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DICTIONARY USE

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCYDR GHEEVARGHESE

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USES

• NUMEROUS• MAJOR USES– DEFINITIONS (MEANINGS)– PRONUNCIATION– WORD FAMILIES (beauty, beautiful, beautify)– WORD CLASSES (noun, adjective, verb, adverb)– ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (SYN, OPP, IDM)– ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS – WT, VISUAL

VOCABULARY, IRREGULAR VERBS

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DEFINITIONS

• A word may have different meanings. One has to choose the appropriate (suitable) meaning.

• Apparent AW adj.• 1. obvious It was apparent from her face that she

had failed the test.• 2. seeming/may not be true– Tom was confused at my apparent lack of interest in him.

The apparent movement of the sun …,– The apparent movement of a bus …

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• The apparent movement of the stationary train confused the passengers.

• Which meaning is relevant here? 1, 2 (p.537)

• Fast /fa:st/ adj., adv, verb, noun– Adj.; adv.; verb noun– We were driving through the mud. Suddenly we realized

that we were stuck fast.– Which meaning?

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PRONUNCIATION

• English is not a phonetic language. Second language users normally struggle with the pronunciation of words.– Task: try to pronounce (say) the word ‘victuals’ without referring to

the dictionary. Then check if you had got the correct pronunciation.

• One may refer to the dictionary for the correct pronunciation.• Pronunciation is written in IPA. One needs to master the IPA

for this purpose.• There is a question on this item.• IPA is given in your dictionary on R45 (page)• IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet

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WORD CLASSES• Stable adj.; noun; verb• The word belongs to three word classes.• Each word class is dealt with a special sign

adj 1. firmly fixed; not likely to move (stable prices/stable relationships) SYN steady

2. calm and reasonable (mentally) SYN balanced

Noun 1. The place where horses are kept at night

Verb – keep a horse in a stable. Have you stabled the horse?

WORD FAMILY• Stable antonym (opposite) unstable• Stability (opposite) -- stability• Another verb from ‘stable’ = stabilize

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (SYN, OPP, IDM)

• TOO MANY WORDS IN ENGLISH. WE CANNOT MASTER ALL. IN FACT, NO ONE HAS EVER DONE THAT.

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS GIVEN AS AW (ACADEMIC WORD), OALD 3000 (SYMBOL OF KEY) – THESE WORDS ARE VERY USEFUL FOR A UNIVERSITY STUDENT.

• SYN – SYNONYM (NOTE DIFFERENT CONTEXTS – DIFFERENT SYNONYMS) stable – steady; balanced

• OPP - ANTONYM

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ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS – WT, VISUAL VOCABULARY, IRREGULAR VERBS

• WRITING TUTOR – WT1 to WT32

• VISUAL VOCABULARY – V1 to V64• LOOK UP THE WORD – PHEASANT (P. 1097)– End – VISUAL VOCAB PAGE V10

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Vocabulary /vǝ’kᴂbjǝlǝriPizza – pi:tsǝ

Schizophrenia – skitsǝ’fri:niǝ

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nouns

• Countable or uncountable

• Nouns used as uncountable nouns will have the entry like this

• Equipment AW /I’kwipmǝnt/ noun [u] (p.494)• The above entry tells us that the word can only be

used as an uncountable noun. Therefore singular.• New equipments are needed in the lab.• New equipment is needed in the lab.

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Countable nouns

• Countable nouns have both singular and plural forms.

• Look at the entry • Deadline /dedlain/ noun (p.372) Not indicated

whether it is a countable noun or an uncountable noun. It is a countable noun and we can use the noun both as a singular noun = deadline and as a plural noun = deadlines

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REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

• ALL VERBS HAVE FIVE FORMS (ONLY THREE ARE SHOWN IN THE DICTIONARY)

• EXCEPTION ‘BE’ – AM/IS/ARE; WAS/WERE; BEEN; BEING; BE

• All regular verbs have the same past tense and past participle forms (Adding –ed to the infinitive/lexical/dictionary form).

• Irregular verbs – past tense and past participle are formed differently.

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REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBSSTOP STOPS STOPPED STOPPED STOPPING

CRY CRIES CRIED CRIED CRYING

STUDY STUDIES STUDIED STUDIED STUDYING

PASS PASSES PASSED PASSED PASSING

TEST TESTS TESTED TESTED TESTING

So these verbs (regular verbs) are also called –ed verbs

Most of the verbs in English are regular verbs.

Irregular verbs are listed in the Dictionary on pages R2 - R4.

eat eats ate eaten eating

speak speaks spoke spoken speaking

write writes wrote written writing

read reads read read reading

begin begins began begun beginning

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IMPORTANCE OF MASTERING THE IRREGULAR FORMS

• The verb form after have/has/had is always the past participle form.

• We have to say/write • The test has (begin). It (begin) ten minutes ago.

[ The test has begun (begin, begins, began, begun, .).

• I have not (write) such an easy test.[I have not written (write, writes, wrote, written )…

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TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

• Transitive verbs are marked [T] verb + what? (Verb + a noun as object). Some verbs are both transitive and intransitive. Intransitive verbs do not take an object (another noun after the verb).

• Intransitive [I] (self). They slept 10 hours a week. • Start / / verb, noun• Verb [T, I]• I started at 7 O’ clock. [?] = [i]- no noun after the verb. • He just started a new job. [?]= (t). There is a noun/object [a new job]

after the verb –started.[ He began the engine before driving off.• The audience raised when the president arrived.• The audience rose when the president arrived.