Download using a dictionary File

La bonne utilisation du dico!
(How to use the dictionary efficiently)
Navigating an English-French entry
headword
grammatical
categories
phonetics
noun translations
given with gender
meaning signposts
in parentheses
contextualizations
in square brackets
senses within
grammatical
categories
swung dash
replaces headword
phrasal verbs
at end of entry
contextualization
after verb = object
contextualization
before verb = subject
register
Informal
very informal
vulgar or taboo
Navigating an English-French entry (II)
a kindly face
kindly: adjective
or adverb?
un visage sympathique
narrow the
meaning by
using context
Elle a souri avec gentillesse
Navigating a French-English entry
nouns are listed
with their gender
links to verb tables
at back of dictionary
warnings of
translation traps
Common Grammatical Categories
adj
adjective
describes a noun
sad, triste
adv
adverb
tells you how sth is done
comfortably,
confortablement
art
article
definite article: the
indefinite article: a
the, le, la, les
a, un, une
aux
auxiliary verb
used with main verb to show tense
she has arrived
elle est arrivée
conj
conjunction
links two phrases
because, car
n
noun
thing, person or idea
life, vie
pp
past participle
forms perfect tense with aux verb
I have eaten
j’ai mangé
prep
preposition
used with noun to show position
near, près de
pron
pronoun
stands instead of a noun
he, il
pron poss
possessive
pronoun
word used to show who sth belongs to
his, her, son, sa
vpr
reflexive verb
verb requiring a reflexive pronoun
to trouble oneself,
se donner la peine
Grammatical Categories Exercise
Match these words with the correct part of speech
crabe
vpr
bleuâtre
prep
parfaitement
nm
remarqué
pp
bagages
conj
se lever
adj
ou
adv
sur
mpl
Swung Dash (or Tilde) ~ and Hyphen -
The swung dash stands for
the whole headword so the
ending is added:
destitute
les ~s the destitute, the poor
The hyphen indicates
the
Subject
Field Labels
feminine ending replaces the
un mouvement gracieux, une danse gracieuse
masculine one:
Register
péj, pej = pejorative
informal
lit = literal
very informal
fig = figurative
vulgar or taboo
hum = humorous
Register
pejorative = contempt or disapproval
figurative = metaphorical
Irregular Plurals
lice
lice = poux
Cross-checking is particularly useful for adjectives ending in –al:
plural is géniaux
plural is bancals
And for hyphenated words:
plural is bandes-annonces
plural is bandes-son
Idioms
Idiom = a saying whose meaning has evolved so that it is now different
from the original literal meaning of the key words within it.
It was a difficult decision for Carol, and it was a long time before she could
bring herself to grasp the nettle.
Louis peut sortir s’il veut; moi, j’ai d’autres chats à fouetter.
Expressions requiring the subjunctive
warning
note:
shows when
subjunctive is
required:
note use of
subjunctive:
Quick refresher on grammatical verb terms (I)
• Tense = present, future, past, conditional, imperfect etc.
• Subject = the noun or pronoun that causes the action of the verb
– Gertrude loves Eric = Gertrude aime Eric
– The dog ate the meat = Le chien a mangé la viande
• Object = the word or group of words which is affected by the
action indicated by the verb
– Gertrude loves Eric = Gertrude aime Eric
– The dog ate the meat = Le chien a mangé la viande
Quick refresher on grammatical verb terms (II)
• Objects can be further divided into direct and indirect objects:
• Direct object = the noun or pronoun directly affected by the verb
- Gertrude aime Eric = Gertrude loves Eric
- Gertrude l’aime = Gertrude loves him
- Le chien a mangé la viande = The dog ate the meat
- Le chien l’a mangée = The dog ate it
• Indirect object = the noun or pronoun indirectly affected by the
verb. In English, indirect objects are usually preceded by a
preposition (from, to, at, etc.)
- Gertrude parle à Eric = Gertrude speaks to Eric
- Gertrude lui parle = Gertrude speaks to him (or to her)
- Eric sourit à Gertrude = Eric smiles at Gertrude
- Eric lui sourit = Eric smiles at her
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs (I)
Transitive verbs = vtr (verbe transitif ) = verbs used with direct object
•
•
•
I wrote the letter = J’ai écrit la lettre
Gertrude loves Eric and Wilhelmina = Gertrude aime Eric et Wilhelmina
She loves them = Elle les aime
Intransitive verbs = vi (verbe intransitif ) = verbs that do not have an object
• He died yesterday = Il est mort hier
• She ran very fast = Elle a couru très vite
• Eric and Wilhelmina left yesterday = Eric et Wilhelmina sont partis hier
• Transitive verbs do something to the object that follows them.
