When I first read these reviews it convinced me to buy this book. Though it is very useful the only problem it has is it's presentation. if it were presented like some of the other verb 501 books like Spanish, Italian, French, etc.. this book would be golden. Thus this book is hard to follow. don't get me wrong it is a good book but its potenial was not fully realized.

On the whole, I use this book as much if not more than I do the dictionary. The reason is simple: you get the shoresh and the binyan with every single verb, a must in a university level Hebrew class. This book probably won't be much use to the beginner (it's real value lies with the shoresh and binyan/gizrah, and, to a less extent, with the past and future conjugations of the verbs). However, if you ever plan on getting past the bare bones basics (i.e., if you want to be able to say more than "Shalom" and "Ayfo ha Mesahdah?"), then you will want to pick it up. The reason I gave the book four stars is that it was written left to right as opposed to the more correct right to left. However, while this is quite unnatural, it can be overcome.

Since most of us who are involved in Hebrew study use a reference book like this constantly, why is it in paperback? Even with careful handling, a thick book like this doesn't stand a chance in paperback. Within a year the owner must contend with loose pages, as others in my class have also discovered. If this problem were corrected, I would immediately rank this as a 5-star book because it contains many verbs along with their vowel markings, and it is far easier to use than Tarmon's Hebrew Verb Tables. (It's good to have both books!) Another problem: Many verbs aren't listed in the index, even though they are actually in the book. This can be frustrating--especially if a person isn't sure of the root of a word. But, aside from these two problems, the book is indispensable to the student of Hebrew!

Like I said, get the 501.

The 201 is way out of date. Get the 501 instead.