Dictionariesrangebroadlyinpurpose,size,andprice;andchoosingoneisaverypersonaldecision.Thebestadviceistomakenoteofthethingsyouandyourfamilylookupinadictionaryoverafewweeks'time,andthengotoacomprehensivebookstoretomakethechoice.Hereareafewthingstolookforinmakingyourselection. 　　Size 　　Big,complete(unabridged)dictionariesareexpensiveandtakealotofroominyourofficeorhome.Theyarealsodifficultforchildrentousebecausetheyarebulky,andittakeslongertolooksomethingupbecausenewreaders'alphabetizingskillsareincomplete.Anunabridgeddictionaryonthecoffeetablemightimpressyourfriends;butunlessyouuseadictionaryonadailybasis,itprobablyisnotagoodbuy.Perhapsyoushouldlookatsmaller"college"dictionaries. 　　Pronunciationguide 　　Manypeopleuseadictionarytohelpthempronouncenewwords.(Onecallertothehotlinesawan"etagere"advertisedforsale,knewwhatitwasandwantedone,butdidn'twanttocallthesellerwithoutknowinghowtopronouncetheword.) 　　Thepronunciationguideshouldbecompletebutnotcontainalotofunfamiliarsymbolsthatrequirecontinualcross-checking--especiallywiththevowels.TheEnglishvowelsystemiscomplexbecauseweuseonelettertospellmanydifferentsounds.Forexample,theletterAhasthreedifferentsoundsinthewordsat,age,andart.Thejobforthedictionarymakersistofindthreecommonsymbolstorepresentthedifferentpronunciations. 　　Examples 　　Samplesentencesshowingcommonusesofwordsareveryhelpful,bothinclarifyingthemeaningandhelpingthereaderremembertheword.Thewordsinthesentencesshouldnotbeanymoredifficultthanthetargetword,however,orthereaderissentoffonafrustratingchasethroughthedictionary.Inthewordsoftechnology,"Agooddictionaryshouldbeuser-friendly." 　　UsageNotes 　　Manydictionariescommentontheusageofwordsindifferenttypesofsituations.Manyoftheolddictionariescontainedonlythestandardacceptedusages."Ain't"wasnottobefoundandteacherscouldcorrecttheirchargesbysaying,"Ain'tisn'tinthedictionary."Imaginetheteachers'dismaywhendictionariesstartedincludingsuchforms!Thedictionariesdocommentontheusage--non-standard,colloquial,regionalismaresomeofthetermsusedtoletreadersmaketheirowndecisionsastowhethertheywanttousetheterm. 　　Onefinalcomment--formsofspeechchangemuchmorerapidlythanwrittenforms;andmanyspokenitemsnevermakeittothewrittenlanguage(slang,forexample).Forthisreason,youwillneedtobuyseveraldictionariesduringyourreadinglife.Findonethatyoulike,andconsideritsneweditionswhenit'stimeforanewone.