Modern Hebrew: An Essential Grammar

Well written, detailed enough. Nice layout.

Very good quality book.

This is a very readable intermediate reference grammar of Israeli Hebrew. I read straight through it in an effort to get a feel for the differences between Biblical Hebrew, which I know pretty well, and Modern Israeli Hebrew, which is quite distinct. I am reviewing the 4th edition, which was updated in 2016, so it is quite up-to-date as of 2020, when I am writing this review.Lewis Glinert divides the presentation of the grammar into two levels. The first level is basic and the second level gives more details. Glinert makes it clear in his preface that the student who wants an advanced level of detail should refer to his "The Grammar of Modern Hebrew" (ISBN-13 978-0521611886).Though this book is not a graded textbook of Israeli Hebrew, it does have exercises, with a key, at the end, as well as a vocabulary list, for those who want to get some practice with various points of the grammar. I have not used these so I have no opinion about their quality.

This seems to be the best basic Hebrew grammar for English speakers. The author's explanations are easy to understand and the jargon is limited. The organization of the book seems along the lines of how you might learn the language in a college course with "level one" and "level two" concepts rather than by grammatical function. Also, there is no Hebrew language index and the English language index is cursory and refers confusingly to "sections" rather than page numbers. These organizational flaws make it difficult to find what you need.

Every nuanced question that I’ve had since I started learning Hebrew is clearly outlined in this book. I’ve asked native speakers “how do you say this, or can it be said like that?” many times, but it’s never been truly explained to me. It’s an expensive book, but unless you live in Israel and can immerse yourself in the language, this book is essential. Most importantly, it helps with saying “English/American” phrases which cannot be translated word for word- so you won’t have to over-translate (add it omit extra words). Deep, thorough book.