Kinds of Vocabulary
A person’s knowledge of words is divided into two broad kinds of vocabulary. There are two kinds of Vocabulary:
Active Vocabulary - Working Vocabulary or Functional Vocabulary
It consists of words a person uses for a speech or writing as he fully understands the meanings of the words.
Passive Vocabulary - Recognition Vocabulary
It consists of words a person encounters in a newspaper and editorials or in others speech. These are unfamiliar words where it can be judged based on its context of use.
An active piece of vocabulary is a word a person uses and a passive word is one that a person understands, but does not use.
Example of Active Vocab: Writing Vocab & Speaking Vocab
Example of Passive Vocab: Reading Vocab & Listening Vocab