Each language contains such a huge number of words that it is impossible to use all of them, and even knowing every word of a native or foreign language is very problematic. Therefore, researchers and scholars divide vocabulary into active and passive.
The vocabulary of any language is divided into two parts: active and passive. The active vocabulary includes all available, well-known and frequently used words, for example: country, bread, food, beautiful, people, learn. The passive stock consists of words that a person knows or guesses about the meaning of which, but he himself does not use them in everyday speech. These can be outdated or, conversely, new words, scientific or highly specialized vocabulary.
How many words do you need to know?
The general vocabulary of the Russian language includes about 500 thousand words. Of course, not a single person, even the most educated, can know such a huge number of words. Yes, this is useless, because people live in different areas and work in different areas. According to studies, young children know about 2000 words before entering school, after graduation this number increases to 10 thousand in general, and erudites are able to show knowledge of about 50 thousand words. However, in order to understand well about 90% of all written literary texts and magazine articles, to understand the speaker and communicate without problems, you need to know about 6 thousand of the most used words. Moreover, in Russian this figure is higher than for English - there the speaker will need to know about 4-5 thousand well-known words in order to communicate at a sufficiently high level and understand well spoken and written speech.
A person constantly changes his vocabulary, some constructions are forgotten, new ones take their place. If a person is constantly developing, his vocabulary expands. If he does not read books or articles, does not communicate with interesting interlocutors, does not reflect, the words are gradually erased from memory. In addition, there is a gradual transition from an active vocabulary to a passive one and vice versa.
Is passive stock useful?
Teachers and many researchers insist that it is useful to translate words from a passive vocabulary into an active one, that is, it is necessary to use little-known words in speech as often as possible. And in some cases it is, in fact, useful, for example, when teaching a child to speak, when studying foreign languages or certain subjects, specialties at school and university. It is impossible to imagine that a child or an adult who is mastering a subject new to him would not use new words and expressions in oral or written speech. However, a passive vocabulary will always be more active and you should not memorize words from it too hard and try to find a use for them in everyday communication. It may look silly, to say the least, your interlocutors may not understand what you want to say to them.
At the same time, remaining in a passive stock, words are remembered better, and their meaning is retained in memory for a long time. They are especially needed when you read or study complex scientific or historical materials, help to delve into the text, analyze it, and make conclusions easier. Such knowledge is useful precisely with this use, therefore the value of a passive vocabulary is no less than an active one.
