Cambridge Latin users: Do you use the Cambridge Latin Grammar text?

[Catherine]

Ds and I am more than halfway through unit 1, but I think he needs a bit more explicit grammar instruction. I'm wondering about the Cambridge grammar text and how useful it is.

[latinteach]

Ds and I am more than halfway through unit 1, but I think he needs a bit more explicit grammar instruction. I'm wondering about the Cambridge grammar text and how useful it is.

"A Student's Latin Grammar" is similar to other Latin reference grammars in that it is divided into sections on morphology (formation of words, ie. all the charts) and syntax (formation of sentences).

All the charts you need are there, but this grammar reference is particularly strong in explaining syntax. In order to read and translate Latin you need to be able to understand how the words fit together with each other to make phrases and clauses and sentences. "A Student's Latin Grammar" is written in contemporary English and thus probably more easily understood by beginners than the 19th century grammars (Allen and Greenough, Bennett, Gildersleeve, etc.)

Additionally, there's a section on Word Order and Sentence Structure. For those of you puzzled by word order, this section shows you some common patterns and variations.

The fourth section includes information on how to use a Latin-English dictionary and lots of helpful vocabulary lists that have a grammatical focus (predicative datives, adjectives with special cases, principal parts of common verbs, cognates, pronunciation notes, rhetorical devices, etc.)