Using a dictionary - ba

Using a dictionary
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What dictionaries do I need?
If possib le, yo u sho uld buy tw o d ict ion ar ies: a good bil ingua l dic tionary an d a good
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Englis h-English dict ionar y. T he bilingual dic tionary is q uicke r and easie r for you to
understa nd ; th e En glish-Eng lish d ict iona ry m ay give yo u more informatio n abo ut a wo rd or
phrase, a nd it is a lso a good idea for yo u to wo rk in Eng lish as m uch as p ossible. He re a re
some current reco m men ded Eng lish-Englis h dictionari es:
Larg e dictionaries
Cam bridge International Di ctiona ry of En glish
Longman Dic tio na ry of Contem porary English
Collins COBUI LD Eng lish Dic ti onary
O xford Adva nced Lea rner's D iction a ry
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M edium -sized dictionaries
Co llins COBUILD Essential Dic tiona ry
Oxford Word power Dictionary
Lo ngm a n Active Stu dy Dictiona ry
What information does a dictionary give me?
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•
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the mea ning, e.g . ho mesick == unh appy w hen yo u are away fro m hom e for a long tim e
th e pr o nunci a tion , e.g. ch a os /ke ros/, dreadful /dredfu lI, isla nd /arlond/
t he part of speec h, e.g. di rt y ad] (== adjective), lose v (== verb ), la w 11 (== no un)
an y special gra m ma tic al feat ur es, e.g. advice (U) (== unco unta ble)
common co lloca tions (word par tners), e.g. yo u do hom ewo rk [NOT you ma l<e homework ]
ex amp le p hrases or sen tences, e.g. It was such a big me nu, 1 didn't kn ow wh at to choose.
op p osi tes (where th ey ex ist), e.g. po lite (;t imp o lite/ru de)
Note: In mos t English-English d iction aries fo r fo reign learners, collocations a re usu ally
sh own in bo ld or italics, or t hey a re included in the ex amp les given after th e defini tion.
pronu nciation
,------­
p art of speech
~
grammatical feature
seat fFuRNlfYREJ / si:t / n ICI an item of furni ture that has
defin ition
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been design ed for someone to sit on . Chairs, stools, sof as _ _ _ and benches are d iffer ent types of seat. _ A ll the chairs are
taken - I'm afra id you 'll ha ve ta use th is table as a seal , • A
car usually has a driver's seal, a front /passenger seat
and ackl r ear sec ts. • Why don 'tvou sil down an that seal
r there uih ile we're waiting? • The ha ll 's q UIte fu ll - I
can 'I see an,v em pty seers, • My ticket sa,vs 22D bur there's
a lready someorudn (= si tt in g on) that seal. • Is th is 'seal
free /taken ( = Is an yone using it )?_ Would you keep (=stop
- t - - - - exa mp les
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collocations
C
How should I use my dictionary?
H ere are so m e ideas to help you.
• W he n yo u lo ok up a word, p ut a ,/ ne x t to it . Eac h time you return to a p age wi th a ,/
look at it quickly to check th at yo u re m ember th e w ord.
• If yo u see an English word in a text , first try to guess the meaning, and carryon reading
to see if yo ur guess see ms co rr ect. Use yo ur di cti ona ry to ch eck th e m ea ning .
• If yo u lo ok up a w o rd in a bi lingua l dict io nar y an d get sever al d ifferent words in yo ur
own langu age, lo ok up the word in your mo no ling ua l dictionar y. T his sh ould help you to
decide w h ich word in yo ur o w n lan gua ge is t he nearest tra nslation in thi s co ntext.
• Rem em be r that m a ny words ha ve more th an one mea ning, a nd th e firs t mea ning in th e
ri;rt-;r\.", ..... .. .. ,.. ; ....
r"I _
t-
.....
