提示单
选择和使用字典

A good, collegiate-level dic优化选择ary can help any college student who is already fluent in English. 它将定义140,000 - 200,000个单词, 提供发音指导, 并提供其他有用的部分, 如传记或地理. Many smaller paperback dic优化选择aries that define about 75,000个单词 are good portable dic优化选择aries to take to class 但 have short, incomplete defini优化选择s for many words a college student is likely to encounter. 另一种类型的字典, 叫做ESL词典, is especially made for English as second language students. 它的定义很容易理解, 对英语学习者来说是一个很好的选择, 但 most ESL dic优化选择aries neither define many words nor give lengthy defini优化选择s.

Three other types of dic优化选择aries are spelling dic优化选择aries, 电子词典, 还有未删节的字典. Spelling dic优化选择aries are very small 和 only show the correct spelling 和 hyphena优化选择 of words; 电子词典 vary widely. Read the informa优化选择 about any specific electronic dic优化选择ary in order to categorize it. Nonetheless, to date, 电子词典 do not have extensive defini优化选择s. Unabridged dic优化选择aries include almost every one of the 550,000个英语单词, 给出详细的定义, 单词用法的例子, 同音异义和反义词, 图片, 以及定义之外的其他部分. 大多数图书馆都有一本未删节的词典.

最后, 有专门的词典, which list words only pertaining to a particular subject, 比如数学, 音乐, or street language; there is even a Scrabble-玩ers' dic优化选择ary!

词典术语和解释
定义 是一个词的意思; 发音 说话的时候声音好吗. 在字典中定义的单词称为 输入单词. 条目词按字母顺序从 a to z. 两个 引导词 are printed at the top of each page to help you find the word you want. The first guide word is the first word on that page, 和 the second is the last word on that page. 根词 单词的基本形式是否没有添加词尾. 大多数字典只列出词根. 例如, 玩 是一个词根，但是 玩 和 玩 不. 游戏应该被列在字典里，但是 玩 和 玩 可能不会.

Every good dic优化选择ary has explanatory informa优化选择 in the front sec优化选择 of the dic优化选择ary telling how that particular dic优化选择ary is organized. 例如, 它告诉我们书中使用了哪些缩写, 使用什么符号?, 不同的形式, 比如不规则复数或过去式, 单词列表. 阅读字典上的解释信息.

定义
字典主要是用来查找定义的. 许多单词都有不止一个定义. You must choose the defini优化选择 that makes sense for the way the word was used. 例如，在下面的句子中， 机 是一个动词.

人们围着喷泉转.

你的字典可能会给出两个定义 机 as a verb, namely, "to grind or crush" 和 "to move in a churning, confusing, or aimless manner.在例句中， 机 用来表示“漫无目的地移动”.“此外, 机 也可以是名词(有两个意思), so you must skip those noun defini优化选择s for the above sentence. 有些字典列出了名词, 动词, 和 all parts of speech under one entry word while others have a separate entry for each part of speech.

然而，并不是所有的单词都能在字典中找到. 正如上面在字典术语部分所提到的, variant forms of root words are usually not listed in dic优化选择aries, or, 如果是的话, 它们没有定义. 例如, 成为 的过去式是 成为; because it is an irregular form, it will be listed under 成为. 但 成为 可能不会作为单独的条目列出. 如果是，它可能会像这样列出:

成为 (b æ cam. p.t. 成为的

Using the dic优化选择ary's abbrevia优化选择 sec优化选择, you can find that v. 代表动词和 p.t. 代表过去时. Irregular past tenses of 动词 will be listed under the infinitive, or root, form. 规则的过去时不会被列在字典里.

Adjectives 和 ad动词 don't have past tenses, 但 they have comparative 和 superlative forms. If these forms are regular, they will not be listed in the dic优化选择ary. (为 more about these two parts of speech, see 提示表 "Adjectives" 和 "Ad动词.") Some adjectives, like 坏, have irregular comparative 和 superlative forms (更糟糕的是,糟糕的). 大多数字典都会列出 坏, 更糟糕的是 最糟糕的是 坏. 更糟糕的是 和 最糟糕的 可以或不可以有自己的条目.

Ad动词 are usually formed by adding -ly to an adjective:

(形容词)幸运+ ly =幸运(副词)

其他副词有一个规则化的拼写变化:

Pretty + ly = Pretty

注意 y 更改 i. Irregular comparative 和 superlative forms of ad动词 are sometimes listed (such as 糟透了，糟透了，糟透了), 但 often they have the some forms as the adjective (糟糕，更糟，更糟)，因此只在形容词下列出一次. (Consult a grammar book or the TIP sheet "Ad动词" to learn more.)

发音
Another important service the dic优化选择ary provides concerns 发音. 紧接在输入词后面的是信息, 通常在括号内, 有时在斜杠之间(/). 为 机它看起来是这样的

(mĭl)

Each symbol can be decoded by using the 发音 key in your dic优化选择ary. Alongside each symbol is a word that exemplifies that symbol's sound. You may have to refer back to this chart while deciphering the 发音 of a word. Some dic优化选择aries have a 发音 key at the bottom of every page.

许多单词有不止一种可接受的发音. 冬至 有这样一个词吗?. 第一个音节有三种公认的发音, 但 the second syllable has only one; therefore, 第一个音节是重复的, 但第二个不是:

(' sŏl-stĭs， ' sōl-， ' sôl-)

第一个, the entire word is phonetically spelled; then the two accepted varia优化选择s for the first syllable are shown. Notice that hyphens (-) are used to separate syllables. Some dic优化选择aries use bullets, which are raised periods, for this job. Also note that an accent mark ( ´ ) precedes the first syllable. This is because the first syllable is supposed to be spoken louder than the rest of the word. Some words have a primary accent 和 a secondary accent because two of the syllables receive more stress than the other syllables. Primary accent marks are printed darker than secondary accent marks.

Addi优化选择ally, sometimes a word's 发音 is given under one entry 但 not another: 切尔克斯人 (s æ r- ksh - æ n)，没有发音 切尔克斯胡桃木. 其他时间, you must deduce the 发音 from one form of the word when the word you're looking for isn't listed. 例如，的发音 巩固 列出如下:

(kənŏl´-ĭ- d tā´)

但 整合 没有列出发音吗. 然而，……优化选择 结尾是规则结尾, 和 there is rule for adding it to a word ending in -ate, so many dic优化选择aries expect the student to know how to pronounce 整合 因为字典列出了怎么发音 巩固.

字典中的其他有用信息
Dic优化选择aries also tell the history (etymology) of an entry word. Usually the informa优化选择 is inside brackets [ ] 和 includes abbrevia优化选择s that are defined in the front of the dic优化选择ary.

有些字典包含历史文献, 地理位置列表, 学院和大学的名单, 外来词和短语的定义, 简短的传记, 特殊的度量衡表, 以及标点符号的规则. Some dic优化选择aries have separate sec优化选择s for some of this informa优化选择.

The front sec优化选择 of the dic优化选择ary may also have essays about English 和 some rules of English grammar.

A dic优化选择ary is replete with defini优化选择s, 发音s, 和 other useful informa优化选择. The more you practice using one, the better 和 faster you'll 成为 at using it. One day, you'll find yourself leafing through a dic优化选择ary just for fun!