When do you fully know a word?

And how can you improve your vocabulary knowledge?

Photo by Houcine Ncib on Unsplash

Hello!

Sometimes, I realise I only half know a word! This might happen when I’m doing a crossword puzzle or when I need a dictionary to help me explain a word to a student.

Here are a couple of examples. Without a dictionary, I know that the word “sirloin” has something to do with beef or steak. I don’t really need to know any more than that because I’m a vegetarian! (The dictionary tells me it’s quality beef from a cow’s back, by the way.)

My apologies if you don’t eat beef for religious reasons. I hope this example doesn’t offend you. But actually, it might still be important for you and for me to know meat vocabulary so we don’t accidentally buy or eat something we don’t want!

Another example. The other day, I was talking to a student about politics. I have very little interest in politics and I don’t know much about it. This means that there are some political words I might not understand fully.

The same is true for football. I know there’s something called the offside rule but I couldn’t possibly explain what it is!

Does this ever happen to you in your own language - you realise that you only half know a word?

And what about in English?

When you’re learning a language, including your first language, there are different levels of knowing a word. Here are some possibilities, in no special order:

• You know, fully understand and can use the word. (This is your active vocabulary.)

• You understand the word when you hear it but you don’t use it. You don’t remember it automatically when you speak or you avoid using it because you’re not sure about the exact meaning. (This is called passive vocabulary.)

• You know a word because you’ve heard it before but you don’t know or can’t remember what it means.

• You think you know what a word means but actually, you’ve misunderstood or partially misunderstood it.

• You half understand the word but you realise that you don’t completely understand what it means (like me with “sirloin” and “offside”).

• You know one meaning of the word but you don’t know the other meaning or meanings.

• You know a word when you hear it but you can’t read or spell it. The opposite is possible too: you can read and understand it but you don’t know the pronunciation. This happens because of the irregular spelling and pronunciation rules of English.

• You know the meaning of a word but not the grammar so you don’t know how to use it in a sentence. For example, a learner might use an adjective as a noun, or might not know if a noun is countable or uncountable.

• You know a word but not if it’s formal or informal, polite or impolite, positive or negative, emotional or neutral.

• You know and understand a word but you don’t know what other words go with it. Is it “bored of” or “bored with”, for example? (“Bored with” is more correct.)

How do you feel when these things happen?

(Apart from the first one - fully knowing and being able to use a word. I imagine you feel great about the first one!)

But what about the rest? I guess you might worry that you don’t have enough vocabulary. Or you might feel frustrated when you can’t find the words even though they are in your head somewhere. Or you feel nervous about making a mistake by using the wrong word or using a word in the wrong context.

But I want you to know that all of these things are normal. They all happen to native speakers too. Yes, even teachers!

But what are the solutions to the problems I mentioned above?

In short, the best answers, in my opinion, are:

1. to read a lot and

2. to practise using the new words you learn.

Reading is a great way to learn new vocabulary but it also helps to remind you of words you’ve learnt before. And reading teaches you how the words are used in a real context.

Yes, you can also learn vocabulary by watching videos and films instead but I think reading is better. It’s much easier to notice words and see how they’re used when you read because it’s slower and you can pause when you need to.

When you find new words, you should check their meaning in a dictionary. Then write the new words down so you can review them later. And it’s important to practise using them, in conversation or in writing. Otherwise, you’ll forget them.

If you’d like more tips about learning vocabulary, you might like my “English Vocabulary Challenge” e-book. Get your copy here.

See you next week!

Katie 💙