I didn't know what it means so I looked it up/have looked it up in the/a dictionary

[Rachel Adams]

If I am talking about finding out the meaning of a word "curry" and tell my friend about it should I use "means" because the word still has this meaning, "the dictionary" even though it wasn't mentioned before and the present perfect?

It's seems to be one simple sentence but I am not sure about my choices.

"I didn't know what it means so I looked it up/have looked it up in the/a dictionary and found out its meaning."

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: A confusing sentence

"look it up in the dictionary" is almost a set phrase. It doesn't matter whether you have mentioned it before. It also doesn't matter how many dictionaries you looked it up in.

I would say "I didn't know what it meant so I looked it up in the dictionary". There is really no need to add that you found the definition there. It would be worth mentioning only if you hadn't found the word in the dictionary.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: A confusing sentence

If I am talking about finding out the meaning of [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE] the word "curry" ….

See above.

 

[Rover_KE]

I have changed your thread title.

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'