Spanish Essentials for Dummies - (For Dummies) by Gail Stein & Cecie Kraynak (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Your no-fuss guide the the essentials of Spanish!

Learning a new language is a fun and challenging feat for students at every level. Perfect for those just starting out or returning to Spanish after time away, Spanish Essentials For Dummies focuses on core concepts taught (and tested on!) in a typical introductory Spanish course. From adjectives and adverbs to understanding tenses and asking questions, students will skip the suffering and score high marks at exam time with the help of Spanish Essentials For Dummies. This guide is also a perfect reference for parents who need to review critical Spanish concepts as they help students with homework assignments, as well as for adult learners headed back to the classroom who just want to be brush up on the core concepts.

The Essentials For Dummies Series
Dummies is proud to present our new series, The Essentials For Dummies. Now students who are prepping for exams, preparing to study new material, or who just need a refresher can have a concise, easy-to-understand review guide that covers an entire course by concentrating solely on the most important concepts. From algebra and chemistry to grammar and Spanish, our expert authors focus on the skills students most need to succeed in a subject.

From the Back Cover

Learn:

• The basics of Spanish grammar and sentence construction
• How to conjugate regular, irregular, and stem-changing verbs
• To express ideas about the past, present, and future

Presenting the core concepts you need to write and speak Spanish correctly

If you have some knowledge of Spanish and need a refresher or want a quick reference for grammar and verb conjugation, Spanish Essentials For Dummies contains what you need to communicate effectively. With its focus on everything from constructing sentences to conjugating verbs, this easy-to-follow guide will help you ace writing assignments and tests, and master conversations.

• Spanish 101 -- get the lowdown on the basics, from expressing the date and time to counting to one million
• The here and now -- learn how to communicate in the present tense with verbs and subject pronouns, and how to form the present progressive
• Way back when -- get guidance on working with the past tense, including hints about when to use the preterit and when to use the imperfect
• What lies ahead -- discover the different ways to express the future, whether you need to form the future tense of a regular verb or just want to predict what may happen

Open the book and find:

• The parts of speech
• How to determine a noun's gender
• How to use "de" to show possession
• How to select the correct preposition
• Rules for making adjectives agree
• Tips for asking and answering yes/no questions
• Ways to spice up your descriptions
• Ten important verb distinctions

About the Author

Gail Stein, MA, was a foreign language instructor for more than 30 years and wrote Intermediate Spanish For Dummies.

Cecie Kraynak, MA, is a Spanish teacher and authored Spanish Verbs For Dummies.