1..T1,., uC' t- h ~
r'\ rl O::>
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1"'\11
"IU " r"'1-
P"" .... ..-J ... h_ '""' . . ..... l-,
...L
... J :££_
If you find th ese exerc ises difficult, it may mean th at you need to practi se using a d ictionary
more often, or you need to buy you rse lf a better dicti ona ry.
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Use a dicti onary to find /check th e answers to th ese qu estions. (T he y ar e all based on wo rds
from th e opposite page.)
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3.2
W ha t d oes dreadful mea n?
H ow do yo u pr on ounce lose ? (Is it the sa me as 'cho ose' or 'c hos e'? )
W ha t pa rt of speech is choose ?
W hat part of speec h is hom esick ?
Hom ework and cha os ar e bo t h no un s, but w ha t ~ of noun are t hey?
W hat ad jectives are o ften used before cha o s? (G ive tw o.)
W ha t tw o pr epo sition s are often used after choose ?
\X'rite do wn a sentence examp le of ch oo se used with a pr epo sition .
When you look up a word, yo u can also use your dictionary to in cr ease yo ur vo cabul ar y b y
learning related word s and ph ra ses. Find out if your dictionary hel ps you to ans w er th ese
questions, als o about w o rd s from the opposite page.
1 Choose is a verb, but w ha t is the noun with the same meaning?
2 Advice is a no un, but w ha t is the verb with the same meanin g?
3 Advice is also un co untab le, but you can make it countable usin g ano ther w o rd . Ca n yo u
com plet e thi s sentence: ' He gave me a very useful.
of advice.'
4 W hat adjective is form ed from cha os?
5 Wh at is th e opp osite of d irty?
6 W hat is th e di ffere nce between hom ework and housework?
7 W hat is th e op posite of lo se a ga me ?
8 W ha t is th e o pposit e of lo se we ight ?
9 Law often ap pears in th e phrase law and
, Wh at is th e missing wo rd?
10 If yo u want to sit at a tabl e in a ca fe and you see th at one person is sitting t he re already,
bu t ano ther sea t is em pty, w ha t ca n yo u say to the pe rson sitting dow n ?
3.3
In th e word 'is land' /arl snd/, th e letter 's' is silent (= not pronounced). Use th e p ro nu ncia tio n
guide in yo ur dicti on ar y to find th e silen t letter s in ea ch of the se words. (Do not includ e th e
letter 'e' at th e end of a word. )
knife
bo m b
psyc ho logy
rece ipt
cas tle
do ubt
wrist
ca lm
N ot e: Stu dents o fte n ask if th e letter It' is pronounced in 'often' . Some peop le p ron oun ce it,
others don 't. W hat does your d ict ionary sa y?
3.4 Look at th e en try for suit on the right, then match the definitions with th e sentences on th e
left.
1 I'm afra id bl ack doe sn 't suit me - my
hair is th e wr on g co lo ur.
2 A: I' m not go ing, so don 't as k me again.
B: O K. Suit yoursel f.
3 If w e hav e th e meeting this aftern oon,
would 2 .30 sui t you?
suit' v [Tl , to be acceptable or CONVt:N1ENT for a particular person or in aparticular situation: Finding a date
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ttuu suus us all is very difJicull.l Buy a database program
to suit your needs. Isuit sb (fine) spoken (=be completely
acceptable) "Eighto'clock?" "Tiuu suus mefine: "Isuitsb
down to the ground (=be exactly right for someone)
YUP. this liutecar suits medown to the ground: 2 (not in
passive] to make someone look attractive: Tluu roal re­
ally suus Paul: IRed suits
)'OIL
-see
FTT "
(USAGE)
3 weilibestlideally suited to have the right qualities to
do something: Dirk would be ilkaUy suiied UJ lJu Job.
4 suit yourself spoken used to tell someone they can do
whatever they want to, even though it annoys you: "I
don '/ really feel like going
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c:"rt-----=h'c:
~v 1Jt"1:"
OUI after all. .. "Suit yourself."
; t"l' ''''t-rPtn I t f\ f:;t \11.011 In . ... ..........
IV">. ... ... '
...
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