Dictionary Use

What would you find in a dictionary?

When Should I Use A Dictionary?
Use a dictionary often. Whenever you are unsure about a
word, look it up.
People judge you by how well you spell and use words.
Dictionaries contain a wide variety of information about
words, people, places, animals, flowers, history, grammar,
even how to address a letter, and much more.
Whenever you have a question about something you’ve read
or heard, the dictionary will help you find out more.
  Syllabication is the process of dividing
a word into its component sounds,
called syllables.
Syllabication  It is an important tool when writing,
especially by hand, or when learning
spelling.
  Syllabication rules:
1. Every syllable has one vowel ‘sound’.
2. The number of vowel sounds equals
Syllabication the number of syllables.
Rules  key
 sub-ject
 pub-lish-ing
  A part of speech is a category of words that have similar
grammatical properties.
 Dictionaries always include information about the part of
speech, usually printed in italics, of the word being
defined. Some words, like “iron”, “bow”,or “transport” can
Parts of Speech be used in several positions in a sentence, depending on
the meaning you need.
 The iron is not hot enough to press that shirt. (noun-naming a thing)
 I always iron my pants before work. (verb-an action)
 Mark is stalling an iron gate in the fence.(adjective- describing word)
  The part of speech abbreviations are listed here. You should
be familiar with them. Other dictionaries include a list of
“Abbreviations”. Look for it in the Table of Contents.
Adj Adjective

Adv Adverb

Part of Speech Coni Conjunction

Interi Interjection

N Noun

Prep Preposition

Pron Pronoun

V Verb
Part of Speech
  Marks placed above or below (or sometimes
next to) a letter in a word to indicate a particular
pronunciation—in regard to accent, tone, or
stress—as well as meaning.
Accent Marks
 Resumé: a work history
 Resume: to begin again
  A set of symbols or codes used to indicate
how a speech sound or letter is pronounced.
 The phonetic transcription is placed between
back slashes (\) that follow the entry word.
Phonetic Symbols  Every dictionary has a page (usually at the
beginning or end of the book) entitled
“Pronunciation Symbols” or “Pronunciation
Key”.
  Most consonants are pronounced only
one way, but there are a few exceptions.
Phonetic Symbols Here are three common exceptions.

Consonants Consonant Hard Sound Example Soft Sound Examples

C like “k” candy, cold, cut like “s” cent, city,

G   gain, got, gun like “j” gem, gin, gym

S   kiss, source zh resort, browse

  Each vowel or vowel combination (“a”, “e”, “I”,
“o”, “u”) has several possible pronunciations.

Phonetic Symbols
Vowels
  A statement that explains the meaning of a word or phrase.
Definitions  Many words have several, or multiple meanings, and most
dictionaries list the oldest meaning first.
  The study of the origin of words and the
Etymology way in which their meanings have changed
throughout history.
Etymology
  In addition to all this information, some
dictionary entries also provide a list of
synonyms (syn), words with similar
meanings.
 The choice of synonyms is not as good
Synonyms as in a Thesaurus.
 Using synonyms found in the dictionary
can be helpful, not only for finding an
alternate word, but also for increasing
your understanding of a new word.