Question:
If I needed to look up anything in the English language, let's say "the past
tense" of "disk", I like to buy the most comprehensive program that has
anything to do with learning better English word usage words used in a
sentence, that kind of stuff will help me very much. Is the Britannica
Program the best to buy?????
Answer:
This probably isn't the best website for posting this
question. But as an English teacher, I'm happy to answer
it.
First, I like printed dictionaries more than online ones,
because I can write in the margins, adding examples or
notes, and they don't crash, get viruses, or get out of
date like software does.
Second, I think you should be buying a "learner's"
dictionary, whether printed or electronic, which is
designed for non-native speakers. It will have more
examples, and will tell you some things that native
speakers don't usually need to know, like whether words
are countable.
A good example is the Oxford Advanced Learner's
Encyclopedic Dictionary, because it tells you [U] for
uncountable, meaning that you cannot make the noun into a
plural. An example is 'the weather'. And it tells you [C]
for countable, like 'dog' or 'man', nouns that can become
plurals like 'dogs' or 'men'.
Most nouns in English become plural by adding an 's', so
dictionaries don't tell you the plural form of these
nouns. They only tell you the plural if it is different,
like 'men', not 'mans'. So if you look up a noun and it
doesn't show a plural form, that means the plural has
an 's'.
Finally, for learning better English, what matters most is
not what software you buy, but how much time and energy
you spend studying, and practicing speaking, and finding
someone who can help teach and correct you.
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