Meaning & use
stock vocabulary
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountableinformal
The set of words and phrases that a person knows and uses regularly, or that are commonly known in a language or field.
Grammar: Usually uncountable, but can be countable when referring to different sets: 'a technical stock vocabulary'.
Patterns
- a stock vocabulary of + number
- build/expand one's stock vocabulary
- have a large stock vocabulary
After two years of study, she had a stock vocabulary of about three thousand words.
Teachers should help students expand their stock vocabulary through reading and conversation.
The textbook focuses on the stock vocabulary needed for everyday situations like shopping and travel.
Common combinations
- build a stock vocabulary
- Reading widely helps you build a stock vocabulary.
- limited stock vocabulary
- His limited stock vocabulary made it hard for him to express complex ideas.
- stock vocabulary of a language
- The stock vocabulary of English includes many words from Latin and French.
- expand one's stock vocabulary
- She expanded her stock vocabulary by watching films without subtitles.
Synonyms and how they differ
- core vocabulary
- More formal and often refers to the most essential words in a language, while 'stock vocabulary' can include all words a person knows.
- lexicon
- A technical term for the complete set of words in a language or a person's mental dictionary; 'stock vocabulary' is less technical and more everyday.
Word family
- vocabulary noun
- The general word for all the words known or used by a person or group.
- vocabulary test noun
- A test that measures how many words someone knows.
Commonly confused: stock vocabulary or stock phrase?
stock vocabulary vs stock phrase
A 'stock phrase' is a fixed expression that is used again and again, while 'stock vocabulary' refers to the whole set of words someone knows.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'stock vocabulary' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Stock vocabulary' refers to the words a person knows, so 'building a stock vocabulary' is correct. The other options confuse it with financial 'stock' or treat it as a physical object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stock vocabulary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.