What part of speech is the word dictionary

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what part of speech a word is, you’re not alone. In this lesson, we’ll explore how to answer that question as well as why that answer can seem a bit confusing. You’ll also find a quiz at the bottom of the page so that you can test yourself, along with a free PDF download. Jackpot!

Pop quiz, hot shot! Let’s say you’re at the grocery store deciding between chunky and creamy peanut butter (tough choice) when someone walks up to you and asks, «What part of speech is the word love?»

Obviously, the first thing to do is run away from this person. But then, your mind might linger on that question, and you might start to wonder Hmm … what part of speech is the word love anyway?

At that point, you would probably think of some example sentences to figure it out.

I love peanut butter. 

From this sentence, you might conclude that love is a verb since you know that verbs express action, and love is showing an action in this sentence.

You wouldn’t be wrong, but then you might think of this sentence:

Love for peanut butter brought me to the store today. 

Wait a minute! Here, love is a noun. It’s an idea, and it’s the subject of the sentence. What’s the deal? How can love be a verb and a noun?

Here’s a secret about the parts of speech that many people don’t realize: 

Many words can function as more than one part of speech.

They will only be doing one part-of-speech job at a time, though. In our example sentences above, we can see that love can be a verb and a noun, and we can also see that it’s doing just one of those jobs in each sentence.

How can you figure out what part(s) of speech a word can be, and how will you know what the word is acting as in any given sentence?

The first thing to do is to study the parts of speech and understand how they work. 

Here’s what you can do after you have a sense of what the parts of speech are and how they work:

Let’s look at two examples of words acting as different parts of speech.

We’ll look at the words for and iron, and we’ll see them acting as different parts of speech. We’ll also take a peek at what the dictionary says for each word. 

What part of speech are the words in bold?

For

I asked for pie. (preposition)

I cried, for I knew that the pie was gone. (conjunction)

Iron

Where is the iron? (noun)

Please iron my shirt. (verb)

Test Yourself

I. Label the Parts of Speech

Directions: Name the part of speech for the underlined word in each sentence. Use a dictionary if you need one. For extra credit, diagram the sentences. Scroll down to see the answers.

II. Write Your Own Sentences

Directions: Write your own sentences using the words below. Make sure the word is being used as the part of speech indicated on the left side. Underline the word in your sentence. The first one is done for you. Feel free to use a dictionary!

1. Drive

Noun: The long drive through the countryside lifted my spirits.

Verb: I always drive within the speed limit.

2. Baby

Noun: ___________________________________

Adjective: ________________________________

Verb: ___________________________________

3. Up

Preposition: ________________________________

Adverb: ___________________________________

Answers

I. Label the Parts of Speech

* The sentence diagrams for 4, 5, 9, and 10 are available in the downloadable version of this lesson.

Answers for II. Write Your Own Sentences are also available in the free, downloadable version of this lesson.

Would you like to see another example of this concept? Let’s look at how the word balance can be a noun or a verb, and how it can help you think about your life.

A good dictionary is an essential tool for any language learner. It can, however, be difficult to use, and not all
language learners fully understand how a dictionary works, or the best type to use. This section will consider
different types of dictionary and the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as looking at the
features of a good dictionary. It concludes by looking at ways to
improve dictionary use.

Types of dictionary

Dictionaries can be categorised in several different ways. One way relates to the number of languages used.
Most beginning students will start with a bilingual dictionary, which has words in English translated
into their own language (the
prefix bi- means two). A more advanced type of dictionary is a
monolingual dictionary, which is entirely in one language (the prefix mono- means one).
While a bilingual dictionary is generally easier to use than a monolingual one, the information it contains
may not be as comprehensive. Another disadvantage of a bilingual dictionary is that the student may rely too much on their own language,
rather than thinking and working in English. Progressing from a bilingual to a fully monolingual dictionary is one sign that a language
learner is becoming more confident and proficient in their language use.

