Vocabulary 

 

Word of the Day
Vocabulary Lists
What is Vocabulary?
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Topic Vocabulary

Practical English vocabulary for topics such as sports, music, movies, numbers, time and holidays and festivals. Some with audio and video.

Vocabulary Reference

Includes slang, idioms, synonyms and antonyms, collocations, confusing words and much more, with example sentences, notes and fun quizzes.

Vocabulary by Word Class

Wordlists based on parts of speech like verbs, nouns and adjectives or other word forms such as prefixes, suffixes and contractions, with fun quizzes and audio.

Word of the Day

Learn something new every day! A little and often is the best way to acquire new vocabulary.



We have four different types of words and phrases for you to learn from. These pages include meanings, example sentences, notes and quizzes.

• Idiom of the Day
• Phrasal Verb of the Day
• Slang of the Day
• Saying of the Day

Idiom of the Day

get your act together

Meaning:

If you get your act together, you greatly improve your attitude and performance in relation to something such as your work, or to life in general.

For example:

• You're in your thirties now, so it's time you got your act together and started behaving like a mature adult.
• Terry is trying to get his act together and do better in all aspects of his life.

Quick Quiz

After Gillian got her act together, she
a. did much better at work

b. remembered her lines in the play

c. started acting like somebody else

Phrasal Verb of the Day

get back (1)

Meaning:

to return to a place

For example:

• get back The kids go to school at 9 in the morning and they usually get back about 4 in the afternoon.
• get back Do you know when the neighbours are getting back from their vacation?

Quick Quiz

What time does Maria usually get back
a. dinner?

b. work?

c. home?

Slang of the Day

goof off | goof around

Meaning:

waste time, play around

For example:

• Whenever the teacher leaves the classroom she tells her students to keep working, but as soon as she leaves they start goofing off.
• It's the kids who goof around in college instead of taking their studies seriously who'll be in trouble when they try to join the workforce.

Variety: This slang term is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

Quick Quiz

On the weekend, my son goofs off with his friends. They
a. study hard

b. work part-time

c. play computer games

Saying of the Day

Death keeps no calendar

Today: Tue, 30 Jan 2018

Possible interpretation:

In this saying, "Death" is personified as a spiritual being who may call upon us at any time - he has no appointment book. We never know when we will die.
Note: Death (noun) = personification of the force that destroys life | death (noun) = the act of dying; the end of life | calendar (noun) = chart showing the days, weeks and months of each year; diary; datebook

Quick Quiz

It could be argued that the saying "Death keeps no calendar" is not true in the case of
a. accidental death

b. murder

c. suicide

Vocabulary Word Lists

These are lists of words that ESL learners can browse and select to help in studying English vocabulary.
Common Words

• Lists of Common Words

Verbs

• Phrasal Verbs List
• Regular Verbs List
• Irregular Verbs List

Nouns

• Selected List of Uncountable Nouns
• List of Nouns that are Count and Noncount
• Partitive Expressions with Uncountable Nouns

Adjectives

• Irregular Adjectives
• Positive Personality Adjectives List
• Negative Personality Adjectives List

Adverbs

• Adverbs of Manner List
• Adverbs of Place List
• Adverbs of Time List
• Adverbs of Degree List

Prepositions

• Prepositions Short List
• Prepositions Long List

Interjections

• Interjections List

What is Vocabulary?

The noun vocabulary (or vocab for short) refers to the words used in a language.
The word vocabulary can have at least three different meanings:
1. all of the words in a language

• New words are constantly being added to the vocabulary of English.

2. the words used in a particular context

• If you want to do an MBA you need to improve your business vocabulary.
• My neighbour is a doctor so he has an extensive medical vocabulary.
• I've just bought a book on the vocabulary of slang.

3. the words an individual person knows

• The teacher says that my vocabulary is good.

When learning a foreign language, our individual vocabulary in that language is one of the most important micro-skills to develop. Of course, all micro-skills like grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation are important. But it is far more difficult to communicate with no vocabulary than with no grammar. :-)

Active and passive vocabulary

In our own individual vocabulary, there is a difference between:

• words that we understand and use (our active vocabulary)
• words that we understand but do not or cannot use (our passive vocabulary)

This is true for native speakers as well as for learners. In your own language, there are many words that you use regularly when speaking or writing. These words are part of your active vocabulary. And then there are many words that you understand when you hear them, on television for example, but do not use in everyday speech. These words are part of your passive vocabulary.