• Intransitive verbs stand on their own without an object following them.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs (II)
• The same verb can be used both transitively and intransitively:
• sortir
- Elle a sorti son deuxième album = She brought out her second
album = transitive use (son deuxième album = direct object)
- Elle est sortie = She went out = intransitive use (no object)
• rentrer
- Il a rentré la voiture = He brought the car in = transitive use
(la voiture = direct object)
- Il est rentré = He came back = intransitive use (no object)
• scatter
- He scattered his papers = transitive use (his papers
= direct object)
- The birds scattered = intransitive use (no object)
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Exercise
éparpiller: Il a
éparpillé ses
vêtements
transitive
(vtr) and
intransitive
(vi)
dispersés takes
an extra -e
se disperser: les
oiseaux se sont
dispersés
Reflexive Verbs (II)
1st pers singular
je
me
je ne me rappelle pas les mots/chiffres exacts
I don't remember the actual words/figures
2nd pers singular
tu
te
pour qui est-ce que tu te prends?
who do you think you are?
3rd pers singular
il/elle/on
se
l'action se passe à Beyrouth
the action takes place in Beirut
1st pers plural
nous
nous
nous nous sommes disputés avec nos professeurs
we had a confrontation with our teachers
2nd pers plural
vous
vous
vous vous trompez fort
you are sadly mistaken
3rd pers plural
ils/elles
se
ils ne se sont pas vraiment plaints
they didn't actually complain
• Remember: just because a verb is reflexive in the source language,
it doesn’t mean it’s reflexive in the target language. None of the examples
in this table is translated by a reflexive verb in English.
• A reflexive verb table showing a model verb, s’adonner, is on p 1925
at the back of the Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary.
Impersonal Verbs
• Impersonal verbs = v impers throughout the dictionary
• Impersonal verbs use the impersonal pronoun it or il:
– Il faut que tu sois prêt = You must/It is necessary that you be ready
– Il pleut = It is raining
•
Falloir and neiger are the only verbs that only ever take il
Verb Tables
Verbs are listed at their infinitive form:
we went to Italy
they bought a DVD
elles veulent partir
j’ai mis la table
je me suis trompé
il s’agit de ta santé






Wellington defeated Napoleon
look up the infinitive go
look up the infinitive buy
look up the infinitive vouloir
look up the infinitive mettre
look up the infinitive tromper
look up the infinitive agir
check against verb
table 57 at the back
past participle
Wellington a vaincu Napoléon
Cross-checking
Cross-checking on the other side of the dictionary helps when:
• a French word has several meanings
• you are unsure which French translation to choose
• you don’t know if the French word you know can
be used in a certain context
• you want to check the plural or feminine form
• you want to know how to conjugate the verb
What else can a good dictionary offer you?
1 Information about life and culture
2 Thematic boxes explaining
grammatical points and giving
extra vocabulary, crossreferenced from the headword
3 Correspondence – letters,
CVs, emails, and linking
vocabulary useful for essays
Letter openings
The standard opening greeting
for personal correspondence is
Cher/Chère
4 French verb tables
in other words
In other words, we must be wary of
hasty judgments. Autant dire qu’il
faut se méfier de jugements hâtifs.
Review (I)
•
Important factors to bear in mind when choosing a bilingual dictionary
•
Navigating through an entry – English-French, then French-English
•
Explaining abbreviations and symbols:
• common grammatical categories
• swung dash (or tilde) and hyphen
• subject field labels
• regional labels
• register labels
• sb, sth, qn, and qch
• phonetics
• How the dictionary can help you with:
• irregular plurals
• gender
• idioms
• word order
• subjunctive
Review (II)
• How the dictionary can help you with verbs:
• tense, subject, and object
• direct and indirect objects
• transitive and intransitive verbs
• reflexive verbs
• impersonal verbs
• phrasal verbs
• verb tables
• verb complementation
• Avoiding mistakes:
• adapting examples
• cross-checking
• Extra features
Questions