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For Life
2006.05.24

Hi!

Today's WordMaster edition deals with a common source of confusion among our students. And since it has a lot in common with another important edition from our archives - “EMPLOYEE vs. STAFF” - why not take a few minutes to look at that one as well?

Today's LessonCATEGORY: 混同しやすい言葉
WORD vs. VOCABULARY   単語 VS. 語彙

Explanation

  • A word is a unit of language that has a meaning, (when written) is usually made from one or more letters or characters, and is used to make sentences. For example, “dog”, “run”, and “beautiful” are words.

    A vocabulary is a SET of words, such as all the words in a language, all the words in a language that you are able to use, or a special set of words used to talk about a particular subject.

    Be Careful! We do NOT call a single word a “vocabulary”.
  • word とは、意味をもつ言語のまとまりで、通常一文字以上から成り立ち、文章を形作るのに使われます。例えば “dog”, “run”, “beautiful” など、つまり、単語のことです。

    vocabulary とは、単語の集合体です。例えば、ある言語のすべての単語や、ある言語の中で使うことができる単語、また、特定の分野について話すときに用いられる特別な単語のまとまり、つまり、語彙のことです。

    注意：英語では、一つの単語をさすときは word を使い、“vocabulary” とはいいません。

examples

  1. (pointing to a page in a book)
    Do you know what this word means?
  2. (doing a crossword puzzle)
    What's a seven-letter word for “get ready”?**
  3. (to a friend who is studying English)
    You should read Berlitz WordMaster. You can learn a new word every day.
  4. A large number of words in the English vocabulary have been borrowed from French, German, and other languages.
  5. I just started learning Spanish, so I don't have a very big vocabulary yet.
  6. My teacher said that the best way to increase my vocabulary is to read more.
  7. This book was written using a 1000-wordvocabulary.

英会話レッスンWere you able to answer the question in Example 2?

** Answer: prepare