Dictionary is helpful. It lets you know if words are masculine/feminine in the Spanish language and easy to read.

This is the absolutely perfect spanish/english reference dictionary. It is compact, easy to use & access.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R30GE5FXG5K9ZE Watch my video review and I will tell you what's good about this dictionary and what's bad about it.

I use this dictionary quite a bit as it is small enough to be light and easy to carry and big enough to contain most everyday words. I think that the content is good but I compared to my other (larger) dictionary by Harper Collins the paper is somewhat gray and the words don't stand out as well. Also the ink is not the most permanent so if you are not careful you can end up with gray stains on your fingertips. I would recommend spending slightly more to get something with a higher quality of paper and printing.

Great little pocket dictionary for those who don't want to carry around a heavier full-sized eng/span diction. It's not 'quite' as complete, but it's about 99% there. It's going to have all of the important words

The best SPanish-SPanish dictionary is of course the academy dictionary agreed upon by all the Spanish language academies in every spanish-speaking country. However, for smaller ENglish/Spanish, this dictionary is pretty good. It's the one I give to relatives or friends studying Spanish.

This book is easy to use and full of excellent vocabulary for a beginning Spanish speaker. On a few occasions I was not able to find the word I was looking for but I did find close substitutes and was able to complete my assignments for my Spanish class.

This is great for high school Spanish. I recommend it because of it thoroughness and price. Great for quick reference as well as travel.

This product has helped me tremendously with my homework. I am really happy that I purchased it.

The Merriam-Webster paperback Spanish-English Dictionary is an excellent reference for my high school Spanish classes. I teach 1st through 3rd year Spanish and I recommend this book to all my students. Not only does it contain 80,000 words and 100,000 translations, its comprehensive treatment and vast store of various usages and phrases is invaluable to a student learning Spanish (and a teacher teaching it). The first 20-some pages explain how to best use the dictionary, and the next 40 pages are a mini-course in Spanish grammar, punctuation, and parts of speech. And at a listed price of $6.50 it is a bargain! Besides straight definitions of words, many synonyms and idioms are included. I highly recommend this dictionary to anyone needing to translate from English to Spanish or Spanish to English.

This is more complete than my mini spanish-english dictionary, but less complete than some of the bigger ones that my classmates own. The beginning has some information about spanish and some practice activities, which several classmates have found helpful. Great price and reasonable size.

I had to learn Spanish for a business trip down to Mexico. I had to assemble the best language materials I could find to accomplish this task quickly, since I really had no time for a class.
I had to choose between Websters and Velazquez Spanish-English dicionary.
I found Websters to be much more compact and easy-to-use than the Velazquez monster dictionary that was recommended to me by a friend. I have used my Websters repeatedly.
Behind the Wheel Spanish and Conversational Spanish in Nothing Flat formed the best of the audio and written portion of my self-designed 'crash course'. It's one thing to see a definition of a word in a Spanish dictionary, but it's quite another to know how to pronounce it or use the word or verb effectively in a sentence.
I found that this and all the other materials I used were much more effective with ASIN:1893564428 Behind the Wheel Spanish/Complete Illustrated Text/Answer Keys/8 One Hour]]Behind the Wheel Spanish/Complete Illustrated Text/Answer Keys/8 One Hour

I had to learn Spanish for a business trip down to Mexico. I had to assemble the best language materials I could find to accomplish this task quickly, since I really had no time for a class.
I had to choose between Websters and Velazquez Spanish-English dicionary.
I found Websters to be much more compact and easy-to-use than the Velazquez monster dictionary that was recommended to me by a friend. I have used my Websters repeatedly.
Behind the Wheel Spanish and Conversational Spanish in Nothing Flat formed the best of the audio and written portion of my self-designed 'crash course'. It's one thing to see a definition of a word in a Spanish dictionary, but it's quite another to know how to pronounce it or use the word or verb effectively in a sentence.
A great verb reference I found was '501 Spanish Verbs'.

I bought this book to help me communicate at work. I ended up actually giving it to a Spanish speaker to help her with her language acquisition. I no longer need it at work as I have a translator now but if I ever loose my translator I'll be picking up another copy. I'm sure this would be great for traveling too.

This one has it all! An overview of the language structure, irregular verb conjugations, context-driven definitions, pronunciation guide, etc. I have been working to learn Spanish for the last five months using an excellent software product and this dictionary is a terrific addition. Additional vocabulary is very useful and their ideas about usage coincide with a fluent co-worker's views. Extremely useful.

