Vocabulary - English Grammar - English Free Test

A vocabulary is a list of words. A person's vocabulary is all the words that he or she knows. A five year old would probably know about 5000 words. An adult who has studied at university or college may know at least 20000 words in their language.

The vocabulary of a language is always changing. New words are invented or words change their meaning. This means that dictionaries have to be updated. Words to do with computers such as "download" are new to the English language. The new word "bling" came from hip hop. Words like "cool" have developed new meanings.

A way of looking up unknown vocabulary can be done with a Dictionary or a Multi-word dictionary It is difficult to be exact. Some words may be understood but not known well enough to be used. Words that are used are part of a person's "active vocabulary". Words that are only understood and not used are called "passive vocabulary".Someone who knows many words is said to have a "wide vocabulary".It is good to develop a wide vocabulary. Knowing lots of words helps with reading, listening, writing, and talking to people. The English language has a very large vocabulary.