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Using a Dictionary A dictionalry is a collection of words. It lists the words of a language and gives necessary information about them. It tells us about the 1. Spelling 2. Pronunciation 3. Meaning 4. Parts of speech etc. Of word. To make the meaning of words clear example sentences are gives in italics. Example sentences show hoe words are used. It also gives the snnonym/s and the antonym/s of a word. We find words made by adding prefix and suffixesto the root word. Parts of speech are also shown. A verb word is always given in the simple present tense. But the past form of a verb and the past participle are also shown. Looking up words in a dictionary The words in a dictionary are presented in alphabetical orded. It follows the alphabetical order of letters. It means words starting with the letter D will be before the words starting with the letter E. In the same way words starting with the letter F will come after the words starting with E. Again the words starting with the same letter are also arranged one after another in alphabetical order in the dictionary. For example, the words dark, doctor and deep all start with the letter D. These words appear in the dictionary in the order of dark, deep and doctor. To find the words with the a letter, look at words at the top of the page. While doing the activaties, use a dictionary or a dictionary page as much as you can. Meaning of words A dictionary gives us the meaning/meaning of a word. Example sentences are gives to show how the words are used. They also help to make the meaning clear. A word may have more than one meaning. The word dry (adj) has a number of meaning. Three of them ate given here. 1. Not wet, not damp, not sticky: the river becomes dry during the summer. 2. With very little rain: I hope the weather remains dry during our picnic 3. Not interesting : His speech was quite dry. 4. Sometimes the synonyms and antonyms given with the words help to understand the meanings of words. Synonyms and antonyms A synonym is a word that means the same or almost the same as another word. There may be more than one synonms for some of the words. Big and large, begin and start are synonyms. An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. Sorrow and happiness, right and wrong are example of antonyms.