Teach Yourself
German Verbs
Silvia Robertson
McGraw-Hill/Contemporary 1994
Paperback, 266 pages
ISBN: 0-8442-3635-7
Originally published in UK by
Hodder & Stoughton Educational

The title of this handy reference book could also be "201 German Verbs" – and it is a worthy competitor to that well-known series. In many ways I like the "Teach Yourself - German Verbs" edition better than its rival. For one thing, I prefer the clarity and organization of the "Teach Yourself" edition. But the clincher is the inclusion of sample sentences, idiomatic phrases and related words for each of the 201 commonly used German verbs covered in detail. "German Verbs" also includes a glossary of some 3000 verbs with their meanings and forms.

In addition, I believe that the section entitled "What are verbs and how do they work?" is worth the price of admission almost on its own. Author Silvia Robertson provides clear and succinct explanations of all the important facets of German verbs. From "Tenses" to "German verbs and their prepositions," this book covers just about anything you need to know about the care and handling of German verbs. Each topic is covered in a thorough and easy-to-understand fashion.

Let's take a verb at random – in this case "holen" – and look at what we get in addition to the full conjugation in various tenses and moods. The entry for "holen" (to fetch) includes these examples:

Holen Sie schnell einen Arzt! Fetch a doctor quickly!
Sie holte Brot vom Bäcker. She got the bread from the baker.
Holen Sie tief Atem! Take a deep breath.
Bei ihm gibt es nichts zu holen. He's too poor to give anything away.

abholen to collect [pick s.o. up], meet
sich erholen recuperate, recover
aufholen to catch up
wiederholen to repeat

The above example points out both strengths and weaknesses of this book. The example sentences are very helpful, but since this reference was originally published in the UK, it uses British English for its translations. But this a minor drawback for North American readers, and the book's strengths far outweigh any weaknesses (which include not using the new German spelling).

Although our readers can refer to our free online verb references (Modal Verbs and Strong German Verbs, among others), there are times when there's no substitute for having a printed book in front of you. If it's a printed book you want, I can recommend this book very highly. It's a good buy at a very reasonable price (US $7.95 / CAN $11.95, subject to change).

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