Usage and References

A good dictionary can help you understand your subject better,

improve your communication and improve your grades by making sure you are using words correctly.

Language (11-12.1)

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Let's Practice: Key Terms

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Section A: Reference Materials

There are many reference materials available to you that you'll use in your educational life and beyond. In this section, we will give you an overview of the four reference materials.
The first is the dictionary. All dictionaries have the spelling of the word when they list the name in the entry. It contains the parts of speech that the word is: Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etcetera. And it also may give spelling variations, if there are spelling variations of the name. It will provide you with the definition and the meaning of the word, or maybe even multiple meanings of the word, which is typically what we use a dictionary for. And there's also word origin; the dictionary could give the source of the name, depending on the dictionary you use, telling you what native language it comes from, often Latin, perhaps Greek. And most dictionaries also give an example of how the word could be used in a sentence.

· Spelling

· pronunciation

· Parts of speech

· Meaning

· Word origin

The second exciting resource material is a thesaurus. A thesaurus lists synonyms of words and antonyms of words.

· Synonyms of words

· Antonyms of words

The third reference material is a bilingual dictionary. You may be able to tell from the root word; it translates a word into two languages. This is especially helpful if you're taking a French class or a Spanish type, or maybe another foreign language, maybe Chinese. It helps you look up a word in one language, and it lets you find out what that word is in a different language.

· Translates into two languages

A fourth resource is a rhyming dictionary, which you may not be aware exists. These dictionaries will categorize their entries by their word endings.

· Organize words by their endings

· Used for poems

Let’s Practice: Reference Materials

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Section B: Double Negatives

When you want to mean no in your writing, you only have to use one negative word. A negative word, by definition, means no or not, and therefore you only have to use one of these to make a sentence say no or not. But the problem is that frequently people will use two negative words, and it reverses the meaning.

For example, "Don't try that again." We have two words that indicate no or negative here, and that would be don't and never. And usually, when you have two negatives, just like in math, you have a positive and so you're saying the opposite of what you intend to. And to fix that, you only need to eliminate one of those negatives. So either, "Don't try that again," or, "Never try that again."

What are some Negative Words?
No	Never
Scarcely	Hardly
Only	None
Nobody	No one
Nothing	Neither
Not	But

Remember, when you want to say no in your sentence or mean no, you only have to have one negative word to indicate that no. And there are lots of no words. These are some examples such as neither, never, no, none, isn't, nobody, nothing, nowhere, and no one, and of course, there are more. But again, when you want to mean no in your sentence, make sure you don't use more than one of these words to indicate that.

Let's Practice: Double Negatives