Another way to categorise dictionaries is by format. The traditional dictionary is a book in paper format.
However, electronic dictionaries, such as those which can be downloaded to a mobile phone, are now extremely popular, perhaps more
so than paper dictionaries. Online dictionaries are another popular format. Electronic (and, to some extent, online)
dictionaries have the advantage of being very lightweight. Additionally, searching for words is usually very quick. A disadvantage
is that they may not contain the same level of detail as a paper dictionary (though many of the most well-known dictionaries
are available in electronic versions which are identical to the paper one). Another disadvantage is that, because of how the
word is retrieved (by typing it in), students will lose the chance to practise
scanning skills, in contrast to how they look up the word in a paper dictionary.

A third way to categorise dictionaries is by content. In addition to general English dictionaries,
there are dictionaries for specific types of word, such as
idioms, places, abbreviations, slang and so on,
and dictionaries for words used in
particular fields, such as medical English or English for economics.
These specialist types of dictionary are of course useful for those studying or interested in particular areas.
However, specialist terms will usually be explained or defined where they appear (in a book or lecture), unlike
general academic words, which usually will not.
For improving academic English, a general English dictionary is essential. The rest of this page will consider general rather than
specialist English dictionaries.

A final way to categorise dictionaries is by level. Students may start their English study with a beginner’s dictionary.
For academic English study, however, a higher level of dictionary is required. An intermediate level dictionary
might be acceptable at the initial stages of an academic English course. The range of
vocabulary used in academic texts, however, means that an advanced dictionary will eventually be essential.

Features of a good dictionary

The features of a good dictionary relate fairly closely to the
features of vocabulary a learner needs to study. They include
meaning,
usage,
grammar,
spelling and
pronunciation. A few
other areas are also considered.

Meaning

The most important information about a word that a dictionary contains is the meaning.
One word can have many different meanings, some of which may be very similar to each other, while some might be
quite different. The meanings are usually listed in order of frequency, in other words so that the most
common meaning comes first, with the least common one at the end. Consider the following two sentences,
using the word appreciate.

• Few people appreciate the importance of a good dictionary.
• He appreciated the help his teacher gave him.

The following is the dictionary entry for this word, taken from Princeton’s Wordnet database (a
copy of which is available on this website).

  1. recognize with gratitude; be grateful for.
  2. be fully aware of; realize fully. E.g.: Do you appreciate the full meaning of this letter? [Syn: take account]
  3. hold dear. [Syn: prize, value, treasure]
  4. gain in value. E.g.: The yen appreciated again! [Syn: apprize, apprise, revalue]
  5. increase the value of. E.g.: The Germans want to appreciate the Deutsche Mark [Syn: apprize, apprise]

The meaning for the word appreciate in the first sentence is ‘be fully aware of’, which is the second meaning in the list. The meaning
of appreciate in the second sentence is ‘be grateful for’, the first meaning in the list. These meanings are quite different. As the
first meaning is more common, it is more likely that a student would know this one, and less likely that they would know the second meaning.

Usage

A good dictionary will also provide examples of usage. This is generally done in two ways.
One is by explicitly giving this information. Consider the following example for the word prepare from the Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English.

This entry tells us that for the meaning of ‘get ready’ the word prepare is followed by
for, and that when followed by a verb, the form should be to do sth (not ‘doing sth’).

The other way to give information on usage is indirectly, via examples sentences alone, without explicitly
giving the usage information. In this case, the learner has to look more carefully to understand how the word is used.

A dictionary might show usage by indicating which prepositions a word is used with, for example
afraid of, interested in or good at. It may also give information on common
collocations for the word. Understanding how a word combines
with other words in a sentence is important if it is to be used productively in speaking and writing.
Information on usage will help the learner to appreciate that vocabulary study is not just about single words,
but involves considering groups of words which go together.

