How to use a dictionary

Spanish III

Lay out•Split in Half

One half has English to SpanishOther half has Spanish to English

Find that Verb!When you look up a verb in the dictionary you’ll often find that the form of the verb in the dictionary is different from the verb in your book. Example: Habla en espanol. Elige la respuesta correcta.

hablar verb- to speak elegir verb- to chooseThe dictionary gives the verbs in the infinitive form.To find the right meaning of verbs, remember:• Infinitives always end in –ar, -er, or –ir. • Always make sure the word you find makes sense in

context!

Get the right meaning!(how not to look crazy when you write)

If you look in the dictionary, but don’t look carefully you might use the wrong word like Maria in the picture on the left.The Spanish word Carta has several meanings. La carta (fem noun ) 1 letter; 2 menu; 3 card

When Spanish words have more than one meaning, pick the meaning which best suits the context.

The letter, pleas

e.

Get the right meaning!Just a few nouns have one meaning when they’re masculine and a different meaning when they’re feminine. Your dictionary alerts you to this. El corte masc noun see corte noun cutLa corte fem noun see corte noun court

• In each entry, the symbol warns you to check whether the meaning you want is the other entry!

Finding the right wordEnglish words can have different meanings. For example, the word fly can be a verb or a noun:

When you look in your dictionary, you need to choose the right word: the insect, a fly, is una mosca. The verb, to fly, is volar.

I’d like to fly to

Madrid on

Sunday.

Fly noun – see fly verb

La mosca femTo fly verb – see fly noun

1 (birds, insects, planes) volar

There’s a fly in

my soup!

Not in the dictionary? Oh yes it is!•When you look up English words in the dictionary, nouns are listed in the singular form.•You won’t find the word babies. Instead, look up baby (el bebé)•You won’t find the word women. Instead, look up woman (la mujer) Can’t find a

word in the dictionary? Perhaps it’s listed in a

different form.

Not in the dictionary? Oh yes it is!• The dictionary lists verbs in their infinitive forms. For example:• For flies, look up fly verb see fly noun; (birds,

insects, planes) volar.• For drank, look up drink verb see drink noun; beber.

• To think of the infinitive, complete the phrase

“Im going to…”for example: “I’m going to drink.”

Victory with VerbsVerbs are used in various forms and tenses, but dictionaries list the infinitive. • Look for entries labelled verb, v., vt. The endings will

end in –ar, -er, or –ir. • Read all the meanings given. Yours isn’t always the

first one.Dejé la fiesta a medianoche.

dejar verb – to leave

I left the part at midnight.

Dejé mi lápiz a Javier.

dejar verb – to lend

I lent Javier my pencil.

Victory with verbsRemember the reflexive verbs? They’re the ones used with an extra participle, me levanto I get up, Se lava He gets washed. • The infinitive of a reflexive verb ends in se, e.g. vestirse• To find verbs like these in the dictionary, look under

the first letter of the main part of the verb, following normal alphabetical order. i.e. vestirse under v. • Watch out! Most reflexive verbs are listed after a form

of the verb which is not reflexive. Make sure you find the right entry!