How to Use Bilingual Dictionaries

By Laura K. Lawless, About.com Guide

Another good technique for double-checking your translation is to compare dictionary definitions. Look up the English word in your monolingual English dictionary and the French in your monolingual French dictionary and see whether the definitions are equivalent.

For example, my American Heritage gives this definition for "hunger": A strong desire or need for food. My Grand Robert says, for faim, Sensation qui, normalement, accompagne le besoin de manger. These two definitions say pretty much the same thing, which means that "hunger" and faim are the same thing.