How to use a dictionary

Now that you are in the Advanced- Program, you will have to get used to consulting a dictionary. The dictionary
will be your « best friend » while you learn English. There, you will find all the words that you do not know.

A dictionary is arranged in alphabetical order and since you know the alphabet, you will be able to find the
words that you are looking for, very quickly. If you look at any page in your dictionary, you will find that it is
divided into two or three columns.At the top of each page, there are two words that are called guide words,
one over the left hand column which is the first word on that page, and one over the right hand column which
is tha last word on the same page. The guide words are for you to know whether or not the word that you want
is on that particular page.

The division of words in English is made by syllables, and the dictionary does it for you. A word that is
pronounced as a single syllable cannot be separated. You will notice that in the dictionary, the syllables of a
word are separated by hyphens or periods. For example: pro-jec-tor. You will also notice the accent mark on the
syllable that is stressed when the word is pronounced.

Words of many syllables may have more than one stressed syllable. For example: pró-letá-rian. The syllable
that has a dark accent mark receives the strongest stress. The unmarked syllables receive the weakest stress in
the word.

Beside each word, you will find its phonetic spelling. At the beginning of your dictionary, there is a section
called « Pronunciation Key », that you must study to become familiar with the marks used. This will be enable
you to produce the correct pronunciation. In English, some consonants have several sounds, and all the vowels
have more than one sound.

Immediately following the pronunciation, you will find symbols which indicate the parts of speech: n, for a
noun; adj, for adjective; v, for a verb; adv, for and adverb, etc. There are words that may be more than one part
of speech, depending on how we use them. Often, a word has more than one definition or is defined by
synonyms. When you look up the meaning of a word, you should choose the definition which agrees with the
use that you want to give to that particular word.

The dictionary indicates the plural of irrgular nouns which do not follow any rules. For example: if you look up
the plural of the word goose, you will find it as follows: pl. geese.

We hope that these helpful clues on how to use a dictionary, will lead you to a better command of the English
language.
 Questions

1. Are you used to consulting a dictionary?

2. Is it difficult for you to use a dictionary? Why or why not?

3. How are the words in the dictionary arranged?

4. What do you see at the top of each page in a dictionary?

5. How do they help you?

6. How are words divided in English?

7. Name some ways in which the dictionary can help us?

8. What can we find at the beginning of the dictionary and what is it for?

9. What comes after it?

10. How are the syllables of a word separated in a dictionary?

11. Is it possible to consult the pronunciation of a word in the dictionary? If so,

explain how.

12. Do the words in English have only one meaning? Explain.

13. What should we do when we look up the meaning of a word?

14. When learning ESL, should a bilingual or an English dictionary be used? Why?

15. How does a dictionary help you when learning a foreign language?