Finally, letters are associated with specific sounds. The last set of strategies involves using what you know about letters and sounds to discover how to say new words. You could ask another person how to say a new word, or you could look in a dictionary; but using phonetic strategies can make this task easier.

Structural, contextual, and phonetic strategies can help you discover the general definition about a word, and a thesaurus is helpful for finding words with similar meanings. Still, it is sometimes not possible to guess the meaning and use of a new word. There are many words that sound and look similar, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Some phrases, groups of words, express a different meaning than their individual words. These expressions may be unique to the English language, and can be confusing. For challenging words and phrases, the dictionary is the best tool for determining their exact meaning and use.

Homonyms and Idioms

Homonyms and idioms can be confusing. The words “two”, “to”, and “too” sound the same, but they have different spellings, meanings, and uses. The word “two” refers to the number 2. The word “to” is used as a preposition, and the word “too” is used to replace the word also, or it is used to mean an excessive degree (too fast). These words are called homonyms. Dictionaries may list homonyms for words that are frequently confused.

Idioms are phrases. They have specific meanings that are often different from the meanings of the individual words. For example, the idiom “a chip off the old block” means that a child is similar to his or her parent. It has nothing to do with a piece of a wood block. Looking in the dictionary is the best way to discover their meaning.