Essential Grammar Series
As a beginner, it’s a good idea to have a basic grammar reference book. This will come in handy when you need to look something up, but you could use it as a primary textbook. I use Essential Spanish Grammar
This is a thin Dover book with about 115 pages total with about 60 pages of grammar and a huge list of cognates. Cognates are words that look almost identical to the an English word and mean the same such as the Spanish word planeta which means planet in English.
It includes word order, nouns, adjectives, verbs, pronouns, “que”, expressing possession, and a lot of other good grammar points. It explains the grammar point and gives several examples in Spanish that are also translated into English.
I love this book because it does a really good job of explaining. It won’t be able to clear up difficult grammar problems, but it is definitely good for the beginner.
One of the best things about it is its price. It only cost $6. If you want to start Spanish but don’t have a lot of money, this is the book to get.
I read through it every so often just to refresh my grammar skills. It doesn’t have any practice. You will need another book if you want to have a lot of exercises, but for a base this is great. If you read through the list of cognates once or twice you will already have a pretty large vocabulary.
I like a lot of the Dover books because they are well written and are very cheap. Pick up a copy and check it out. It’s so cheap that even if you hate it, you won’t have wasted your money.
There are several other languages that come in this series as well including Essential French Grammar