French English Dictionary
In a French English dictionary, a French word would be followed by its meaning in the English language. Words are typically listed in alphabetical order to make it easy to find what you are looking for. There are now even more defined lists put together such as corpuses. A corpus is just a collection of various words, expressions, idioms, and uses of words in speech or writing in a particular language. This allows the individual who is trying to figure out a meaning of a phrase or word that may not translate directly to better understand.
Bilingual dictionaries such as a French English dictionary have words that tend to be grouped or lumped together based on the origin of the word. These root words are arranged in an alphabetical format. Words can appear in many different ways and a direct translation from one word to another is not always possible. Therefore, the French English dictionary may contain pronunciation information, grammatically correct usage of a word, and may even give examples of how a word may be used in a sentence or perhaps the most common use of the word.
Most dictionaries are in a book form. They range from the paperback book size for students to the tiny carry in your pocket or pocketbook size for travelers. However, more and more, electronic dictionaries are becoming more popular, i.e.; a French English dictionary in a portable electronic device. There is now software available to download onto to PDAs and Blackberries. There are online translating programs available for students to use.
Remember, that whether it is a book format or a technology based format, the most common usage of the word or phrase of words is usually listed first. Also, bilingual dictionaries like the French English dictionary, will translate US measurements to metric measurements and vice versa, which is important especially when traveling in France.