Vocabulary and Usage in English Grammar
What is Vocabulary?
Vocabulary is a set of familiar words which are known and used by a particular person. In simple words, we can say that vocabulary is a collection of a person’s familiar words which he/she has developed with age and use them as a fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.
Types of Vocabulary
There are mainly 5 types of vocabulary:
Reading vocabulary
The reading vocabulary contains all the words which a literate person can recognize while reading. This is the largest type of vocabulary because a reader tends to be exposed to more words by reading than by listening. Vocabulary and Usage
Listening vocabulary
The listening vocabulary contains all the words which a literate person can recognize when listening to speech. People may still understand words they were not exposed to before using cues such as tone, gestures, the topic of discussion and the social context of the conversation.
Speaking vocabulary
The speaking vocabulary contains all the words which a literate person can use in speech. It is like a subset of the listening vocabulary. Due to the spontaneous nature of speech, words are often misused. This misuse, though slight and unintentional, may be compensated by facial expressions and tone of voice.
Writing vocabulary
The writing vocabulary contains a set of words which are generally used while writing an essay or a social media feed. Many written words do not commonly appear in speech. Writers generally use a limited set of words when communicating. So, writing vocabulary may be called a super-set of speaking vocabulary. Vocabulary and Usage
Read this also: Most asked Idioms and Phrases
Final vocabulary
The definition of final vocabulary according to the American philosopher Richard Rorty:
“All human beings carry about a set of words which they employ to justify their actions, their beliefs, and their lives. These are the words in which we formulate praise of our friends and contempt for our enemies, our long-term projects, our deepest self-doubts and our highest hopes… I shall call these words a person’s “final vocabulary”. Those words are as far as he can go with language; beyond them is only helpless passivity or a resort to force.”
Top Vocabulary Words
| Word | Frequency | Type |
| the | 9243 | (definite article, adverb) |
| of | 5220 | (preposition) |
| and | 5196 | (conjunction) |
| to | 4951 | (preposition, adverb) |
| a | 4506 | (indefinite article, noun, preposition) |
| in | 2822 | (preposition, adverb) |
| is | 2699 | (verb) |
| you | 2041 | (pronoun, noun) |
| are | 1843 | (verb) |
| for | 1752 | (preposition, conjunction) |
| that | 1743 | (pronoun, adjective, adverb, conjunction) |
| or | 1487 | (conjunction) |
| it | 1386 | (pronoun, noun) |
| as | 1363 | (adverb, conjunction, pronoun, preposition) |
| be | 1145 | (verb, auxiliary verb) |
| on | 1087 | (preposition, adverb, adjective) |
| your | 1067 | (pronoun) |
| with | 1062 | (preposition) |
| can | 895 | (auxiliary verb, noun) |
| have | 891 | (verb, auxiliary verb) |
| this | 864 | (pronoun, adjective, adverb) |
| an | 754 | (indefinite article) |
| by | 706 | (preposition, adverb) |
| not | 658 | (adverb) |
| but | 626 | (conjunction, preposition, adverb, noun) |
| at | 624 | (preposition) |
| from | 622 | (preposition) |
| I | 621 | (pronoun) |
| they | 617 | (pronoun) |
| more | 597 | (adjective, adverb) |
| will | 577 | (auxiliary verb, noun) |
| if | 546 | (conjunction, noun) |
| some | 501 | (adjective, pronoun, adverb) |
| there | 470 | (adverb, pronoun, noun, adjective) |
| what | 461 | (pronoun, adjective, adverb, interjection) |
| about | 451 | (preposition, adverb, adjective) |
| which | 449 | (pronoun, adjective) |
| when | 442 | (adverb, conjunction) |
| one | 441 | (adjective, noun, pronoun) |
| their | 439 | (pronoun) |
| all | 438 | (adjective, pronoun, noun, adverb) |
| also | 419 | (adverb) |
| how | 412 | (adverb, conjunction) |
| many | 397 | (adjective, noun, pronoun) |
| do | 389 | (auxiliary verb) |
| has | 384 | (verb) |
| most | 378 | (adjective, noun, adverb) |
| people | 372 | (noun) |
