These dictionaries were available for sale at the NAU Bookstore on January 15, 1998. Note that they are not listed under the number for our course; rather they are in the general Reference section.

Key to Features Examined

  1. Name.
  2. Date.
  3. Price and format.
  4. ISBN (identifies book to booksellers).
  5. Are irregular verb forms (like pude) included alphabetically?
  6. Mecha as a joke (check on Latin American Spanish)?
  7. "Boot" as a verb (check on computer terminology)?
  8. "Estrafalario" (check on breadth of vocabulary)?
  9. "Cursi" (check on informal vocabulary)?
  10. "Este" as an adjective?
  11. Amo as a verb?
  12. Other features. (Does not include features directed at Spanish speakers reading English.)

Recommended Dictionaries

Remember that the larger dictionaries contain more definitions and more examples of word use.

Unabridged Dictionary: Harper Collins Unabridged

Hardback Dictionary: New World (Hardback)

Paperback Dictionary: New World (Paperback)

All Dictionaries Examined:

Unabridged Spanish-English Dictionaries.

  1. Larousse Gran Diccionario; "más de 400.000 traducciones."
  2. 1993.
  3. $59.95; large hardback.
  4. 970-607-371-X or 2-03-420200-7.
  5. No.
  6. In the phrase "aguantar mecha" only.
  7. ¡SÍ!
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Summary of Spanish grammar (18 pp.), including verb tables with endings highlighted and very thorough treatment of irregular verbs; weights and measures; monetary units.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. Harper Collins Unabridged.
  2. 1997.
  3. $55; large hardback.
  4. 0-06-270207-6.
  5. ¡SÍ!
  6. ¡SÍ!
  7. ¡SÍ!
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Spanish Pronunciation and Spelling; "Language in Use" (a guide to usage), with references in the body; The Spanish Verb; Aspects of Word Formation; numbers; weights and measures.

Link to Key to Features Examined

Hardback Spanish-English Dictionaries.

  1. Random House Latin-American Spanish Dictionary.
  2. 1997.
  3. $22; hardback
  4. 0-679-45294-X.
  5. No.
  6. No.
  7. No.
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. The Basics of Spanish Pronunciation (13 pp.); very brief (<1 page) guide to irregular verbs.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. American Heritage; "featuring Latin American Spanish and American English"
  2. 1986.
  3. $22; hardback.
  4. 0-395-32429-7.
  5. No.
  6. ¡SÍ!
  7. No.
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Notes on Grammar and Usage (9 pp.); Verb table, irregular forms highlighted; numbers, weights, and measures; common abbreviations; Orthography; Pronunciation Guide.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. New World (Hardback), 2nd edition.
  2. 1996.
  3. $24.95, hardback plus CD (for Windows 3.1; playable on Win 95).
  4. 0-670-86962-7.
  5. ¡SÍ, and identified!
  6. No.
  7. ¡SÍ!
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. "Summary of Spanish," including pronunciation; prefixes; suffixes; geographical names and adjectives.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. Langenscheidt New College. Based on Smart Diccionario Espñol-inglés, English-Spanish, Barcelona: Océano, 1991. Claims particular attention to Latin American Spanish.
  2. 1991; reprinted 1995.
  3. $18.00; large hardback.
  4. 0-679-4389-7-1.
  5. No.
  6. ¡SÍ!
  7. No.
  8. No.
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Infinitives in text keyed to conjugation tables; list of idioms and proverbs, technical discussion of pronunciation, using International Phonetic Alphabet symbols, review of grammar (brief), list of endings, verb tables, History of Spanish language.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. Langenscheidt New Standard, enlarged and updated.
  2. 1988.
  3. $18, small hardback.
  4. 0-99820-052-3.
  7. No.
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Spanish abbreviations, Spanish proper names; numbers; fractions; verb tables; weights and measures.

Link to Key to Features Examined

Paperback Spanish-English Dictionaries.

  1. Larousse Concise; "120,000 translations."
  2. 1993.
  3. $10.95, paperback; hardback also available.
  5. No.
  6. No.
  7. ¡SÍ!
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Verb tables; omits regular forms of irregular verbs; verbs in body keyed to tables.
  1. Larousse Pocket; "80,000 translations"
  2. 1997.
  3. $5.50; smaller paperback.
  4. 2-03-420800-5.
  5. No.
  6. No
  7. No.
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Irregular verb tables.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. Wordsworth; reprint of Harrap's Concise.
  2. 1991; reprinted 1993.
  3. $7.95; paperback reprint. Legibility of type poorest of any examined.
  4. 1-85326-338-9.
  5. No.
  6. ¡SÍ!
  7. No.
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Summary of Spanish Grammar (17 pp.), verb tables, irregular forms highlighted.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. Harper Collins, College Edition, "completely revised for American Spanish"
  2. 1990.
  3. $14.00 paperback; hardback also available.
  4. 0-06-276509-4; hardback 0-06-275507-4.
  5. No.
  6. No.
  7. ¡SÍ!
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Brief pronunciation guide; list of irregular verb forms, numbers.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. New World (Paperback), 2nd edition.
  2. 1996.
  3. $5.99, small paper.
  4. 0-451-18168-9.
  5. ¡SÍ, and identified!
  6. No.
  7. ¡SÍ!
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. "Summary of Spanish," including pronunciation; prefixes; suffixes; geographical names and adjectives.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. University of Chicago, 4th edition.
  2. 1987.
  3. $8.95, large paperback.
  4. 0-22-610402 8.
  5. No.
  6. ¡SÍ!
  7. No.
  8. No.
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Infinitives in text keyed to conjugation tables; list of idioms and proverbs; technical discussion of pronunciation, using International Phonetic Alphabet symbols; review of grammar (brief); list of endings; verb tables; History of Spanish language; good discussion of American Spanish.

Link to Key to Features Examined

  1. Pocket Langenscheidt.
  2. 1985.
  3. $11.95; small paperback.
  4. 0-887229-103-1.
  5. ¡SÍ!
  6. No.
  7. No.
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. ¡SÍ!
  10. ¡SÍ!
  11. No.
  12. Spanish abbreviations, Spanish proper names; numbers; fractions; verb tables.

Link to Key to Features Examined

On-Line Dictionary

  1. Langenscheidt's New College.
  2. Not stated.
  3. Free.
  4. Here's the link to it!
  5. ¡SÍ!
  6. No.
  7. No.
  8. ¡SÍ!
  9. No.
  10. No.
  11. No.
  12. Link to sentence translator.

Link to Key to Features Examine

This page Copyright © 1998 Daniel Eisenberg. Please report errors or omissions: daniel.eisenberg@bigfoot.com. ¡Mil gracias!