How to Learn English Vocabulary (without drama or trauma)

Do you know how to learn English vocabulary as painlessly as possible? Consistent, small steps will add up faster than cramming (studying very hard for short periods but not following up later). 

btr-how 2 lrn Eng voc

The old fable about the tortoise and the hare is generally true for learning languages as well: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

There is an added factor however: the more you WANT to speak in English, and the more enjoyable the practice can be, the better.

That’s why many of my vocabulary practice pages feature games or interesting topics.

Choose subjects you are fascinated by and your study will be much easier!

English has a huge number of words, many with several meanings.

It has many synonyms— words with similar meanings. There are also lots of homonyms-- different words with the same pronunciation. (Sometimes they have the same spelling, too!) 

They make English harder to learn, but also richer and more expressive. Think of it the whole learning process as a game-- one you can win!

The Roots of English in Many Languages

There are historical reasons for the richness (and difficulty) of English.

English has Germanic roots. Then Roman, Danish, and French invasions expanded English vocabulary. They also provided many cognates.

Cognates are English words that are like words in other languages because they come from the same roots.

If you speak a language related to German or Latin, you'll find lots of cognates in English. Recognizing the way they work can boost your English reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Be careful with cognates, though. A few words seem related but are “false cognates.” Ask yourself, "does the related meaning make sense?"

As English explorers and colonists came into contact with other languages, they often borrowed words. Now increased world communication and trade are helping English grow faster than ever. (See English Word Origins.)

Study Roots & Affixes 

How to learn English vocabulary outside of a classroom? Read as much as possible. We need to see or hear a new word repeatedly to learn it well. As you read a word again and again in different contexts, you also learn various ways to use it.

Another way to recognize more words is to study their parts: their roots and affixes. (Affixes are prefixes-- word beginnings, and suffixes-- endings.) Learning roots and affixes is so useful that EnglishHints devotes a whole section to it. See Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes.

Knowing them is especially important for university studies. They're also valuable for professional or business dealings in English.

How to Change a Word's Part of Speech (and Sometimes its Meaning)

In many ways, English vocabulary is very flexible. You can create a new word by changing the word ending. (Word endings show the word's part of speech: whether a word is a noun, verb, or adjective, for example.) See List of Suffixes, Word Families, Word Family Practice, and Word Formation Examples and Exercises.)

Sometimes the same word may be used as a verb OR a noun or another part of speech. A few examples of words that can be verbs or nouns are approach, factor, focus, grant, review, or support.

Contract, contrast, desert, object, & present are examples where the noun and verb are spelled the same, but pronounced with the stress on different syllables. The nouns are stressed on the first syllable; the verbs on the second. (This is the usual pattern for stress in two syllable words, but there are MANY exceptions.) 

A verb's past participle (like broken, hidden, or required) may be used as an adjective. A verb's present participle may also serve as a noun called a gerund. (Example: "Riding a bike is good exercise. So is jogging.") You can tell which part of speech a word is by its location in a sentence.

Sentence structure is the main way we recognize the part a word is playing. (That is a major reason why English word order is less flexible than many languages.)

We can also take what was a noun and make it a verb (or make a verb into a noun) by changing its position in the sentence. The word ‘text’ has been used for centuries as a noun meaning the words of a document. Recently, people have begun to use it as an adjective (“I’ll send a text message”) or as a verb (“I’ll text you.”)

Words that began as names of objects often become metaphors for ideas as well. Eventually they may have a second or third meaning that is completely abstract. This ancient process (common to many languages), also adds to the richness and confusion of English vocabulary.

We talk about the 'fruits' (meaning results) of labor. We might say a discussion is ‘heated’ (meaning angry) or that a person is ‘cold’ (meaning indifferent to the feelings of others.) 

Those are all metaphors. They use words for physical objects (like fruit) or sensations (like heat or cold) to explain ideas.

How to Learn English Vocabulary Related To Daily Life

Note that EnglishHints doesn’t teach beginning English. For a review of basic English, see the section called "If you are just beginning to learn English" on Learn English Free.

The pages below discuss common vocabulary for various subjects AFTER you’ve learned the basics of English. Most are words you will need to know to get along in English. They’re worth reviewing, especially if you will be living in an English-speaking country or taking the IELTS.

(In the IELTS speaking section, you may be asked to discuss your family and personal life, daily routines, interests, and opinions. The point is to be able to carry on a conversation, so the more you practice conversations and answering questions, the better.

It’s not nearly as important to understand every word as to be able to respond to the examiners’ prompts and questions—but the more you can practice speaking about a variety of common topics, the better prepared you will be.)

• Medical Vocabulary (words for health and illness, doctor visits, tests, and treatments) 

• Types of Germs

• Climate Change and Weather Vocabulary

• Money Words

• Skills for 21st Century Jobs

• Personality Vocabulary (useful for job resumes/CVs and for describing yourself or your friends.)

• Emotions (not on this site, but great illustrations for each feeling, brief explanations, and a video with pronunciations. It links to a crossword puzzle for practice.)

• Basic Family Vocabulary. (also not on EnglishHints, but it has a visual family tree to explain aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, etc. and informal family terms (Mom, Dad, Nana, etc.)

• Understanding the News in English

If you’re thinking of university studies or work in business, scientific research, or similar professions, you should learn general academic or professional vocabulary, (as well as understanding the technical vocabulary of your specific occupation).

The good news—if you already speak a Latin-based language (Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc.)—is that many or most of these academic words will be cognates: similar to your words for the same things. The difficult part is that the pronunciation may not be easy, and even word stress is likely to be different.

Like so much else in learning a new language enjoy the similarities and learn the patterns that can help you remember the differences.

Remember, the important thing is to use the English vocabulary you already have and to keep learning more. See also Online Vocabulary Games in English for different ways to practice—and have fun! (The Basics of Science crossword came from Science Crossword Puzzles, linked from that page.)

Home › How to Learn English Vocabulary

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