How to Use a Dictionary
Why do we use a dictionary?
The dictionary is a very important key to the doors of the words world.
In a good dictionary you can find many information about words lie:
* the meaning of a word that you see or hear
* the translation of a word in your language
* the spelling of a word
* the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb
* the grammatical information about a word
* the synonym or antonym of a word
* The use of the word in a sentence or a phrase or a question
Finding words quickly
This skill that you need to practice. First you need to know the English
alphabet perfectly. Use the guide words at the top of dictionary page;
and keep practicing until you can find any word with 10 seconds.
Finding the right meaning of a word
Some times when you look up a word in the dictionary you find more
than one meaning. If you are not sure which one is correct, do the
following:
First, check through all the meanings and find the one that makes most
sense in the context where you found the word.
Second, if you really want to make sure, think what the word is in your
own language.
When to use the dictionary
If you look up every new word you see or hear, you will spend your
whole day with the dictionary . When you find a new word while
reading, finish the sentence or the paragraph. If didn't guess the
meaning and it still seems important, then you can look it up.
When you hear a new word in class, or the teacher has written it on the
board, wait and continue listening. What the teacher says next may help
you to understand the word. If you look in your dictionary, you will not
hear what comes next, and this will make understanding the lesson
more and more difficult.
If you think the word is important, you could copy it from the board or
write how you think it is spelled. Then later you could ask the teacher or
another student what it means.
How to find a word in the dictionary
Words are in large bold type at the upper top left side of any page to
help you quickly find a word in Dictionary. The first of these two words
show you which is last words to be found on that page.
Understanding definitions
Once you have found the word you are looking for you need to
understand how the information about it.
For example, the word:
peaceful/'pisfl/ adj 1 not wanting or involving war, fighting or disorder: a
peaceful demonstration
1. peaceful - the defined word
2. /'pisfl/ - the phonological transcription of the word
3. adj – the part of speech ( look for the list of abbreviations used in
your dictionary on one of the first pages )
4. not wanting or involving war, fighting or disorder : definitions of the
words .Different meanings of a word will be separated by numbers.
5. a peaceful demonstration – an example phrase using the defined
word
Prepared By:
Asma Al Faraj
English department HTNI
References:
1. http://els.fis.edu/learners/advice/dic.htm
2. http://esl.about.com
3. http://library.thinkquest.org
5. Oxford Wordpower Dictionary