The TLFi has extensive usage examples.
You can find specific explanation even for simple words with these dictionaries:
http://www.lerobert.com/dictionnaires-bilingues/anglais.html
or online
http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/bilingues
The website Le Point du FLE, has a page with links* to various dictionaries that are suggested to learners of French as a second language, they are classified according to their specific usage (mono- or bilingual, synonyms, etc.) but some of them can be too difficult to use for beginner or intermediate students of French.
And they have forgotten one which is often recommended to learners at beginner and intermediate levels, and which I personally find find very good at this level: the Le dictionnaire multifonctions of TV5Monde.
The définition tab lists the various possible meanings of a word, and each word in the definition is linked to the definition of that word. Specific particularities are given, homonyms when existing, the synonym tab allows to go to the usage of the various synonyms. There’s also a “style” tab that, when existing, gives set phrases in which the words are used.
There’s also a bilingual (French-English and English-French) dictionary tab.
What’s lacking is pronunciation, but you can always have that in the French wiktionary which on the other hand is not the ideal usage dictionary for a beginner or intermediate learner of French.
A tip when you find the indications in a dictionary do not return what you expect is to search on the internet. You can type habiter vs vivre or quitter vs sortir and you will find that there are plenty of people out there who have written on have written extensively on the subject.
To Leave, to Exit… Quitter, Sortir, Partir, Laisser, S’en Aller
Vivre et habiter
You will find that French Language Stack Exchange is a great place for that type of questions and when you don’t find your answer it’s the place to ask you question.
*Some of the links are not updated, e.g. the GDT which is a great ressource.
Leave a comment