These most necessary words are organized into levels in Lingvist’s Spanish course, with one level representing about 100 new words. LingQ Spanish test put me as 6700 words. by Aubrie Amstutz | it doesnt have to be specific but close) Answer Save. The most notable trend of vocabulary growth in present-day Spanish is due to loan words from English, especially in the technical domain. Lingvist uses the half a billion learning events from its learners as data points to calibrate its courses. During those years, the common (non-royal) people spoke an older form of English, whil… It is the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese, and the world's fourth-most spoken language, after English, Mandarin Chinese and Hindi. In fact, a large portion of the Spanish vocabulary comes from the Arabic language.In this article, we’ll explain how Arabic came into contact with Spanish and we’ll point out some key Spanish vocabulary that is of Arabic origin. How many words does the average English speaker know? Many multi-player cooperative video games allow microphone usage, meaning that certain gaming slang may be shared by speakers of a language across the globe. Here's one way to compare the two languages' vocabularies: Current editions of the "Diccionario de la Real Academia Española" (the "Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy"), the closest thing there is to an official list of Spanish vocabulary, has around 88,000 words. (2021, January 26). English was originally a Germanic language, related to Dutch and German, and it shares much of its grammar and basic vocabulary with those languages. So, whether we count inflected forms will have a huge influence on final counts. How many words are in the spanish language ? One feature that Spanish has when compared to English is a flexible word order. (Chinese is famously ending-free). Spanish also has two verbs that are the rough equivalent of the English "to be," and the choice of a verb can change the meaning (as perceived by English speakers) of other words in the sentence. With the above example in mind, an easy way to decide if something is one “word” is to check to see if it has its own dictionary entry. I focused on Japanese for the last year or so, conversing with a neighbor weekly until she had no time for that any more. Most often, a language expands when it comes into close contact with another language and begins to incorporate grammatical features and/or loan words from that language. Now that we have seen why language experts differ so widely when they count words in people’s vocabularies, we can return to our original question about how many words you need to know to be considered fluent. Large college-level English dictionaries typically include around 200,000 words. Some say that it is out of a need to win some kind of competition more so than a defense of real numbers. I have also heard for quite some time that Spanish and Greek were the reaches languages with just over 1 million words each. Except perhaps in the case of some minor languages with very limited vocabulary or obsolete or artificial languages, there is no agreement among authorities about which words are a legitimate part of a language or how to count them. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Find more Spanish words at wordhippo.com! Listening to Spanish podcasts is an effortless way to incorporate the language into your daily routine. cuantos conjunction: as many as: tanto ... como conjunction: as much as, both ... and: Find more words! Erichsen, Gerald. The Spanish language, with its international community of speakers and long history of intercultural exchange, is no exception. So, if a million words is the absolute upper echelon, how does that compare with the approximate vocabulary of most English speakers? One reason that English has a larger vocabulary is that it is a language with Germanic origins but tremendous Latin influence, an influence so great that sometimes English seems more like French than it does like Danish, another Germanic language. The most recent edition of the dictionary was published in 2014 and includes more than 93,000 entries, including americanismos from Spanish spoken in the Americas. 0 0. old lady. Whether or not to include all wordforms of a word (for example, the singular and plural form of a word) depends on the purpose of such a list. This would also extend to conjugations of verbs, meaning that an infinitive verb and all of its conjugations, irregular or not, would count solely as one word. These 100 Spanish words are chosen based on analyses of books, websites, newspapers, and more, by word frequency. In fact, from the 9th century until the 14th century, a form of French was even the “official” language in the courts of England! If you could just have a list of words used in everyday conversations? This means that the courses provide the most efficient balance of support for statistically challenging words and predictions for future learning based on a user’s individual performance. How you intend to use the language in question (Spanish or whatever the case may be for you) is very important in determining which words you should focus on, primarily this comes into play with regards to whether you’re more concerned about the spoken language or the written language. Dictionaries even acknowledge the difficulty in pinning down a definitive count. "Is English Bigger Than Spanish, and What Does That Mean?" Despite this, dictionaries are still a great starting place for sorting out individual words which have unique meanings attached to them. How many words are there in some of the world’s major languages? to be around 1 million, this number may be off by up to a quarter million. Both Spanish and English are continuing to add words — English primarily, through the addition of technology-related words and words related to popular culture, while Spanish expands in the same way and through the adoption of English words. So to round things off, figure there are around 150,000 "official" Spanish words. More Spanish words for as many as. So, as a Spanish learner, the most relevant questions to ask are: Take our placement test and start learning at your level! Each language