HOW TO USE AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY G1sr01

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1. HOW TO USE AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY

A dictionary can be most useful, if you know how to use it correctly.
The first thing to know is that the words in the dictionary are arranged in alphabetical order. This means that all the words beginning with 'a' come first, then those beginning with 'b', then those beginning with 'c', and so on. But this is not all. Take two words beginning with 'a', after and ago. Which comes first? After comes first, because the second letter in after, 'f', comes before the second letter of ago, which is 'g'. The same rule is followed all the way through the word. Thus about comes before above, and fifth before fifty. If you remember this rule it will save you a lot of time in looking up words.
Open your dictionary at any page. At the top of the page you will see two words printed in heavy type. These are known as guide words. The one on the left-hand side of the page tells you what the first word on that page is. The one on the right-hand side tells you what the last word on that page is. So if you are looking for a word in the dictionary, you first look at the guide words at the head of the pages. Then you will be able to tell whether or not the word you want is on the page you are looking at.
You will notice that a dictionary very often gives several definitions for one word. How would you decide which of these definitions is the one you need? First, you must know what part of speech the word is in the sentence. Is it a noun or a verb? Is it an adjective or an adverb? A word can be used differently in a sentence, and so may have a different sense. Next, you must see which of the definitions will fit into the sentence. It is important to study the rest of the sentence carefully in order to find out the meaning of the word.
For example, you might come across this sentence: “We use an inclined plane to load or unload a truck.” You look up ‘load’ in the dictionary. The dictionary says: 1. n. a burden, ... 2. vt. put a burden on or into, ... Of course the second definition makes the right sense in the sentence.
You will find that the more you use the dictionary, the better you'll be able to use it and the more useful it will be to you.