There are plenty of books and courses that will help you learn Spanish. But there are only about 5 or 6 that I would consider mandatory if you want to learn Spanish easily. A dictionary such as Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary is one of them. If you are serious about learning to speak Spanish I encourage you to get the following:

1. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns And Prepositions
2. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses
3. Learning Spanish Like Crazy: Spoken Spanish, Vol. 1
4. 501 Spanish Verbs: with CD-ROM (Barron's Foreign Language Guides)
5. Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary
6.1001 Most Useful Spanish Words (Beginners' Guides)

That's how I built a solid foundation. Just using the above 6 tools. Everything else is supplemental but these 6 tools are mandatory. If you cannot not afford everything I listed, then for now start with this dictionary, 501 Spanish Verbs: with CD-ROM (Barron's Foreign Language Guides), and the best audio course for speaking real practical Latin American Spanish: Learning Spanish Like Crazy: Spoken Spanish, Vol. 1

I am not fluent but I am able to communicate confidently and say just about anything that I want to say in Spanish and understand native speakers unless they are speaking at the pace of rapid machine gun fire.

This dictionary has been lots of help. There are so many dictionaries that don't have the Spanish words that I am looking for. This dictionary is far from perfect but compared to the other dictionaries that I have used, I must say when using this dictionary it was less frequent that I would look for a word and not find it in this dictionary. I have some other helpful advice about using dictionaries, but this advice only applies to intermediate level and advanced students.

Once you reach an intermediate or advanced level, it is time to stop using Spanish-English dictionaries. Once you reach an intermediate or advanced level, it is time to start using Spanish only dictionaries. You'll will find it a greater challenge to look up a Spanish word and have to read and understand a definition in Spanish. The only draw back of this technique is that if you want to translate an English word to Spanish, you will not be able to with a Spanish only dictionary.

This dictionary is fairly comprehensive. My only complaint would be the print is a little small for my aging eyes...

like most of our dictionaries, this book begins with Explanatory Notes, which includes gender labels, inflected forms, pronounciation, etc. this category is followed by Spanish Grammar, which is limitlessly priceless when you move to the conjugtive verbs and forward.

an ideal tool for reeeally learning Spanish. a lot more than just conversationally.

It is exactly what I asked for; NEW. It came in a reasonable amount of time and there were no hassles.

It is exactly what I asked for; NEW. It came in a reasonable amount of time and there were no hassles.

I am a Spanish teacher and have had my students purchase this dictionary. It is wonderfully written, with very clear definition key words in English to help choose the correct Spanish word according to its use. I don't usually even have to get out the big hardback dictionary. It has most any word we need to find.

I first bought this dictionary when I was starting to learn Spanish in 10th grade. I found that it was very helpful with basic translations of nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. It gives references to already conjugated verbs often, but not all the time. The best part about it is that it's small and portable, while the worst part is that, for a more advanced student/speaker, there are quite a few words that can't be found in it. While sometimes there are phrases given that relate to a certain word, the phrases are limited.

If you're just starting out with Spanish, this is probably perfect for you. If you're more advanced and coming across a lot of idioms and other phrases that you need translated, I'd recommend the Webster's New World Concise Spanish Dictionary.

With 80,000 entries along with the compact size and low price, Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary is the best in the west, not the least in the east.
I use this dictionary constantly for all my Spanish-English needs.
I have an excellent car Spanish course named Behind the Wheel Spanish which fortunately does not require the use of a dictionary while I drive, but rather gives me all the meanings instantly.
Still, if you need a reference, this is the best for the money.
If you really want to learn to speak Spanish, then I recommend you also buy Behind the Wheel Spanish 8 CD and book version.
Great combo overall.

Okay, but the print size is too small for the average older person to easily read without eye strain. And the book is rather bulky for travel use (4 1/4 x 6 7/8 x 1 3/8).

This Dictionary hasn't let me down, whatever word in Spanish or English
I've looked up. If you want to study etemology, it isn't for you. But if
you want a handy compact dictionary that has the word you need,
when you need it, this is the one to buy.

I honestly don't think you will need anything better than this. BTW, I'm very fluent in English and Spanish so I should know. Some smart a##es will say, if you are so fluent then why do you need this? Well, I don't know every word there is in either language but I'm good enough in both to read whatever I want with a handy dictionary by my side ;)

where are the words "Podemos" and "Entiendo" in the Spanish part of the Dictionary?

Also the English part of the dictionary gives pronounciation, but the Spanish part does not.

Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary is highly recommended as a good,solid basic Spanish-English dictionary. The cost is low, the size is perfect and the contents are complete.
The most complete Spanish dictionary in the world is the Velasquez, which is simply too big for lugging around with you on your travels or to the office.
Amsco has had a good dictionary out for years and is quite good as well.
What I like about Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary is that it clearly delineates between Latin-American and strictly 'Spanish' usage.
This is an important feature to consider.
If you are interested in actually learning to speak Spanish, I would highly recommend you try Behind the Wheel Spanish 8 CD with text. The 8 CDs and text come with immediate translations but the Merriam-Webster's Spanish English Dictionary is useful in that it gives additional definitions and provides an immediate Spanish to English reference to individual words.

Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary is highly recommended as a good,solid basic Spanish-English dictionary. The cost is low, the size is perfect and the contents are complete.
The most complete Spanish dictionary in the world is the Velasquez, which is simply too big for lugging around with you on your travels or to the office.
Amsco has had a good dictionary out for years and is quite good as well.
What I like about Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary is that it clearly delineates between Latin-American and strictly 'Spanish' usage.
This is an important feature to consider.
If you are interested in actually learning to speak Spanish, I would highly recommend you try Behind the Wheel Spanish 8 CD with text.

With respect to my qualifications, I am the founder of the Learning Spanish Like Crazy method. I am also the author of several articles written on the topic of learning Spanish. And now for my review . . .

I tend to judge a Spanish-English Dictionary by the following criteria:

1. Does it provide 21st Century Spanish vocabulary words or only outdated
Spanish vocabulary?

2. Does it provide BOTH the words that are commonly used in Latin America
AND Spain or only one or the other?

Using yardstick number one this book did fairly well. I found words such as "raton" not only defined as "mouse" as in the rodent but also "mouse" as in "computer mouse." And "pantalla" wasn't only defined as a "screen" but a a 'computer monitor' as well. However, it only used the original definition of "bajar" (to lower, to descend, or to go down). It lacked the 21st century definition which is "to download."

Using yardstick number two, this dictionary did well. For the English word "block" I found the Latin American definition of "cuadra" but I also found the European definition of the word which is "manzana." Several Spanish-English dictionaries that I have used in the past only define the Spanish word "manzana" as the English word "apple," and only define the English word "block" as the Spanish word "cuadra."

It is important that a dictionary provides both the Latin American and European Spanish words. From my experience, Latin Americans tend to use
different vocabulary words from one country to another. But if you use the European Spanish word, even though they may not use the word, they will be familiar with it and will understand you.

Overall, I give this dictionary "cuatro estrellas" (four stars).

All reports come through that the dictionary was most helpful in understanding the other person's culture and traditions. The two men keep the dictionary within reach at all times.

For basic classroom use, I think the "New" Merriam-Webster's is fine and the verb references back to examples shown for irregular conjugations are quite helpful. However, while I found this dictionary somewhat useful, it fell short of my expectations and left me feeling short-changed. The upfront introduction is hard to decipher, the fonts used throughout aren't reader friendly and the overall quality of the paper used is obviously cheap. I also agree with another reviewer that the absence of any warning as to potentially offensive nouns and verbs could cause embarrassment if not something worse. Since the book does disclose familiar usages specific to locality, I think potentially vulgar usages would have been appropriate. I've also found myself returning more than once to an extremely worn pocket edition from the University of Chicago to either find words not listed or to supplement and/or clarify certain words, idiom phrases and reflexive verb definitions included in this paper back. Ironically, my purchase was intended to replace this old sidekick which I'm now thankful that I didn't toss.

... this dictionary of English and Spanish words is a good one to have. It's small, can be carried with you, and is great for quick look ups when you are stuck on a word. If you don't know a bit of Spanish already, though, you really won't benefit from the book all that much.

This is just a very basic Spanish-English dictionary. It will help with simple things, but there are much better dictionaries available.

...because that is my reaction to this book.

The pocket size is nice, however that's about the only thing I liked about this dictionary. I can't believe how often I can't find the words I look up. Also, if you hold the Spanish-English pages with your fingers, it is half as thick as the English-Spanish section, and it has a very cheap feel to it.

I also have the NEW WORLD "CONCISE" SPANISH DICTIONARY, and even though it is a little bigger, it is much much better. I bought this one because I gave my CONCISE to a relative. I ended up buying another CONCISE.

In terms of value for money, this is a very good dictionary, but do not expect too much. I bought the dictionary to help me work through a recent spanish novel set in the middle ages and written in a literary style. About half of the words I looked up were not listed in this dictionary.