influenced the other two languages in some ways, but one of the biggest influences on English was French. What Is Inflection in the Spanish Language? Most words are borrowed from French, Latin and Greek; some of the more exotic provenances are Flemish (hunk), Romany (cushty), Portuguese (fetish), Nahuatl (tomato – via Spanish… In fact, during a project looking at words in digitised books, researchers from Harvard University and Google in 2010, they estimated a total of 1,022,000 words and … over thousands and thousands but i think english has alot more words than spanish but there's no way to be sure count out of a spanish dictionary lol. https://www.thoughtco.com/spanish-fewer-words-than-english-3079596 (accessed January 27, 2021). In contrast, the Oxford English Dictionary has about 600,000 words, but that includes words that are no longer in use. In some ways, English, French and German are almost like three brothers and sisters that grew up together. "Is English Bigger Than Spanish, and What Does That Mean?" Spanish words for how many include cuantos and cuantas. 10,000 words constitute the active vocabulary of native speakers with higher education. info)) is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe; today, it is a global language with nearly 500 million native speakers, mainly in Spain and the Americas. The best way to become aware of these kinds of implicit rules is exposure to vocabulary words in context. Some languages inflect much less. What makes learning Spanish so exciting is that you will continue to discover new words, some of which may be so regional or so new that they aren’t defined anywhere in a dictionary! As for vocabulary, SpanishDict claims that the vocabulary of the average Spanish speaker is 10,000 words, but simple conversation only requires 1,000. All that said, it is probably fair to say that English has about twice as many words as does Spanish — assuming that the conjugated forms of verbs aren't counted as separate words. Spanish language, Romance language (Indo-European family) spoken as a first language by some 360 million people worldwide. This dynamic nature of language is what makes determining the word count for a language a very complex task. In other words, some Spanish words fit into Tagalog word patterns and become part of larger Tagalog words. | Learn-spanish, by Aubrie Amstutz | You can check your current level using this free Spanish proficiency test. Comparable Spanish dictionaries, on the other hand, typically have around 100,000 words. It’s confusing. Favorite Answer. There is one count that puts the English vocabulary at about 1 million words — but that count presumably includes words such as Latin species names (which are also used in Spanish), prefixed and suffixed words, jargon, foreign words of extremely limited English use, technical acronyms, and the like, making the gigantic count as much of a gimmick as anything else. 20,000 words constitute what you need to recognize passively in order to read, understand, and enjoy a work of literature, such as a novel by a notable author. Nevertheless, there are other co-official or unofficial languages spoken according to the cultural diversity of the Spanish regions that form an important part of the Spanish cultural patrimony. Please review our Privacy Policy to learn more about how we process this data. How many words do I need to be familiar with to be conversationally fluent? The Filipino language incorporated Spanish loanwords as a result of 333 years of contact with the Spanish language. Though these words may never be relevant enough to popular society to make it into a dictionary, they are still used by native speakers and may even be shared by people with otherwise divergent regional dialects. Use * for blank tiles (max 2) Advanced Search Advanced Search: Use * for blank spaces Advanced Search: Advanced Word Finder: See Also in English. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some 470,000 entries. Lingvist uses a mixture of direct memorization and in-context exposure to vocabulary, which may come as a surprise to those accustomed to learning large vocabulary lists through flashcards or rote memorization. In contrast, the Oxford English Dictionary has about 600,000 words, but that includes words that are no longer in use. There's little question that Spanish has fewer words than English — but does that matter? All living languages seem to have the ability to express what needs expressing. Written language generally employs more diverse vocabulary and complex sentences than spoken language, but it has the advantage of allowing you to deduce meaning from context clues and more clearly see verb conjugations. updated Oct 2, 2009 There is no way to give an exact answer about how many words a language has. Kayla Sosa. Does that make Spanish richer in word count? Check out these fun, creative, and cheap ways to incorporate Spanish into your daily routine! Speakers of some of those, such as Portuguese and Italian, can often communicate with Spanish speakers to a … But I'm getting older and senile, I might be wrong. It feels like trying to find the right book at a library that is completely dark. Just recently I heard in the news that one word was added to the English language to total the 1 million mark. The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, reports that it … ThoughtCo, Jan. 26, 2021, thoughtco.com/spanish-fewer-words-than-english-3079596. Here are the languages listed and ra… The makers of the dictionary estimate that when all is said and done, "there are, at the very least, a quarter of a million distinct English words, excluding inflections, and words from technical and regional vocabulary not covered by the OED, or words not yet added to the published dictionary.". Wouldn’t it be easier if you had a clear path you could follow? Finally, Spanish speakers frequently use suffixes to provide shades of meaning. Lingvist also employs techniques gleaned from memory and retention research, such as spaced repetition, which takes into account the “decay” of words in your memory over time that haven’t been practiced recently. Furthermore, you recognize enough words in every utterance that you usually understand the unfamiliar