The Compact Oxford French Dictionary represents a totally new approach to language learning. It is designed exclusively to meet the specific needs of the native English speaker, offering the clearest and most comprehensive guidance possible in the correct use of the French language. With 110,000 words and phrases, over 200,000 translations, and thousands of sentences taken from real speech and written sources, this thorough reference includes special detailed treatment of important vocabulary items and complex grammatical areas, and provides unique boxed usage notes within the text dealing with key areas, such as numbers, age, time, countries, and more. The English-French side of the Dictionary guides the reader to the correct translation and grammatical construction of the foreign language, while the French-English side is designed to ensure the English speaker selects the right translation for a particular context. Based on the highly-acclaimed Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary, which made groundbreaking use of electronic text collections of English and French, the Compact provides authentic examples of the way French is written and spoken today.