This dictionary is simply excellent. It's one of the best bilingual English-Spanish/Spanish-English dictionaries I've ever seen on the market - better than VOX's, Cassell's, Oxford, and other brands. The reason it's better is because the definitions are clearer, more precise, and easier to use. The dictionary is laid out in the typical Merriam-Webster format. Example phrases are given with many definitions, and definitions of idioms are also given under word entries, with the idioms highlighted in bold.

Since Spanish pronunciation is very regular, the dictionary doesn't give any pronunciations to the words, but the English words all have standard IPA pronunciations.

This dictionary, though, seems to be aimed slightly more at native English speakers. There is a good overview of Spanish grammar and pronunciation at the front, but there is no English grammar tutorial in Spanish. Also, the appendices all have English headings, and so does the preface. Disregarding the front and back matter, though, the English-Spanish part of the dictionary is an excellent decoder of the English language for Spanish speakers, while also helpful for English speakers (some other dictionaries, like Langenscheidt, specifically designs one of their sections to either "decode" or "express" another language, but this dictionary does both). In the English-Spanish section, examples of English idioms are given to help Spanish speakers, and vice versa.

I really found this to be an dispensable resource. Looking up a word is really fast, and you get a clear, accurate, precise, and Merriam-Webster styled translation. ?Muy bien!

I have to write in Spanish occasionally for work and this is an easy-to-use reference book. It will be a main guide for me. Great.

The title says it all. I like that it's written for english/spanish and spanish/english. I bought a second book for someone who speaks spanish and is taking english classes in school. She said it helps her a lot. It works for both of us. Definitely get this book.

A must have for my self study project. Trying to teach myself spanish. My learning curve is steep and this book at my fingertips at home or at work helps me translate my thoughts to Spanish. Very happy that I bought it.

The dictionary is very helpful, and has many of the words that I need to find a translation for. It is a great product.

My daughter is learning Spanish via computer curriculum and my rusty memory. This book has been a tremendous aid in building vocabulary, as well as bringing understanding to the conjugation of verbs. Its ease of use makes her bring it to our workplace so she can converse with the bilingual people there.

For what this is -- a generic foreign language dictionary, it serves its purpose and serves it well.

While good in every other way, this dictionary is missing a vital part for anyone who wants to be able to communicate without embarrassment. It neglects to warn of vulgar words and phrases. It skips from "shirt" to "shiver" in the English section. On the Spanish side, it fails to tell that, while "coger" is a perfectly ordinary and acceptable way to say "to take" in Spain, it is very vulgar in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. There are many other examples, but it is not necessary to cite them here.
Whether you are looking to offend or looking to avoid offending, Merriam-Webster's will not help you. Always check. If this feature is missing, keep looking. The University of Chicago Spanish-English Dictionary, Cassell's Spanish & English Dictionary , and others do list and warn of vulgar and extremely vulgar words in both English. Whatever they cost, they are a much better buys.

In my Intermediate College Level Spanish course this dictionary has proved very helpful.

For use in my English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, I bought several different dictionaries. I find that both I, and my students, reach for this one much more frequently than the other references available. Even for twice the money, you will have a hard time making a better choice.

I have tried Amsco, University of Chicago, and the hefty and all powerful Velazquez
dictionaries. All are good in their own right but I prefer Websters Spanish-English dictionary for the price and contents.
I disagree with other reviewers who state that the dictionary must also include pronunciation guides.
I will say that it is useful NOT to try to learn Spanish from a dictionary alone.
One assumes that one is already using another means of acquiring Spanish and using the dictionary as a supplement, not as a main learning source.
My main learning source happens to be Behind the Wheel Spanish which provides translations on the CDs and text but doesn't come with a dictionary.
Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English dictionary would work well with any course, recorded or live. I would also recommend it as a traveling companion to any Spaniish speaking country.

This is a fantastic dictionary. I spent quite a bit of time on amazon researching the best Spanish/English Dictionary. This one lives up to all of the positive reviews below.

I have found this to be very helpful. One nice feature is that if you look up a conjugated verb, it actually appears in the dictionary with a cross reference back to the unconjugated verb.

It also has several tenses of the words, so you can say the right thing even if you're wanting to speak in the past tense. I also like the sample sentences that it gives for many words...you can easily see how the word would actually be used.

It's also conveniently small in width and height. But still packs a lot in!

This book packs a lot of bang for your buck. Being the third dictionary I've owned, I am very pleased. Contains great phrasing examples and is well-organized. Has 80,000 entries, including modern terms and expressions. And it's small enough that you can pack it around with you! I highly recommend this as your choice of dictionary.