How to Use a Dictionary

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2,3

How to use a dictionary

Lesson objectives:

- To learn the first steps on how to use a dictionary properly.

- To develop your dictionary skills

- To raise your awareness of the information you can find in a dictionary

- To develop your skills of prediction when you come across new vocabulary words

- To encourage group collaboration in project work

- To promote creativity.

Steps on how to use a dictionary (finding words):

Step #1 - Find the word you want to look up.

Step #2 - Find the letter that the word begins with.

Step #3 - Open the dictionary to the page with the relevant letter. 

Step #4 - Look for the second letter in the word you are looking for. 

Understanding better how to use the dictionary: 

1. Read the introduction of the dictionary. 

Examples: 

- information such as the abbreviations,  pronunciation symbols; 

-what part of speech the word is; 

- pronunciation of the word; 

- definition; 

- check the pronunciation of words with similar spellings (example not - knot )

2. Learn the abbreviations. 

Tip: check the context of the word when you are looking it up.

Examples:

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

- "Adv." or "advb." can stand for "adverb; adverbially."

- "n"  can stand for "noun", but "can also stand for "neuter" or "north" as in direction, depending on the context.

3. Learn the pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book. 

- Stressed and unstressed syllables 

4. Find the section of the dictionary with the first letter of your word.

-Beware of spelling for trickier words 

(Example: "gnome" begins with a "g", or "psychology" begins with a "p", or "knock" begins with a "k", etc.)

- Beware that certain words sound alike that are spelled very differently. (Example: throne -thrown, read -red)

5. Read the guide words.

-The two words at the top of the page that tell you what types of words are on the page. 

6. Scan down the page for your word.

- Look for the root word (Example: fertility - fertile)

7. Read the definition of the word.

- If a word has more than one meaning, it will tell you the most common one first. 

Examples: 

-Synonyms (words that mean the same thing / (fruitless- unsuccessful) 

-Antonyms (words that mean the opposite / night-day).

8. Make use of the audio content provided with online dictionaries.

-Free services such as Google may not be as comprehensive as a subscription or book dictionary.

Dictionary exercises:

Put the words in each row in alphabetical order:

handy

hard

hand

heat

heart

history

headache

highlights

hyperbolic

habitual

All of these words are parts of the body (nouns). Which of the words are also verbs?

arm-head-leg-eye-stomach-hand-toe-thumb

Which one is the odd one out in each row? Why? Write your explanation.
1. elm - daffodil - pine - beech
2. cod - sardine - hake - fern
3. steak - beak- freak- geek

Are these words American English or British English? Write AE or BE
biscuit
vacation
lorry
holiday