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Library Journal Review

The 22 academies that make up the Real Academia Española, based in nearly every single Spanish-speaking country worldwide, have put forth this new Spanish-language grammar guide-a far more accessible and user-friendly manual than the far more extensive and sometimes overwhelming two-volume hardcover from which it is drawn. The text is presented in more of an outline format, with layout following The Chicago Manual of Style: chapters are divided into sections, denoted by a period (such as 8.3), and then into subsections with further periods (8.3.2). More than a style manual, the Nueva gramática is the Spanish-language equivalent of Words into Type. To conserve space, the editors have opted to use fewer charts and tables, although readers can look forward to some in this edition. Spanish speakers of any background can also find grammatical analyses on a range of nuanced points. For example, the use of usted (the formal you) is discussed not only from a standard grammatical viewpoint but also from the cultural viewpoints of certain Central and South American countries. Strongly recommended for linguists, grammarians, and lay readers alike, as it offers something for everyone, as well as public and academic libraries and bookstores.-Vivian Gomez, Sunnyside, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.