2
general::
vocabulary
adjectives
large/wide/extensive
• She has a very wide vocabulary.
limited/small
• He had just started learning English and his vocabulary was fairly limited.
basic/essential vocabulary
• The book teaches you the basic vocabulary that you need to know when you're on holiday.
technical/specialized vocabulary
• The instructions were full of technical vocabulary.
somebody's active vocabulary
(= the words they can use )
• Children of this age have an active vocabulary of about 1,000 words.
somebody's passive vocabulary
(= the words they can understand but do not use )
• Your passive vocabulary is much larger than your active vocabulary.
verbs
have a vocabulary
• By eighteen months of age, the girl had a vocabulary of around 300 words.
expand/improve your vocabulary
( also enrich your vocabulary formal )
• Reading helps to expand your vocabulary.
learn vocabulary
• What's the best way of learning new vocabulary?
vocabulary + NOUN
a vocabulary test/exercise
• The teacher gave us a vocabulary test.
a vocabulary item
formal (= a word, especially in a coursebook or a language class )
• The difficult vocabulary items are explained at the bottom of the page.
transnet.ir
3
general::
noun ADJ. extensive, large, rich, wide English has a rich vocabulary and literature. Try to develop a wide vocabulary. | limited, narrow, poor, restricted, small | active, passive | basic, essential, key | formal | business, scientific, specialized, technical VERB + VOCABULARY have | acquire, learn Learners of languages acquire vocabulary through practice. | build, develop, enlarge, enrich, expand, extend, increase, widen This book has been designed to help you expand your vocabulary. | enter The word ‘think tank’ entered the vocabulary (= became part of the language) in the 1960s. | use Specialized vocabulary is used in all the major disciplines. VOCABULARY + NOUN item PREP. ~ for/of the essential vocabulary for tourism PHRASES not in sb's vocabulary The word ‘failure’is not in his vocabulary (= for him, failure does not exist).
Oxford Collocations Dictionary