Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[river1974]

Dear teachers,

Recently I noticed one thing when looking up a dictinonary for unknown vocabulary. I find that there are several different abbreviations appearing in front of the explanations for a noun, which are [C], [U], [S], [K], [P], and [P1], respectively. I am quite sure that [C] stands for "Countable", [U] stnads for "Uncountable", and [P] stands for "Plural", respectively. But what do [S], [K], and [P1] respectively stand for? The following are some examples quoted from the dictionary (an electronic dictionary called Dr. Eye that is very popular in Taiwan).

"English": [S][K]- He likes the English.
"letter": [P]- He was trained as a doctor but devoted his life to letters.
[P1] (no examples)

Please give me instruction. Thanks in advance.

[obelix]

Most dictionaries that use abbreviations publish a key to what those abbreviations mean. In the Oxford English Dictionary the list is inside the front cover and also in "The guide to the use of the Dictionary", inside.
You should seek out the list, or ask the publisher of Dr. Eye what the abbreviations mean; after all, if you cannot interpret the abbreviations, they are pointless.

[river1974]

Thank you, obelix. After reviewing your reply, I have found the GRAMMAR CODES for the explanation of each abbreviation somewhere in the electronic dictionary. I think I'll understand the property of vocabulary in a clearer view next time I look up the dictionary.