1. The part of speech.
Journey is nearly always a noun [journey 1], but it also has a special use as a verb [journey 2].
As a noun [journey 1], it is countable. As a verb, [journey 2 - at the bottom of the page] it is intransitive (an intransitive verb doesn't have a direct object). We can see that it must be followed by an adverb or preposition.
2. The frequency of the verb in speaking and writing.
If your word is commonly used in speaking or writing, an S and/or W will be shown in the top right corner of the page, together with a number 1, 2 or 3.
The noun 'journey' has S3, W2 next to it. The 3 next to the S means that it is one of the 3,000 most common words in speaking. W2 means it is one of the 2,000 most frequently used words in writing. This tells us that it is an important word to learn, and is slightly more common in writing than in speaking.
3. Information about pronuniciation.
Next to the word in blue is the pronunciation, represented by phonetic symbols. A dollar sign ($) shows American pronunciation if it is different.
Even if you do not understand the symbols, it is useful to see where the stress is. The main stress comes after '.
Click here for help understanding the symbols, and here to listen to British English vowels and consonant sounds.
There is no sound with this dictionary, even though there are sound symbols - it's only available on the CD-ROM. However, the American online dictionary Merriam-Webster lets you listen to the pronunciation (in American English, of course!). .
4. The definition, and contextual information
As well as giving you the meaning of a word, the Longman dictionary also lets you know which contexts are suitable for using the word. For example, the first meaning of 'journey' is used especially in British English. The second meaning is used in literary texts.
Other important contextual information includes:
spoken
not polite
taboo - use with great caution only
informal
formal
old-fashioned - not commonly used today
old use - not used at all today
American English
Australian English
5. How to use the word in a sentence.
You can see verb structures, e.g. journey across/through somewhere..
Collocations (words that go together) are shown in bold, such as a wasted journey. On some pages (such as this one), there is a blue collocations box where you can see a list of useful word combinations, and their definitions.
Example sentences are provided to help feel more confident about using the word correctly.
6. Advice on word choice
Where words are often confused, there is a pink 'Word Choice' to help clarify your understanding. On this page, the difference between journey, trip, travel, voyage, crossing and flight is explained.
7. Synonyms and antonyms
The dictionary also provides information about words with a similar meaning (synonyms) and the opposite meaning (antonyms).
Type in 'dull' and select 'adjective'. This word has a lot of meanings, represented by numbers 1-8, and the categories in blue and white. Looking at meaning 6, you can see that when talking about a blade, dull means blunt. In meaning 4, the antonym of dull is sharp, represented by a 'does not equal' symbol.
The 'Word Focus' box at the bottom of the page serves as a mini-thesaurus, displaying synonyms of 'dull' when the meaning is 'boring'.
* For more information on how to use this dictionary, click here.
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