| other | 369 | (adjective, noun, pronoun, adverb) |
| time | 369 | (noun, adjective, verb) |
| so | 352 | (adverb, conjunction, pronoun, adjective) |
| was | 352 | (past, verb) |
| we | 352 | (pronoun) |
| these | 344 | (pronoun, adjective) |
| may | 336 | (auxiliary verb) |
| like | 324 | (preposition, verb, conjunction, adverb) |
| use | 319 | (verb, noun) |
| into | 301 | (preposition) |
| than | 301 | (conjunction) |
| up | 296 | (adverb, preposition, adjective, noun) |
| out | 294 | (adverb, preposition, adjective, interjection) |
| who | 281 | (pronoun) |
| them | 269 | (pronoun) |
| make | 262 | (verb, noun) |
| because | 248 | (conjunction) |
| such | 236 | (adjective, adverb) |
| through | 235 | (preposition, adverb, adjective) |
| get | 233 | (verb) |
| work | 224 | (noun, adjective, verb) |
| even | 223 | (adjective, verb, adverb) |
| different | 215 | (adjective) |
| its | 215 | (pronoun) |
| no | 213 | (adverb, adjective, noun) |
| our | 213 | (pronoun) |
| new | 210 | (adjective, adverb) |
| film | 209 | (noun, verb) |
| just | 208 | (adjective, adverb) |
| only | 208 | (adverb, adjective, conjunction) |
| see | 204 | (verb) |
| used | 204 | (adjective) |
| good | 201 | (adjective, noun, adverb, interjection) |
| water | 201 | (noun, verb, adjective) |
| been | 200 | (past, verb) |
| need | 193 | (verb) |
| should | 191 | (auxiliary verb) |
| very | 191 | (adverb) |
| any | 190 | (adjective, adverb) |
| history | 187 | (noun) |
| often | 187 | (adverb) |
| way | 185 | (noun) |
| well | 184 | (adverb, verb, noun, interjection) |
| art | 183 | (noun) |
| know | 181 | (verb) |
| were | 180 | (past, verb) |
| then | 179 | (adverb, adjective) |
| my | 177 | (pronoun) |
| first | 176 | (adverb, adjective) |
| would | 176 | (verb) |
| money | 174 | (noun, adjective) |
| each | 173 | (adjective, adverb) |
| over | 170 | (preposition, adjective, noun) |
| world | 169 | (noun) |
| information | 168 | (noun) |
| map | 167 | (noun) |
| find | 166 | (verb) |
| where | 166 | (adverb, pronoun, noun) |
| much | 165 | (adjective, adverb) |
| take | 164 | (verb) |
| two | 164 | (noun) |
| want | 163 | (verb) |
| important | 160 | (adjective) |
| family | 159 | (noun) |
| those | 156 | (pronoun) |
| example | 147 | (noun, verb) |
| while | 147 | (noun, conjunction, preposition, verb) |
| he | 144 | (pronoun) |
| look | 144 | (verb, noun, interjection) |
| government | 143 | (noun) |
| before | 141 | (preposition, adverb, conjunction) |
| help | 141 | (verb, noun, interjection) |
| between | 137 | (preposition, adverb) |
| go | 131 | (verb, noun, adjective, interjection) |
| own | 130 | (adjective, verb) |
| however | 128 | (adverb) |
| business | 127 | (noun, adjective) |
| us | 127 | (pronoun) |
| great | 126 | (adjective, noun, adverb, interjection) |
| his | 125 | (pronoun, adjective) |
| being | 124 | (verb, noun) |
| another | 123 | (adjective, pronoun) |
| health | 122 | (noun) |
| same | 120 | (adjective, pronoun, adverb) |
| study | 118 | (noun, verb) |
| why | 118 | (adverb, conjunction, noun, interjection) |
| few | 117 | (adjective, noun, pronoun) |
| game | 117 | (noun, adjective, verb) |
| might | 116 | (auxiliary verb, noun) |
| think | 116 | (verb, adjective, noun) |
| free | 115 | (adjective, adverb, verb) |
| too | 114 | (adverb) |
| had | 113 | (auxiliary verb) |
| hi | 113 | (interjection) |
| right | 113 | (adjective, adverb, noun, verb) |
| still | 112 | (adjective, noun, adverb, verb) |
| system | 111 | (noun) |
| after | 110 | (preposition, adjective, adverb) |
| computer | 109 | (noun) |
| best | 108 | (adjective, adverb, noun, verb) |
| must | 108 | (auxiliary verb, verb, adjective, noun) |
| her | 107 | (pronoun) |
| life | 107 | (noun, adjective) |
| since | 107 | (preposition, adverb, conjunction) |
| could | 105 | (auxiliary verb) |
| does | 104 | (verb) |
| now | 104 | (adverb, conjunction, adjective) |
| during | 103 | (preposition) |
| learn | 102 | (verb) |
| around | 101 | (adverb, preposition) |
| usually | 101 | (adverb) |
| form | 99 | (noun, verb) |
Vocabulary and Usage
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