Customer Reviews:
 This is the one! October 24, 2008
If you are just starting out with Latin and need a grammar reference book, this is the one. Everything is beautifully clearly laid out and easy to understand. So it's not as comprehensive as Kennedy, but that is for more advanced students. This book makes nonsense of the oft heard criticism that the Cambridge Latin Course does not cover grammar properly. This is the best introductory Latin Grammar in existence! Just buy it!
An indispensable reference for Latin grammar January 15, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
The Cambridge School Classics Project series of books has an excellent reputation for the teaching of Latin, and "Cambridge Latin Grammar" is no exception. Although it is only 127 pages long, it is nevertheless an invaluable handbook for any student of the language, particularly for those working at GCSE standard or above.
The book is divided into three main parts. The first, 'Accidence', sets out the entire system of Latin word-endings, with a number of tables that make it easier to learn all those pesky declensions and conjugations, pronouns and irregular verbs. The second, 'Syntax', is a complete guide to all the various types of sentence construction (ablative absolutes; uses of the gerund, gerundive and supine; subordinate clauses etc.) that the student will be faced with in translation. The third part deals with word order and sentence structure - helpful if you want to try your hand at composing your own Latin. A fourth and final part covers miscellaneous topics, from pronunciation to how to correctly use a Latin-English dictionary.
There is a lot of information densely packed into these pages, but it is all presented clearly and concisely, and without unnecessary waffle. This is not a book to read straight through, but to dip into as a reference; as a result, the index has been made extremely thorough, which makes searching for the topic you need incredibly simple. Throughout the book (generally at the end of every chapter) there are a number of short exercises and further examples - excellent translation practice and especially helpful when it comes to revision, although sadly answers are not provided. At the back, too, is supplied a list of selected vocabulary - helpful for working through the book's own exercises, but for other translation work it is well worth having a proper dictionary to hand, such as the Chambers-Murray "Latin-English Dictionary" by Smith and Lockwood.
All in all, "Cambridge Latin Grammar" is an excellent guide and indispensable for any student of Latin. I referred to it extensively when studying for my A-level and found it extremely useful. Definitely recommended.
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