4th Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets

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Look It Up!

By Patti Hutchison

You are reading an article in a magazine. All of a sudden you come

to a word you don't know. What can you do? You can look it up in the

dictionary. It's easy!

Dictionaries are books of words. They can tell us a lot of

information. But they are so big! You might think it would take you

forever to find the word you're looking for. But it won't, if you use the

guide words.

Guide words are listed at the top of every page in the dictionary.

They tell the first and last words on each page. Use what you know

about alphabetical order and guide words to help you find the page

your word is on.

The words in bold print on the page are called entry words. Once

you find the entry word you are looking for, you can find out a lot about it. Next to each word is a funny looking

word that looks like the word you looked up. This tells you how to say the word. Use the guide at the bottom of

the page, or in the front of the dictionary. It will help you figure out what all the symbols and strange-looking

letters stand for.

For example, you might look up the word music. Next to it is how to say it. It might look like this: myoo-zik.

If you sound this word out, you will know how to say music.

Next, is the part of speech. Your word may be a noun or a verb. It may be an adjective or adverb.

If there is an n next to your word, that means it's a noun. Nouns are naming words. They name persons, places,

and things. Dog, book, and shoe are nouns.

If there is a v next to your word, that means it is a verb. Verbs are action words. They tell what something is

doing. Words like run, cook, and sit are verbs.

Sometimes a word can be either a noun or a verb. Think about the word water. Water can be a nounsomething you drink. Or it can be a verb- you water the plants. You need to know how the word is used in the

sentence you are reading. This will help you know which meaning will help you.

Adjectives (adj.) and adverbs (adv.) are describing words. They tell what something is like. Big, green, and

slimy are adjectives. They describe a noun, like monster. Quickly and slowly are adverbs. They describe a verb,

like walk.

The most important information a dictionary gives is the meaning of the word. The definition will tell you in

simpler words what your word means. There may also be an example of how the word is used in a sentence.

There may also be a synonym (syn.) for your word. This is another word that means the same thing. Pretty and

beautiful are synonyms. Synonyms can help you understand what you are reading. Put the synonym in the

sentence instead of the word you don't know. This will help you read the sentence and know what it means.

There may also be an example of an antonym (ant.) This means the opposite. Pretty and ugly are antonyms.

The dictionary can also tell you how to make your word plural. Plural means more than one. For example, you

might look up the word puppy. After the definition, you might see the word puppies. Puppies is the way to write

more than one puppy.

You might also see other forms of the word. If you look up the word run, you might see runs and running. It

might also give the past tense- ran.



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Name:

The next time you come to a word you don't know- look it up! You'll be surprised at the things you can learn from

a dictionary.

Look It Up!

Questions

1. Dictionaries are ______.

A. small books of articles

B. big books of words

2. The guide words on the page tell ______.

A. how to say the word you are looking up

B. the first and last words on the page

3. What is a verb?

A. an action word

B. a describing word

4. Give an example of an adjective.

5. What is a synonym?

A. a word that means the opposite

B. a word that means the same

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