C7. Adding Illustrative Sentences

This lesson provides a comprehensive guide on adding illustrative sentences to dictionary entries in FLEx. Here’s a summary:

Objective:

• Learn how to identify, craft, and enter well-formed illustrative sentences into FLEx.

• Understand when and why illustrative sentences enhance dictionary entries.

• Learn best practices for selecting, editing, and formatting example sentences.

Key Topics:

1. What Are Illustrative Sentences?

• Sentences that show how a headword is used in context.

• Written in the vernacular language and translated into the analysis language (e.g., English).

• Complement definitions but do not replace them.

2. When & Where to Use Illustrative Sentences

• Not all words need them (e.g., concrete nouns may be better explained with pictures).

• Essential for complex meanings, polysemous words, and words without direct translations.

• Useful for verbs, function words, and idioms.

3. Why Use Illustrative Sentences?

• Clarify meaning beyond the definition.

• Show grammatical behavior (e.g., prepositions required for a verb).

• Demonstrate usage in natural speech.

• Reflect cultural context.

4. Sources for Illustrative Sentences

• Corpus-based examples: Extracted from real texts, ensuring natural usage.

• Crafted sentences: Created by native speakers when no corpus examples exist.

5. Editing & Crafting Example Sentences

• Refine corpus sentences by:

  • Removing unnecessary information (e.g., time references like "after that").

  • Changing names to pronouns for anonymity.

  • Transforming negatives into positives for clarity.

  • Adding missing context to improve understanding.

• Best practices for crafting:

  • Sentences should be short (5–10 words) and clear.

  • Use common grammatical constructions.

  • Ensure correct punctuation and grammar.

  • Keep the sentence semantically self-contained.

  • Be factually accurate and culturally appropriate.

6. Selecting High-Quality Illustrative Sentences

• Test replaceability: If replacing the headword with another word breaks the meaning, it's a strong example.

• Focus on central meaning (avoid distracting elements).

• Avoid judgmental language (e.g., changing "Christians erroneously believe…" to "Christians believe…").

• Be consistent with part of speech (e.g., verbs should be used as verbs).

• Use a variety of sentence structures across the dictionary.

7. Formatting & Entering Example Sentences in FLEx

• Avoid bolding/underlining the headword in example sentences.

• Avoid abbreviations or cryptic symbols (e.g., use "someone" instead of "s.o.").

• Provide natural translations in the analysis language.

• Differentiate between free and literal translations (literal translations are mainly for internal use).

8. Entering & Managing Example Sentences in FLEx

• Steps to add an example:

  • Go to the Lexicon Edit Browse pane.

  • Click Insert Example in the Sense 1 section.

  • Type the vernacular example sentence.

  • Enter the free translation in the analysis language.

  • Select the translation type (free/literal).

  • Add a reference if the example is from a corpus.

• Deleting example sentences:

  • Remove only the translation or delete the entire example cluster.

  • Use Ctrl+Z to undo accidental deletions.

Completion:

• Includes hands-on activities for entering, editing, and deleting example sentences.

• A quiz (80% passing score) tests comprehension.

• Further reading materials and opportunities for feedback.

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com