Modern French Grammar: A Practical Guide

By M argaret L ang and I sabelle P erez . Second edition. London, Routledge, 2004. xvii+302 pp. Pb £17.99.

This new edition of Margaret Lang and Isabelle Perez's grammar incorporates some changes which are likely to make it more student-friendly than the first edition. The basic approach remains a functional one, which, in my experience of using the grammar with first-year students, suits the motivated, independent student, but can be off-putting for the less confident, or less thorough student. It suits a communicative approach, providing an ideal starting point for the production of authentic spoken language. The grammar has a clear introduction, with a new note on register (supported by an indication of the level of formality after some examples in the body of the grammar where the absence of such an indication may lead to misuse): this is followed by a glossary which is unfortunately rather too brief to allow the less advanced reader to make best use of the index. The grammar contains two main parts: Section A takes the form of a traditional reference grammar, its two subsections concentrating on the noun group and the verb group respectively (the first edition's initial section on ‘the sounds of French’ now being held back to the end of Section B). The innovative Section B takes a functional grammar approach, with three major divisions into Exposition, Attitude and Argumentation. There is plenty of cross-referencing between the two sections, and in this second edition there is also a very useful addition, in both sections, of notes, separated from the main text and intended to clarify particular difficulties, or explain a point of grammar which features in an example. More regular use of such notes would be welcome, especially in Section B. The examples are well-chosen throughout, however, and accompanied by sensitive translations which do not leave room for ambiguity. The verb tables, conveniently located before the index rather than in the verb group section, while not seeking to be comprehensive, are especially good, each verb being set out across two pages, and hammering home conjugation patterns by listing all forms of each verb, even for tenses such as the past historic and the perfect, which are often covered sketchily, to students' frequent frustration. On the whole, small but significant modifications here make this second edition much more accessible than the first. In particular, section numbers, to which both the contents page and the index refer, are more clearly highlighted, to avoid confusion with page numbers. The index, however, because it has to cover both traditional and functional sections, is not more intuitive to use, and, as a result, grammar points can be difficult to track down, despite good use of cross-referencing and bold type to draw attention to lexical items listed within grammatical categories. A more thorough understanding of grammar is required to make effective use of the index than the publicity information suggests is necessary, or than the glossary provides. In sum, this grammar is excellent for advanced students, and would form a useful support to a more familiar traditional grammar for less advanced students.