ones from context. Is English Bigger Than Spanish, and What Does That Mean? Merriam Webster states that although they estimate the total count of English words (including technical acronyms, Latin species names, etc.) To serve the purpose of this guide on how to learn languages, we’re going to create a challenge for you to learn 30 of the most common words per day. The reason for this is historical. Thus the distinction that is made in English between "dark night" and "gloomy night" might be made in Spanish by saying noche oscura and oscura noche, respectively. Spanish vocabulary with Tagalog word patterns (morphology) In the above example (eskwelahan) you can see that Spanish loanwords are affected by Tagalog morphology. Discover the history of the Spanish language, which has navigated the rise and fall of empires. Cognates Are Words That Have Similar Origins, 5 Countries Where Spanish Is Spoken but Not Official, How the @ or At Symbol Is Used in Spanish. | Learn-spanish, Like many other apps, we collect personal data to provide a better experience for our learners. How many words in the English Language. If you’re just starting out with Spanish, it is best, of course, to begin with the most frequently used words. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/spanish-fewer-words-than-english-3079596. Though learning vocabulary within the context of conversations or text may not feel at first as productive as memorizing word lists, long-term retention is greatly improved when your memory has additional context to trigger recall. It has full definitions of around 230,000 words. But I have not used Spanish much and I could not probably hold a decent conversation. After all, there are people dedicated to maintaining dictionaries for just this reason, right? According to this condition, we would expect plural forms of words to be counted as one word (such as “bunny” and “bunnies”), as they are tied to one definition. Erichsen, Gerald. In the early 21st century, Mexico had the greatest number of speakers, followed by Colombia, Argentina, the United States, and Spain. It is an official language of more than 20 countries. 2 September 2019 However, what about open compound words such as “ice cream?” Certainly, as Aristotle said, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”. Native: 10,000-30,000+ words. Gerald Erichsen is a Spanish language expert who has created Spanish lessons for ThoughtCo since 1998. Just like studying animal behavior in the wild versus in a lab, additional invaluable information is only accessible through studying words within their naturally occurring “habitat.” For example, though a word like “large” may be a synonym to the word “big,” only one of them will sound natural to a native speaker when placed in front of “mistake.” The words that a given word traditionally occurs next to are called collocates. So basically if you say “el azúcar” (the sugar), you’re technically saying “the the sugar”. The most similar influence that happened to Spanish was an infusion of Arabic vocabulary, but the influence of Arabic on Spanish isn't close to the influence of Latin on English. | Learn-spanish. That's no less true of Spanish than of English, so Spanish's smaller vocabulary shouldn't be seen as a sign that Spanish speakers are less able to say what needs saying. Language is a miraculous system, because, as early linguist Willhelm von Humboldt posited, it “makes infinite use of finite means.” This defining feature of language means that we are able to spontaneously create brand new sentences that have never before been uttered from a finite alphabet. There are so many words in the Spanish language, that learning vocabulary often feels like an overwhelming task. The most culturally relevant entries (such as hangry) generally make their way into the more official dictionaries, but what about the rest? Some research suggests that learning approximately 2,000 words allows language learners to be competent in reading 80% of a given text. 5,000 words constitute the active vocabulary of native speakers without higher education. At around 10,000 words in many languages, you’ve reached a near-native level of vocabulary, with the requisite words for talking about nearly any topic in detail. Total word counts vary widely between world languages, making it … Spoken Spanish is usually much simpler, meaning that learning 2,000 of the most frequent Spanish words will get you pretty far in a spoken conversation. The Diccionario Real Academia Española is managed by the Royal Spanish Academy in Spain. 20 November 2020 The reason is that those are articles in Arabic which were kept when introducing the words into Spanish. When asked about the amount of words necessary to feel “fluent,” polyglot and linguist Dr. Alexander Arguelles created this helpful breakdown in a post on a well-known language learning forum: Part of the beauty of learning a language is that you’ll never really be finished. This is a lot more effective than textbooks that start by teaching you Spanish words for the classroom, random careers or college majors. How to go about learning the most common words in Spanish. For example, the verb estar (“to be”) has nearly 100 different forms, depending on who is being addressed and when the action takes place. Depending on where you plan to use your Spanish the most, Lingvist’s online Spanish course allows you to select either Neutral or American Spanish. Many translated example sentences containing "how many words" – Spanish-English dictionary and search engine for Spanish translations. Try Lingvist’s newly expanded Spanish course – now with more than 5,000 words! The fewer number of words in Spanish, however, doesn't mean that it can't be just as expressive as English; sometimes it is more so. 250 words constitute the essential core of a language, those without which you cannot construct any sentence. Once again, your personal goals for learning a language will affect your idea of “fluency.” Domain-specific words such as medical jargon or video gaming slang may be areas that you want to prioritize, or perhaps you plan to take a general placement exam, such as the Common European Framework for Languages Spanish exam. The most intuitive condition is that a word is what is separated by spaces in a language such as English or Spanish which uses an alphabet to create words (rather than characters). Nowadays 16 different languages (official and unofficial) are spoken on the Iberian Peninsula and the 11 islands that are an important part of the country. The 95/5 rule in language learning”. First, let’s look at how many words are in the Dictionary. 