Dictionary Skills: What You Need to Know to Help You Learn

What is a Dictionary? a book that lists words with their spellings, pronunciations (how to say it), and meanings (what it means) a reference book that focuses on defining words and phrases includes the majority of frequently used words in a language

Why Use a Dictionary? to learn meanings of unfamiliar words to find correct spellings to find out how to correctly use a word – as what part of speech to find the pronunciation for a word to find the derivation of a word (the origins of the word )

Key Terms You Should Know Alphabetical Order the order of letters from A to Z words in a dictionary are arranged in alphabetical order by the first letter of each word *When words begin with the same letter, the second letter is used. daydogduck *When words begin with the same first two letters, the third letter is used. If the first three letters are the same, the fourth letter is used, and so on.

Key Terms You Should Know Entry Word each word listed in a dictionary syllables are separated with dots (mov ● ie) entry words are usually found in bold print

Key Terms You Should Know Guide Words words at the top of each dictionary page to help you find a word the guide word on the top left is the first word on the page and the guide word on the top right is the last word on the page

Key Terms You Should Know Definition the meaning of the word if a word has more than one meaning, each is numbered *The part of speech is also listed before each definition (n=noun, v=verb, adj=adjective)

Key Terms You Should Know Pronunciation how to say each word is usually enclosed inside of [brackets] pronunciations will contain some strange symbols which we will talk about later

Don’t Forget It is not enough to know only what a word means, but one must be able to use it in conversation and writing

Time Saving Tips all letters have a general location in the dictionary a-e  frontf-p  middleq-z  back know and use proper alphabetical order use guide words to save time don’t give up if you cannot find a word on the first try--you might need to check several possible spellings before finding the word try saying the word aloud after you look at the pronunciation key.

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