A la Francaise

Book excerpt: A la Francaise is designed to help English speakers to overcome numerous and common difficulties in their study of French. An impressive collection of varied mistakes made by students at both intermediate and advanced levels has shown that certain problems arise with great frequency and tenacity; these form the raison d'etre of the book. Since the errors usually stem from the English thought process, all the entries are in that language. Grammatical and lexical difficulties are presented together, alphabetically, for quick and easy reference. The explanations, in French, are as concise as possible; they are often illustrated by tables. This book is neither a grammar text nor a dictionary. Each entry deals only with the difficulty at hand. Grammatical entries emphasize essentially the differences between English and French. Lexical entries are limited to the problem created in translation. q Identifies common mistakes in French q Targets the intermediate or advanced student of French q Presents both grammar and vocabulary entries in alphabetical order q Supplements the composition or conversation class q Serves as a correcting manual and general reference