Quote:
Originally Posted by Twitch
The easiest to get would no doubt be one by Larousse, but I find the Petit Robert slightly more useful as it contains phonetic spellings for all the words, petit Larousse only contains them for the words that do not follow traditional French pronunciation rules. The petit Robert has also slightly more detailed definitions of each word, but the petit Larousse is packed with tons of colourful illustrations. There is also the Grand Robert, which is an insanely huge French dictionary, similar to the complete unabridged multi volume Oxford dictionaries.
LeRobert
Larousse
I assume since you are looking for a French only dictionary you can navigate these sites.
But Le Petit Robert, and Le Petit Larousse illustré are their most popular dictionaries. Petit Larousse illustré also includes a section with proper names and information on history and culture as well. Le Robert publishes theirs in a separate dictionary.
If not here are two English articles about the major French dictionaries http://french.about.com/library/revi...ngualdicos.htm
and if you prefer electronic dictionaries http://french.about.com/od/vocabular...twaredicos.htm
For the record I have a petit Larousse illustré I bought back when I was 10, and am planning on buying a Petit Robert (which costs well over twice that of the Larousse), for the more detailed and useful descriptions, at the expense of the illustrations and mini encyclopedia included in the Larousse. The new Larousses, especially after the 2005 centenary edition, are so colourful I was almost tempted to buy a new one.
But aFrenchie has access to more French dictionaries than we do in Canada, and can probably give you a more informed decision about what is out there. |
Thanks for the pile of information Twitch - that's exactly what I was looking for. I'll have to investigate those dictionaries and see which one to go for. My French-English dictionary a Larousse, and has served me quite well, though it does, of course, lack certain recent slang (it's a 1994 edition) and some alternate uses.
I'm very tempted by the section on cultural history and proper names, as that is one place where I need loads of help - language classes don't teach that stuff, so I need a good source of background information.
As you suggest, I'll be interested to hear if aFrenchie has an opinion on this one.