A Practical Dictionary of German Usage

One of the most difficult tasks confronting the English speaker learning German is that of finding exactly the right German word to translate an English word in a particular context. Many common English words have several, sometimes a bewildering number of German equivalents. Thus it is all too easy to find yourself saying the equivalent of Have you extinguished the rubbish? instead of Have you put out the rubbish? Bilingual dictionaries list equivalents, but give little or no information about their use.

The articles in this practical dictionary are much longer than those to be found in a bilingual dictionary, and the number of words treated is fewer, with a concentration on those which cause particular difficulties for speakers of English.

The complexity of the relationship between English words and their German equivalents is attributable to two factors. Firstly, frequently used English words often have more than one meaning, and each of these meanings likely to require a different German equivalent. Secondly, any one of the English meanings may be expressed by more than one German word. Such words will be at least partial synonyms, but the field of meaning is likely to be divided up in a way that is different from English.

Each article in the book starts by separating out the different meanings of an English word, and then explains the meaning and use of the German equivalents for each, with numerous examples. The book will be an essential reference work for advanced language learners and for teachers of German at all levels, offering a uniquely detailed insight into the structure of word meaning in German as well as practical advice on usage.