Sessão 3

How to use a dictionary effectively

Reasons for using a dictionary   

A dictionary is a very important tool for anyone who is learning a new language. With a good dictionary you can do the following:

• look up the meaning of an English word you see or hear;
• find the English translation of a word in your language;
• check the spelling of a word;
• check the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb;
• find the synonym or antonym of a word;
• check the part of speech of a word;
• find out how to say a word;
• find examples of the use of a word.

Different steps to look up a word in the dictionary

1. Find the section of the dictionary with first letter of your word. Dictionaries follow alphabetical order. For example, "dog" begins with "d" which means that it will be in the section after "c" and before "e".

2. Learn the guide to pronunciation. If you immediately jump right into reading the dictionary without understanding the pronunciation guide, it can be difficult to figure it out. Having an idea about the symbols of pronunciation will make it a lot easier for you. The pronunciation of a word will be placed between two reversed virgules (\ \) and will typically be printed in italics.

3. Read the definition. Once you've located the word it will tell you exactly what it means (and if it has more than one meaning, it will tell you the most common one first), how to pronounce it, what part of speech it is and so on.

4. Learn the abbreviations. Dictionaries often have abbreviations in the definitions for a word. This can be confusing if you don't know what the abbreviations stand for.

For example "adj." stands for "adjective" and will tell you what kind of word the word you're looking up is.

Now let’s practice!

Choose a classmate to work with, go to the library and ask 

the librarian to use a dictionary. Now try to do the following exercises. 

1. PRONUNCIATION

bike        fish       time      fight film        fine       idea       gift

1.1. How do you pronounce the following words? Write them in the correct column.

/aI/	/I/

1.2. Identify the odd sound in each group.                                       

a. do – so- go- no                                                          

b. seat – great – neat – meat

c. thin – tooth – weather – something

d. sand – see –soon - sugar

PARTS OF SPEECH

2. Read the sentences and identify the parts of speech of the words in italics below.

Example: She has worked hard for the test. (ADVERB)

a. After a hard day at school, I just want to go home. ( ____________________ )

b. I bought my mum a nice plant. ( ______________________ )

c. If we plant more trees, we will help the planet. ( _____________________ )

MULTIPLE MEANINGS

3. Write the correct dictionary definition of the underlined words.

a.The mouse ate the cheese. 

( ___________________________________________ )

b. Did she sign the note?  

( ___________________________________________ )

c. Can you punch the bag?  

( ___________________________________________ )

SPELLING (British English & American English)

4. Replace the words written in British English by the same words written in American English.

a. I went home by taxi last night. __________________

b. They live in a nice flat. ______________________

c. I always go on holidays in August. _______________________

Good work!

Your teachers: Alexandra Monteirinho and Silvina Carvalho