Eric Vogt

There is an indication on the back of the book that this is for intermediate to advanced learners of Spanish. One good thing about this book is that, in order for (especially intermediate) students to not worry about verb tenses in order to focus mostly on pronouns, the author often provides the exercises in the present indicative tense, though you'll sometimes have to translate using other tenses. Even an ¨advanced¨ student might want to keep a dictionary nearby though to look up a word once in a while (although the book doesn't have unusual words on every page). The book doesn't have an English-to-Spanish or Spanish-to-English glossary like other Practice Makes Perfect books do.

Some of the things I like about the book:

Like always in PMP books, answers are in the Answer Key at the back of the book. Answers aren't always just given in this particular book though; they are often explained with some detail, which is extra helpful to students, especially those who are not yet at an advanced stage.

The explanations are very clear, with examples. There are many varied exercises for practice and I like how sentences are sometimes broken down into parts so that things are more easily understood.

Here's what the chapters include:

Chapter 1 is about subject pronouns (yo, tú, ella, usted, nosotros, etc)

Chapter 2 is on reflexive object pronouns - how to use verbs that, in the infinitive, end with se (such as aburrirse, caerse, cepillarse, etc)

Chapter 3 is about direct object pronouns (me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las)

Chapter 4 is on indirect object pronouns (le, les, me, te, nos...)

Chapter 5 is on four uses of se:

1) Reflexive (for example: Ellos se lavan los manos. Se las lavan. = They wash their hands. They wash them)
2) Pseudo-passive (for example: Se rompió la ventana = The window got broken.)
3) Impersonal (for example: Se alquila casa = House for rent.)
4) Emphatic (for example: Juan se fue corriendo. = John took off running.)

Chapter 6 is on pronouns as objects of prepositions (and explains what changes occur when pronouns are the objects of prepositions)

Chapter 7 is on Demonstrative, possessive, and interrogative pronouns
1) Demonstrative examples : Ésta es la mejor camisa. = This is the best shirt. .. Ése es el más guapo. = That one is the most handsome.
2) Possessive example: La bicicleta es mía = The bicycle is mine.
3) Interrogative pronouns are words used to introduce a question, the purpose of which is to find out the identity of someone or something (like ¿Quién...? and ¿Qué...?)

Chapter 8 is about relative pronouns (which refer back to a previously mentioned noun)
Example: John gave me two guppies that reproduced quickly. (the word ¨that¨ is the relative pronoun)
In Spanish, there are five relative pronouns in common usage (que, quien, quienes, cual, cuales)

Chapter 9 is on indefinite pronouns (a word that stands in for some noun that refers to someone or something vague or nonspecific like alguien, nadie, algo, nada, cualquiera, etc)

Overall, I think this is a thorough, well-organized book on Spanish pronouns with lots of opportunity to practice.… (altro)