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Chapter Thirty-Nine
Using the Dictionary
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Using the Dictionary
The dictionary is a valuable tool. To take
advantage of it, you need to understand the
main kinds of information the dictionary gives
about a word:
•Spelling
•Syllabication
•Pronunciation
•Parts of Speech
•Principal Parts of
Irregular Verbs
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
•Plural Forms of Irregular
Nouns
•Meanings
•Etymology
•Usage Labels
•Synonyms
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Spelling
The first bit of information, in boldface, is the
spelling of murder. You probably already know the
spelling of murder, but if you didn’t, you could find it by
pronouncing the syllables in the word carefully and then
looking it up in the dictionary.
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Syllabication
The second bit of information, also in boldface, is
the syllabication of murder. A dot separates the
syllables.
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Pronunciation
The third bit of information is the pronunciation of
murder. You probably already know how to pronounce
murder, but if you didn’t, the information here would serve as
your guide.
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Parts of Speech
The next bit of information is the part(s) of speech
of murder. Murder can function both as a noun (n.) and a
verb (v.).
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs
When it functions as a verb, murder is a regular verb:
it forms its principal parts by adding -ed, -ed, and -ing
to the stem (murder). When the verb is irregular, the
dictionary will lists its principal parts.
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Plural Forms of Irregular Nouns
When it functions as a noun, murder is a regular
noun: it forms the plural by adding -s (murders).
When the noun is irregular, the dictionary will
supply its plural forms.
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Meanings
When a word has more than one meaning, the
meanings are numbered, usually with the most
common meaning listed first. According to this
entry, the verb murder has three distinct meanings.
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Etymology
Etymology refers to the origin and historical
development of a word. Such information is usually
enclosed in brackets. OE here stands for Old English:
murder derives from the Old English morthor. Consult the list
of abbreviations in your dictionary as necessary.
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Usage Labels
If a word is not standard English, your dictionary will
probably give it a usage label like these: slang;
informal; nonstandard; vulgar; obsolete; etc. This entry
provides one slang meaning for murder. (Remember that you
should as a rule use only standard English words in your writing.)
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 39
Synonyms
A synonym is a word that is close in meaning to another
word. Using synonyms helps you avoid unnecessary
repetition in your writing. A good desk dictionary will
provide synonyms for many words; you can also consult a
thesaurus, a book that lists synonyms and antonyms (words that
are the opposite in meaning).
English Skills, 8e
English Skills with Readings, 6e
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.