Collins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary, 9th Edition (Collins Language)

I'm studying French again, this time by translating articles from French-language newspapers. This dictionary has a lot more content than my others.The only thing I don't like is that the paper is thinner than my other large bi-lingual dictionary. The pages aren't see-through, just a little lighter weight than I'd prefer.I specifically bought an earlier edition because of the comments about see-through pages on the new edition.

I had the Collins Spanish dictionary and liked it so much I immediately purchased this one as well. I had been so frustrated by the limitations of the usual pocket type dictionaries, which are only of limited use in most cases. Once I settled on the need for a full sized dictionary, it was just a matter of which one, as there are several choices. I went to B&N to see dictionaries in person, I figured the French version would be set up pretty much the same as the Spanish dictionary that I already had, and it was.So what do I like? First, there are 820,000+ entries and translations, so you will find pretty much any word you want to look up (unlike with the smaller, more limited dictionaries). Entries are in a medium dark blue, which I like a lot. Part of speech is quickly identifiable. There are great sample sentences in bold black with their meanings in plain black. The examples and idiomatic phrases are excellent and extremely helpful. When using this for an advanced French class, for translation work French to English or English to French, for just finding out the meanings of words while reading, you simply cannot find a better dictionary. I looked up the same word in several dictionaries for comparison of presentation, and always liked the Robert French one the best of all. It was much easier to find the word, easier to see which particular meaning applies, and the only negative thing (which cannot be overcome!!) is the size and weight of this 2200+ page tome. It's a serious dictionary, and definitely not wanted or needed by everyone. Then there is the price: Here on Amazon, it's about $23 less than in the bookstores, which of course, sell for the full price (that was true at B&N).

The Collins-Robert Unabridged covers contemporary usage much better than its competitors:  Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary , Larousse UNABRIDGED FRENCH/ENGLISH , and  Harrap's Unabridged French to English Dictionary . It also includes all the bad words, ranked on a scale of one to three asterisks. "Darn" gets one star, "damn" two stars, while "f***" and "baiser" get the full monty, three stars. Very useful for telling you what not to say. BTW, Collins-Robert has entries for "the full monty", "BTW", "énarque", "mobile phone", and "all your base are belong to us".If you're just looking up words while reading, you'll want something smaller. But what a wonderful dictionary for browsing! One word leads to another, then another, and when you look up, hours have gone by. If you want to know the nuances of usage, especially shifting between French and English usage, this is the bomb. (Sadly, it does not include "this is the bomb". It's a little stronger on British than American slang.)

This is the definitive and ultimate French English dictionary. Bought it for a French class at the recommendation of the instructor, and it was incredibly helpful! entries include common usage, synonyms, and cultural sayings (think: "frog in the throat" is "cat in the throat" in french). This was helpful due to the many times that a direct translation will not suffice; the entry that you find will show you the appropriate phrasing for what you actually mean, allowing you to avoid "franglais".

Sign alot of petitions in French and the people sometimes send me emails. Wanted someting to help me understand them and thought this would do the trick. Large, thick, extremely heavy book - I think I got too much info here, but plan to keep looking up words. My problem is not knowing French past, present, future, and other grammar.

Helps a lot, little bigger than I thought but that's my fault taking my last year of college french and this saves me everytime

A very good book for those who really want to learn the in and outs of the French language. I love using dictionaries like these when I'm reading a French novel and want the particular definition of a word or phrase.

This is an excellent dictionary- very complete and easy to use as it's laid out very well. I'm an intermediate student of French and there is much invaluable material herein. Being unabridged it's not a dictionary one would carry around much but it's a wonderful reference that contains many examples of usage. I highly recommend it.

I have now used this dictionary many times whilst following an advanced French course and it is really excellent. Very comprehensive and a very wide vocabulary of words and phrases including up to date and some relatively obscure terminology. I love the hints and tips and explanations which help very much when translating. I bought it to replace a much older version, which had served me proud, but was now out of date.The book is very heavy though, with quite thin pages as I guess it has to be, but it is obviously a book to be kept at home or in the office for reference rather than carrying around.

Bought by me as a gift for Xmas from my daughter. So much better than the smaller dictionaries and great for helping me with "Conversational French" lessons.

a great reference book with slang and idiom helping you to speak a much more natural and modern language

...so far so good...school recommended this dictionary.. it was sealed in wrap when i received it, and I like the paper quality of this dictionary too

It is in great condition and mailed in a timely fashion. My daughter loves this edition for her study French.