Showing posts with label dictionary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dictionary. Show all posts

Friday, May 31, 2013

Traffic jam

Do you know the meaning of 'traffic jam'? A monolingual dictionary is very useful when you come across an idiomatic expression. Urban dictionary is one of my favourite translation tools, as it clearly explains each expression in context, and is continuously updated. Cartoons might also be wonderful resources to introduce vocabulary, as the one below by Brian Zaikowski


You might also like

Monday, April 15, 2013

Using a dictionary

A dictionary gives you information on:
photo credit: Jonathan_W via photopin cc
Spelling: this is the most obvious thing as it is alphabetically organised.
Meaning: this is also obvious, but not as obvious as you might think. You must be careful, firstly because no two words have exactly the same meaning. Besides one word can have a multiplicity of meanings. Therefore, you must be very careful and make sure the meaning you have found in the dictionary works in the textual context.
Part of speech: your dictionary will tell whether a word is a noun, a verb, a preposition, an adjective, for example. This information is usually given in brackets immediately after the word and it is often abbreviated. Very often the meaning changes according to the part of speech the word belongs to. That is to say, the same word can be an adjective and a verb, and the meaning can change accordingly.
Stress: when a word has more than one syllable, it will have a stress on one of them. This will affect the way you should pronounce the word. Dictionaries usyally identify the stressed syllable by writing it in bold.
Origin: some dictionaries provide you with information about the origin of the word. As you know the English language has been influenced by other languages throughout the ages.
In Links by Porto Editora

You might also like

Monday, June 18, 2012

Don't shoot!!!

Can you explain the difference between 'shoot' and 'shoot'? In such situations, I would suggest you to try out a monolingual dictionary, like the Dictionary.com or the Cambridge Dictionaries Online, for example. They're online, for free, at handy, and completely reliable!...

 Found picture @ ELL                                                                 
You might also like to take a look at
'Finished' or 'Complete'?
'Mind full' or 'mindful'?

Monday, January 16, 2012

‘Finished’ or ‘Complete’?

"No English dictionary has been able to explain the difference between the two words 'complete' and 'finished'. Some people say there is no difference between 'complete' and 'finished'. I beg to differ because there is: when you marry the right woman, you are 'complete'. And when you marry the wrong one, you are 'finished'! And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are... 'completely finished'."

Source: English Language Learners 


You might also like to take a look at: