the most frequently used verbs, such as the verb constructions for to be (English is the same, with this being one of the most difficult verb constructions for non-English speakers to learn). The verb sein (bin, bist, ist, sind, seid, sind) is one of the most important verbs; haben is another important verb, given its `helping verb' status (true also in English), as it occurs in constructions with other verbs.There are 501 verbs here, one each to a page, arranged in alphabetical order. From achten (to pay attention to) to zwingen (to force, compel), most of the verbs found in eighty percent or more of regular conversation and general writing are to be found here. Each page is laid out in a logical order, with indicative forms (the most common and simple forms) on the left, and subjunctive forms (primary and secondary, as appropriate) on the right. It steps through the various verb tenses: present, past (imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect), future and future perfect. Rare is the verb that doesn't follow these patterns - some verbs, such as geschehen (to happen, to take place, to come to pass) have simplified patterns given the use in parts of speech (rare is the sentence in English or in German where someone would say, `I have come to pass...').Strutz has an introduction of 45 pages (not numbered along with the verbs, but rather using Roman numerals, so that the 501 verbs can correspond to 501 text pages). This introduces a very basic grammar, a discussion of the verb tenses and their uses, different kinds of conjugations, and sets out a pattern page in English to aid users in following the German pages of verbs. In discussing word order, Strutz quotes Mark Twain, who once said of the German language, `The German goes to bed with his subject and wakes up with his verb.' According to Strutz, Twain is once supposed to have refused to leave a play, despite its being dreadful, because he was waiting for the verb. Strutz injects humour into the serious aspect of language study such as he can (how much can one do with a simple

A great German verb reference book

I believe that any learner of the German language should also own this book. This is one of the most helpful German verb books out there. As you can probably tell from the title, the book shows 501 German verbs fully conjugated.So, why should you buy this book? Any learner of the German language will definitely gain something from this book. Because it shows all of the conjugations of the German language, it is a good reference book as well as a good book for learning. I use this book to help with my German homework or if I'm writing something and I forget if a certain tense is irregular for a verb. I can just flip to the page of the verb in question and I can see the entire verb fully conjugated. I just look and see how the verb is conjugated in the tense I'm using. It is also great for finding out past participles because they cannot always be guessed simply by looking at the verb.Some added features besides the fully conjugated 501 verbs is the great section in the front which explains how and when the verb tenses are used in German. It also gives the English equivalent for added reference. I use this section to learn more German verb tenses and also as a reference to make sure I used the right tense in the right case. Additionally, the book has some grammer exercises in the back and on each verb page, it has sentences at the bottom using the verb so that you can see common examples for when it would be used.The bottom line is if you are taking a German class in school or self-studying, you should get this book. It helps greatly in learning German verb tenses and it is a great reference book for if you are unsure of a certain tense for a verb or if you want to review when a verb is used. It is clean and organized, there is an entire page devoted to each verb and each page is set up exactly the same so that you can quickly find the verb tense you are looking for no matter which verb page you are on. I highly suggest buying this book.

A "Must Have" for All German Students!

This book is a "must have" for all German students!! It has hundreds of verbs, conjugated in all their tenses with examples at the bottom of each page. In the back of the book, short grammar lessons are given on word order, separable prefixes, subordinating conjunctions and many others. There are also grammar exercises that the reader can complete and check (answers also included) and some idiomatic expressions (which are always fun to learn!) This book has saved me many hours of researching various tenses of verbs & I strongly recommend it to any serious German student!

A wonderful,invaluable reference.

I have read reviews that say this book is limited in its scope.Well, it is limited,and for good reason.This book is meant for one reason only, to give you full conjugation of 501 of the most common verbs in all tenses.If this book had included a broader scope of info it would not be so easy to use.This book is a must have for all serious language students.The one other book I strongly recommend is "750 verbs |GERMAN| and their uses". That book covers the many many meanings a verb can have and how it can change meaning with various prepositions and also gives numerous example sentences per verb/meaning.

This book is exactly what the title describes.

A quick scan of the title of this book will tell the potential purchaser all one needs to know about it. If such a reference is required,buy this book. In response to the request from "1/2 germany,the other half California",I will provide a comparison to the "750 german verbs" publication. These two books are similar in title only.The 750 verbs book does not fully conjugate the verbs in all tenses. Rather,it provides examples of the different contexts in which a verb might be used. I find both books quite useful.The question that needs to be answered is whether a conjugational or contextual reference is needed.