Technology Tips: Google Docs Dictionary

Make sure you do the GoogleDocs Tech Tip first, before you do any other tips this semester.

As mentioned in the Google Docs tip, Google Docs has a built-in dictionary so that you can look up words whose meaning you are not sure of.

USING THE DICTIONARY. There are two ways to use the dictionary:

1) Click on a word in your text and then, from the Tools menu, choose Define. That will pop up the definition of the word you have highlighted.

2) Just go directly to the Tools menu, choose Define, and then type the word you want to look up in the box.

(You can also bypass the menu by using the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl-Shift-Y.)

For this tip, you will copy-and-paste some text into a Google Doc and use the built-in dictionary to check on the meaning of the words.

STEP ONE: GOOGLE DOC. Create a Google Doc and then copy and paste these sentences into your document. Even if you already know the correct option each time, go ahead and copy-and-paste anyway and look up the words; the goal here is to practice with the dictionary. :-)

We hope that our new employee will COMPLEMENT or COMPLIMENT the talents of our current team.

You can talk as fast and as loud as you want, but your words don't FAZE or PHASE me.

He is not sure how the news will AFFECT or EFFECT his family.

STEP TWO: SEND EMAIL. When you are done, send me the sentences above with the correct word selected and let me know that you successfully looked the words up in the Google Docs Dictionary. Do you think this feature will be useful to you? (Personally, I look up words in the dictionary all the time, so this kind of thing is very useful to me!) Please use this subject line for the email: TechTip GoogleDoc Dictionary.

When you have sent in the email, you can do the Gradebook Declaration for Extra Credit. Here is the text of the Gradebook Declaration you will complete: