Regarding JPod's Dictionary

[Snowfall]

Building on a different thread here in the All About Japanese sub-heading, I've decided to try to make a grocery shopping list using hiragana. The first word/phrase I looked up in the JPod dictionary was "grocery store". It returned several answers:

かんぶつや　kanbutsuya
しょくひんてん　shokuhinten
しょくりょうひんしょう　shokuryouhinshou
しょくりょひんてん　shokuryouhinten

Each is indicated as (n), which I assume means Noun. How can I determine which one I need to use to make my list?

As a followup question, what does the (P) mean? I didn't see it in the list of abbreviations used.

Oh, and I know I could just use "supermarket" but I haven't started learning katakana yet (my goal for this week), so I don't want to try writing it until I have a better understanding of it .

[Joey]

i always though it was just スーパー suupaa
so I too would be delighted if someone could enlighten us on the difference between the words

[JonB]

I've only ever heard of スーパー

[markystar]

yeah, i think スーパー is the usual word

[Snowfall]

Looks like I'll have to step up my katakana studies if I plan to eat!

Still a tad confused regarding the dictionary itself -- when several returns pop up for an entry, how do I know which is the *right* one? And what is that (P) for?

[Psy]

I don't recall the numbering, but I do know that the (P) in EDict is used indicate the more commonly used words. One of the irritating things about using this dictionary is that you'll run into a lot of matches on most E->J searches. While after you have some (considerable?) exposure to the language you'll have gained a sense for weeding out what you're looking for, at first it can be quite difficult.

Katakana will help you loads with grocery shopping. Personally, I can't imagine encountering any of those words (other than "suupaa") outside of those fancy signs they hang outside or newspaper clippings/coupons.

[Snowfall]

Thank you, Psyさん.

I'm in the US so I don't have to worry about reading the item names once I get to スーパー
(sorry, not sure how to properly type that long-vowel symbol yet). I'm just trying to do this as a fun little exercise. Thank goodness, my survival (and my family's survival) does not depend on my (in)ability to write or read a Japanese grocery list!

By the way, by the end of the week, i hope to have a good handle on the katakana, so making the list should be easier .