English vocabulary test
How many English words do you know? Mark the ones you know and get an instant estimate with your approximate CEFR level. Free, no signup.
How many English words do you know?
You will see 42 words, one at a time. Mark the ones you know the meaning of. Careful: some words in the list do not exist, so no guessing. Takes about 3 minutes.
How the test estimates your vocabulary
The words come from English frequency bands: from the 500 most used words to rare ones even natives may not know. By measuring how many you recognize in each band, the test projects an estimate of your total. And there is a catch: some words in the list are invented. Marking those as known signals guessing, and the calculation discounts it. It is the same principle used in academic vocabulary size tests.
Recognizing vs using words
This test measures passive vocabulary: words you recognize when reading or listening. Your active vocabulary, the words that actually come out in conversation, is always much smaller. The good news: turning passive into active does not require more studying, it requires more speaking. You can also check your overall grammar level with our English level test.
Frequently asked
To keep the result honest. If you mark invented words as known, that signals guessing, and the calculation discounts it from the real words. It is the same method used in academic vocabulary size tests.
No, it is an estimate based on frequency bands. Nobody can count word by word, so the test samples each band (from the 500 most common words to the rarest) and projects the total. As a general snapshot, it works well.
Common estimates in the research say the 1,000 most frequent words cover most everyday conversation, and around 3,000 let you understand most common texts. More important than the number is being able to use those words out loud.
Passive is what you recognize when reading or listening. Active is what you can produce when speaking or writing. Passive is always much larger, which is why so many people understand shows without subtitles but freeze in conversation. This test measures passive vocabulary.
