Im Wörterbuch Diki verwendete Symbole

On this page, you can get to know the categories that are used in the Diki dictionary so that you can use it as efficiently as possible.

British English and American English

The English dictionary includes language varieties that are used in various countries and social groups:

• British English (en-GB)/(BrE) – Britisch-Englisch
• American English (en-US)/(AmE) – Amerikanisches-Englisch
• Canadian English (en-CA)/(CanE) – Kanadisches-Englisch
• Australian English (en-AU)/(AusE) – Australisches-Englisch
• New Zealand English (en-NZ)/(NZE) – Neuseeländisches Englisch
• Scottish English (en-Scotland)/(ScoE) – Schottisches Englisch
• Irish English (en-IE)/(IrlE) – Irisches Englisch
• South African English (en-ZA)/(SAE) – South African Englisch
• latin (en-Latin)/(latin) – besonderes Symbol für die lateinischen Entsprechungen der Namen von Tieren, Pflanzen, Krankheiten, etc.
• African American Vernacular English (en-AAVE)/(AAVE) – Vor allem in der afroamerikanischen Gemeinschaft verwendet
• Indian English (en-IN)/(InE) – Indisches Englisch

Grammatical categories of verbs

[transitive] – transitive verbs

Transitive verbs use both a subject (i.e. a person who is a doer), and an object (i.e. a person or a thing that is affected by the action of the subject).

For example in a sentence:

Tom lifted the box. = Tom lifted a box.

"Tom" is a subject of a verb lift (i.e. a doer), whereas a "box" is an object (a thing on which the action in performed). The verb “lift” is transitive in this meaning, which means that it goes with an object - a sentence "Tom lifted." wouldn’t make sense.

[intransitive] – intransitive verbs

Intransitive verbs go without an object (for example "sleep").

Some verbs can act both like transitive verbs ("transitive") and intransitive verbs ("intransitive"). For example, a verb "eat" in a sentence:

He is eating soup. = He’s eating soup.

acts like a transitive verb ("soup" is an object), whereas in a sentence:

She is eating. = She’s eating.

it acts like an intransitive verb (there is no object).

Grammatical categories of nouns

[countable] – countable nouns

Countable nouns have both singular and plural forms.

Examples:

boy = boy
tree = tree
woman = woman

[uncountable] – uncountable nouns

English uncountable nouns are tagged as [uncountable]. In particular, they are:

a) substance names, for example:

milk = milk
water = water
sugar = sugar
bread = bread

b) various names and abstract terms, for example:

music = music
tennis = tennis
happiness = luck

Note that many nouns which are countable in Polish aren’t countable in English. Their "uncountability " has to be acquired with a meaning to avoid unnecessary mistakes.

money = das Geld
advice = advice
hair = hair
information = information

Uncountable nouns are treated as singular in a grammatical sense, so::

This money is dirty.= This money is dirty.
Your hair is wet. = Your hair is wet.

For many nouns, such as information, news, advice we would like to use them in a plural and singular form depending on the context. How to deal with it?

There’s no difficulty with a plural meaning, we use a noun as it is:

This is all the necessary information. = This is all needed information.

To emphasise singularity, we need a particular term which will agree with an uncountable character of a noun, for example

This is the necessary piece of information. = This is the needed message.

Word "a piece" (piece) it somehow "cuts" one piece of uncountable "information".

Some uncountable nouns, however inherently uncountable, can be counted in a certain context. For example, in a cafe we order "two teas" (two teas), meaning two cups of tea, or in a pub we order "four beers" (four beers). And when we find a hair in soup, we would complain about the dish to the waiter saying: "there is a hair in my soup" (there is a hair in my soup).

[countable usually plural] – countable nouns (usually in a plural form)

Countable nouns which are mostly used in a plural form.

[countable or uncountable] – countable or uncountable nouns

Nouns which, depending on a context, can be both countable and uncountable.

[singular only] – singular nouns only

[plural only] – plural nouns only

Categories of language register of words

Word popularity

The most popular words that are worth paying special attention to when learning are marked with asterisks.

***** – 1000 most popular words (e.g. yes, he, time)

**** – 2000 most popular words (e.g. phone, cheap, traffic)

*** – 3000 most popular words (e.g. funny, cat, apple)

** – 4000 most popular words (e.g. trick, polite, angel)

* – 5000 most popular words (e.g. fingernail, generosity, roundabout)

Thematische Wörterbücher

Thematische Wörterbücher – list of categories used in the dictionary