Sometimes I do feel a little handicapped when I want to point out why certain Spanish language books are pearls. This was in particular the case when it came to explaining the difference between the Redes Diccionario combinatorio del español contemporáneo and the Diccionario combinatorio práctico del español contemporáneo. When the "Práctico" came out I thought it more a condensed version of the first. But when talking to my customers it became apparent that there was much more of a difference than that. It appears that, and I quote my contact at the publishing house Editorial SM, "the main difference is that the "Redes" analyzes language structures and combinations from a theoretical point of view. The "Práctico" puts more emphasis on language use (and is therefore more practical), and also has more entries (14.000 whereas the "Redes" has 8.000). The "Redes" is more useful for people studying Spanish language at a higher level. "Práctico" is for less specialized 'users' of Spanish, more for those interested in using the language properly."

For those readers interested, the publisher also provided me with an article in Spanish by Yolando Lozano from Editorial SM that gives an in-depth explanation of the difference between the aforementioned titles. To read the article, please click here

Whether you are seriously into language acquisition or want to get a good grasp on the proper usage, these books are invaluable and come highly recommended by my customers. In particular the "Practico" is a must have for non-native Spanish speakers. As a non-native English speaker, I frequently consult the English equivalent The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English which recently came out in a new, revised and expanded 3rd edition.