Grammatical information

A good dictionary will give grammatical information about each word. The most basic type is part of speech,
that is whether the word is a noun, verb, adjective, adverb and so on. Other grammatical information which
can be given is whether a noun is countable or uncountable, whether a verb is irregular, or whether a verb is
transitive (i.e. followed by an object), intransitive (not followed by an object) or both. Most dictionaries will use a series
of abbreviations for this, for example [U] for uncountable, irreg for irregular, and vt and vi for
transitive and intransitive verbs respectively.

Spelling

English spelling can be a very difficult area even for those whose first language is English. A dictionary will
obviously be useful in checking the spelling of words, which is important for writing. If you are
typing up an essay or assignment, the word processing software you are using will
almost certainly have a spellcheck function which will probably be your first step in checking spelling, for example when
proofreading. Where a dictionary is most
useful is in pointing out special spelling rules, such as whether a final letter needs to be doubled when creating verb
forms, such as format which has verb forms formats, formatted and formatting. A dictionary will
give information on variant spellings, for instance British versus American English.

Pronunciation

A good dictionary will also give information on pronunciation, which is especially important if you want to use
the word in your speaking. A paper dictionary will do this
using the phonemic alphabet, which is a transcription using special symbols. Getting used to these symbols
takes time and practice. This transcription will include a mark showing where the stress in a word is if it contains
more than one syllable. Pronunciation is one major advantage of an electronic or online dictionary, as these
types of dictionary will generally enable you to listen to the word.

Other information

A dictionary may give other useful information. For example, it may tell you about
frequency, in other words
how common the word is. It may also give information on register, in other words
whether it is formal or informal, or used in spoken rather than written English. A dictionary may also indicate whether a word or
meaning is used in a specialist subject.

Improving dictionary use

There are several ways a student can improve their dictionary use. The most obvious way is to use it regularly and
therefore become familiar with how it works. As noted above, dictionaries will employ a series of abbreviations, such as [U] for
uncountable nouns, and becoming familiar with these will make it easier to use a dictionary. If using a paper dictionary,
learning the phonemic alphabet will help the student to be able to pronounce the words.

There are various ways in which teachers can improve dictionary use in their students. One way is to encourage its use
in (or outside) class. Some teachers may be reluctant to do this as they might want students to try to
guess the meaning of words rather than turn to a dictionary.
While it is true that good learners do not use a dictionary for every unknown word and try to guess the meaning first, it
is rarely possible to guess the meaning of all unknown words accurately, and checking in a dictionary is usually necessary.

Another way in which a teacher can improve dictionary use is to recommend a dictionary for their students. As noted above,
there are a wide array of dictionaries available, and learners may be confused about the
type of dictionary which suits them best.

A third way in which teachers can improve dictionary use is
to engage in learner training with dictionaries, for example quizzing students on the different abbreviations used in a
dictionary, or asking which of the different meanings of a word is the one used in the context in which the word is found.
This type of learner training works best if all students are using the same dictionary.

A final way in which a teacher can
improve dictionary use is by encouraging students to check meanings in more than one dictionary. This will enable them to
understand that a dictionary is a source of information, and turn them into researchers, in much the same way that they will
research information from more than one source for assignment use.

References

Olwyn, A., Argent, S. and Spencer, J. (2008) EAP Essentials: A teacher’s guide to principles and practice (pp.174-175). Reading: Garnet Publishing Ltd.

Redman, S., Ellis, R. and Viney, B. (1997) A Way With Words: Resource Pack 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Checklist

The following checklist summarises the information on this page. Use it to check your understanding.

Популярное на сайте:

Как быстро выучить стихотворение наизусть? Запоминание стихов является стандартным заданием во многих школах. 

Как научится читать по диагонали? Скорость чтения зависит от скорости восприятия каждого отдельного слова в тексте. 

Как быстро и эффективно исправить почерк?  Люди часто предполагают, что каллиграфия и почерк являются синонимами, но это не так.

Как научится говорить грамотно и правильно? Общение на хорошем, уверенном и естественном русском языке является достижимой целью.