# Sample sentences in the dictionary



## kidika

Hi!

My native language is Spanish. When I need the translation of a Spanish word into English and I look up the possible translations into English, I feel somewhat frustrated. Down below the translations there is usually a list of meanings with sample sentences and, to be honest, if I´m looking for an English equivalent or a Spanish word, I don´t understand why the sample sentences are in Spanish!!! Like I said, if I´m using the dictionary to get a translation into English, I believe that the sample sentences should be en English, or in both languages, if you like.

I apologise if someone has already commented on this.
Ta


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## Cagey

This is only a partial answer, and you may have already noticed this: 

If you click on the English word that has the meaning you want, it takes you to the English-Spanish dictionary.  There the sample sentences are in English, and use the word with the meaning you are interested in.


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## kidika

Cagey said:


> This is only a partial answer, and you may have already noticed this:
> 
> If you click on the English word that has the meaning you want, it takes you to the English-Spanish dictionary.  There the sample sentences are in English, and use the word with the meaning you are interested in.



If I understand you correctly, I have to click on the Spanish word that has the meaning that I want? And then the dictionary takes me to an English word which is supposed to be the English equivalent. Well, not exactly what I want but that´s OK, thanks for pointing that out. Still I don´t see sample sentences in English with the usage of that word in English, so I end up having doubts anyway...
Take the word "oruga" in Spanish, for example. There are at least two very obvious meanings of this word. One is just worm, and the other one is kind of truck with special "wheels". If I enter the word oruga, I can click where it says "vehículo", but then the dictionary takes me to the word vehicle, obviously, but there I can´t find out that particular vehicle in English. If I click where it says Oxford dictionary, I find two entries. One of them takes me where I want, but still no sample sentences in English of the word. In fact, what I find is this: caterpillar-track. I can actually click on those two words individually---if I click on track, it doesn´t take me anywhere near where I want to be. 
Now I´ve taken a word I know. If I had to look up a more complex word, I think it would take me a while to get to where I want to get, and that would always involve checking other dictionaries, google the word, etc. 
To cut the story short, I´m positive that a sample sentence in your target language --English in my case--in the place where you go and look up your word, is the sensible thing to have. That is what I expect from a good dictionary, to give me in the entry I´m looking up, the information that I want. 

And hey, I´m not saying that WR is a bad dictionary at all. I just think that _that_ would be an improvement and would safe me, and I´m guessing other users too, time and effort.

Thanks for your reply anyway.


Edit: Come to think of it, is caterpillar track ok when referring to a vehicle, shouldn´t it be bulldozer, or truck or something? Isn´t track just that kind of conveyor that acts as the wheels of the vehicle?


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## Cagey

I was only giving a partial work-around.  I leaving a more general response to someone else. 

I checked again, and I found that this doesn't work for every word. However, if you look up _contener _in the Spanish-English dictionary, and then click on _contain_ in the definition you are interested in, it will lead you to the English-Spanish definition, with example sentences.  Of course, if you already know the English word, you can look it up the English word immediately.   

However, I see that this only works for some words.  Not all entries have sample sentences.


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## merquiades

Hi Kidika. ¿Qué tal? Long time no see.

Okay, you have to use this process.  For example, click on "oruga".  Go down to principal translations.  You'll see "oruga" with a definition in Spanish and an example "Usaron la oruga para nivelar el terreno."  If that's what you want click on the "caterpillar" part of "caterpillar tractor".  From personal experience you always need to click on the first part, the most specific term.  The "vehículo" doesn't get you anywhere.  Once you do that in this case it confirms your translation and you can go down to the principal translation part and see examples in English with "caterpillar tractor" and "with caterpillar tracks" with translation.  If needed you can click on imágenes and you can find pictures of the different terms.

Saludos


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## kidika

Hi Merquiades. Yep, long time without visiting the forums, but I´m still a regular in the dictionary. ¿Qué tal tú?

I can´t remember exactly what word I looked up that I couldn´t find a sample sentence in English. Perhaps it´s just what Cagey pointed out: "...that this doesn't work for every word" meaning that not all the words have sample sentences, though some of them do. 
And anyway, I said I had chosen an easy word. Now I´m not so sure I did. I too use the google images to find the words I´m looking for. I too image-google words to make sure the word I got is the correct one, and in this case it seems as if caterpillar track  only refers to the special _track_ those vehicles use. So, perhaps there is a mistake in the dictionary translations...But that is a different ball game. 

I guess that my suggestion is then: please write sample sentences in the target language in every word. That would make things easier.
Thanks Merquiades and Cagey for your replies.

Cheers

 Edit: _Yes. The entries that WR give, the principal translations, are fine. The first ones we find when we look up the word oruga, the Oxford and Espasa´s, are misleading. Caterpillar track, according to Cambridge Dictionary is "__a belt of metal plates around the sets of wheels on each side of a vehicle that help it to move over rough ground__". If I had never encountered that word and I trusted the first two entries of the dictionary, I would be using the wrong word for oruga (el vehículo, no la cinta). The fact is that I wouldn´t get to the WR definitions down there, I´d be satisfied...and wrong!! --Well, to be honest, I wouldn´t be satisfied, as I usually double check new words because I teach and don´t wanna teach no rubbish!! _


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## jann

The WR dictionaries are always a work in progress, with gradual improvements and expansions, and different WR dictionaries are in varying stages of completion... if, indeed, a dictionary can ever be said to be "complete." 

The English language base is the single most comprehensive part, and we consequently have more example sentences in English than we do in any other language.  The English base is (partially) translated into French, Spanish, etc... and some (but by no means all!) of the example sentences do exist in translation as well.  As you have probably noticed, searches in the ES-->EN dictionary display examples sentences in both languages (although not necessarily in direct translation).

At the same time, we have dictionary bases in many other languages (Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, etc.). Some of these bases -- especially French and Spanish, I believe -- have their own example sentences, but these usage examples may not have been translated into English.

When you look up a Spanish-->English translation, you are searching the Spanish base.  If Spanish language example sentences exist, they will displayed.  Obviously this is of limited use to you as a native Spanish-speaker, but it can be quite helpful for students of Spanish who want to see how a Spanish word is used in context.  But it seems that English language examples (either translations of the Spanish sentences, or independent English sentences) have not yet been added... so you will need to look up the English word to get usage examples from the English base, as Cagey suggested above.

At some point in the future, I assume the ES-EN dictionary will look more like the EN-ES dictionary. 

If it makes you feel any better, users of the FR-EN dictionay frequently encounter the same difficulty...


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## mkellogg

Yes, we are constantly working on these dictionaries. I'll make a point to get those Spanish sample sentences (on the Spanish to English side) translated to English soon!


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## kidika

Thanks jann  for your contribution! I really appreciate it because it really puts me out of my dilemma
The fact that French users encounter the same problem is no consolation, but at least now I know that this issue has already been noticed. And you´re definitely right in that no dictionary is ever complete.

And mkellogg, I´ll take your word for it! Ta!


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