Unit 3: Using Your Dictionary

UNIT 3: USING YOUR DICTIONARY

A good learner's dictionary will give you information on collocations. Some times the information is highlighted in some special way. In other cases, the examples used in the dictionary include the most common collocations.

In the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (CALD), common and useful collocations are given in bold type. Look at the CALD entry for the word pain and note how useful collocations are highlighted in bold.

Dictionary Entry: pain

pain /peɪn/ noun [C or U] 1 a feeling of physical suffering caused by injury or illness: Her symptoms included abdominal pain and vomiting. o Are you in (= suffering from) pain? o She was in constant pain. o These tablets should help to ease the pain, o I felt a sharp pain in my foot. o He's been suffering various aches and pains for years. 2 emotional or mental suffering: It's a film about the pains and pleasures of parenthood. o The parents are still in great pain over the death of their child.
• a pain (in the neck) INFORMAL someone or something that is very annoying: That child is a real pain in the neck.

Collocations | CALD2 (Verb + pain)

• experience / feel / suffer pain
  I experienced chest pains and dizziness.
• alleviate / ease / lessen / relieve / soothe pain
  A hot bath may help to relieve the pain.
• cause / inflict pain
  He deliberately inflicted pain on his pupils.
• complain of pain
  She came in complaining of stomach pains.
• pain subsides

PRACTICE EXERCISES

3.1 Answer these questions about collocations and dictionaries based on the text.

1. How does the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary show collocations?

2. What happens if you click on the Collocations button when using the dictionary CD-ROM?

3. How does the dictionary indicate that a collocation is informal?

3.2 Put the expressions from the box into the correct category in the table below.

to suffer pain to alleviate pain to be racked with pain to cause pain to complain of pain to ease pain to experience pain to feel pain to inflict pain to lessen pain to relieve pain to soothe pain pain subsides

Making others experience pain	The experience of being in pain	Making pain go away

3.3 Look in a good learner's dictionary. What collocations do you find there for the word ache?

Hãy tự tra cứu từ điển của bạn và điền 3 cụm Collocations / Noun cụm thông dụng kết hợp với từ "ache" vào các ô trống dưới đây để hệ thống tự động kiểm tra định dạng:

Collocation 1 đi với "ache":

Collocation 2 đi với "ache":

Collocation 3 đi với "ache":

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