HOW TO USE YOUR ENGLISH DICTIONARY:

I- Imagine that in your text, you find the following sentence:

A complete reorganization of the judiciary system is required because of the steady
increase in the number of crimes.
a) First, analyse the structure of the sentence: subject, verb, complements.
b) Then, focus on the subject and complements; find the most important noun in each
group.
c) Finally, identify the verb form and tense: PRESENT PASSIVE

II- Now focus on the verb: deduce its infinitive form, and look it up in the
dictionary:
a) What colour is it written in? What does it mean? Cf. Introduction p.xi
(blue pages)
 written in red, contrary to other words written in blue
 means that it's very frequent
b) What do ●●● S1 /W1/AWL mean?
●●● S1 /W1
Also mean that the word is very frequent
AWL means that it's academic English
c) Give a synonym for the verb require: NEED
e) Look for the word steady; how many meanings has it got? 11
How many grammatical categories can it belong to? 5
(The list of grammar codes is on p.ii)
Name these categories:
NOUN, VERB, ADJ, ADVERB, INTERJECTION
In the context of the sentence, what is its grammatical category? adj
What does it mean in French? Stable, constant
f) Find 3 synonyms for the verb to increase go up, grow, accelerate
Where did you find them? In the purple rectangle "Thesaurus"  where you can find synonyms,
useful for written expression, to avoid repetitions
g) Now translate the sentence into French: Une réorganisation complète du système judiciaire est
necessaire/requis à cause de / en raison de l'augmentation / la hausse constante du nombre de
crimes

III- Read the following sentences: they all contain the word "light", but in different meanings.
- When Sue saw my email, her face lit up.
Quand Sue a vu son email, son visage s'est éclairé/illuminé
- Suddenly, my eyes lit upon the paper Pamela was holding.
Tout à coup, mes yeux ont remarqué par hazard (lourd!) / mon regard est tombé sur le document que Pamela
tenait.
- When he understood his mistake, Alex quickly lit out without any explanation.
Quand il comprit son erreur, Alex prit rapidement la fuite sans explication
- Our mobile phone cases exist in light blue or sugar pink.
Nos coques de téléphone portable existent en bleu clair/pâle/ciel et en rose bonbon.

Moralité: repérer la catégorie grammaticale évite la lecture d'une page complète de dictionnaire, et la
recherche de la définition précise évite les contresens.

CONCLUSION: when you look up a word in the dictionary, check:

- what is the grammar category of the word in the context?
- are there different definitions/meanings?

IV- A mile is a unit of length in English. What is the French equivalent for: "The line for the latest
Iphone was half a mile long"? (look for the page "Numbers, weights and measures" in the table of
contents p.v)

Repérage dans le dictionnaire de la page des mesures, poids, tailles  dans la traduction, ne pas
laisser les mesures impériales.

QUIZ TIME!
In the following sentences, translate the underlined word in French:
1) I could feel Death's clammy hand on my shoulder. moite
2) He was the victim of an act of wanton criminal violence. Gratuite (mais "wanton woman" = femme
de petite vertu)
3) It's easy to bilk people in their weakest emotional states. Arnaquer / escroquer
4) Your arrival is a blessed relief from this mawkish display.
Soulagement
Dégoulinant de sentimentalisme / mièvre