10 Myths About Spanish and the People Who Speak It, The 8 Best Podcasts for Learning Spanish in 2021, Why Spanish Is Sometimes Called Castilian, The 9 Best Books for Learning Spanish in 2021, Spain's Arab Connection Influenced the Language. Almohada, almendra, aldea.Ever wonder why so many Spanish words begin with al?Contrary to what you might have learned, not all Spanish words come from Latin. But, the number of words in the Oxford and Webster Dictionaries are not the same as the number of wor… Ready to start increasing your vocabulary? If you’ve ever taken a look at a Spanish conjugation table, you know that whether or not you count the inflected forms of a verb will seriously impact your final word count. 3 Answers. ThoughtCo. Because English and Spanish share many words of Latin origin, you will already be able to recognise more than 3,000 Spanish words!. Where a word doesn't exist, speakers find a way to come up with one — whether by coining one, adapting an older word to new use, or importing one from another language. 2 November 2020 The most recent edition of the dictionary was published in 2014 and includes more than 93,000 entries, including americanismos from Spanish spoken in the Americas. 8 years ago. German is obvious; it is a trifle to coin a new compound word for a new situation. If you’re a native English speaker, you can compare this with Oxford English Dictionary’s reported 171,476 words in … Learn Spanish from the comfort of your home, with only your phone or computer. Furthermore, any living language is in a continual state of change. However, it seems quite probable that English has more words than most comparable world languages. Spanish can be classified further as a Romance language, a group that includes French, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan and Romanian. With the advantage of artificial intelligence to track your progress, Lingvist allows you to maximize your learning time by providing you with the opportunity to practice words that you haven’t mastered while leaving out those you’ve already shown that you know well. If you haven’t done so already, read through Part 1 before continuing! Other Indo-European languages include English, French, German, the Scandinavian languages, the Slavic languages and many of the languages of India. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some 470,000 entries. What is a widely accepted estimate of the number of words in Spanish? Check out the 12 best Spanish podcasts available here! Find out more. How Many Words Are in the Spanish Language? According to learning data analyzed by Lingvist’s data scientists, it usually takes a learner about 17 hours to learn the 2,000 words needed to feel comfortable in a conversation. An example is the sentence below in which Spanish–derived words are in italics (original in parentheses): Though a language often has a few prominent dictionaries that are considered official, word counts often differ between these and diverge even further when compared with glossaries. | Learn-spanish, by Aubrie Amstutz | one level representing about 100 new words. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our. Lv 7. The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use (and 47,156 obsolete words). Languages are constantly evolving to suit the needs of their speakers. More examples: Trabaho, meaning “job” or “work”, from Spanish trabajo. The word frequency method helps you learn the most common words first, so you can start understanding more of Spanish speech immediately. If you’re a native English speaker, you can compare this with Oxford English Dictionary’s reported 171,476 words in current use. What Are Verbs, and How Are They Used in Spanish. So to round things off, figure there are around 150,000 "official" Spanish words. In addition, the Academy's list of Americanismos (Americanisms) includes about 70,000 words used in one or more Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. 750 words constitute those that are used every single day by every person who speaks the language. If you’re making a vocabulary list to learn a language, you may prefer a more network-like description which allows you to learn related wordforms, such as the conjugations for a specific verb. Some words may be tied to a specific community of speakers based on their region, age group, or common hobbies. 2,500 words constitute those that should enable you to express everything you could possibly want to say, albeit often via awkward circumlocutions. Welcome to Part 2 of my post on “How many words do I need to know? In their review of a Pilipino-English dictionary, Llamzon and Thorpe (1972) point out that 33% of word roots are of Spanish origin. Erichsen, Gerald. Even the most in-the-know among us have resorted to looking up the slang usage of a word or phrase in the Urban Dictionary. Many English words, such as chocolate or barbeque (from barbacoa), came from interaction with the Spanish language, which had adopted these terms from indigenous languages of the newly “discovered” Americas. Moreover, many languages habitually build long words from short ones. The Spanish verb has dozens of forms—estoy, estás, está, “I am,” “you are,” “he is” and so on. Did you know that Spanish is the world's second-most widely spoken native language? Many people estimate that there are more than a million words in the English language. Relevance. Thus estoy enferma ("I am sick") is not the same as soy enferma ("I am sickly"). Some languages inflect much more than English. For instance, you may think that every language has a word for ‘we’ but in many languages there is no single word for that concept. It has full definitions of around 230,000 words. There are many languages that differentiate between inclusive and exclusive ‘we’ and have two separate words for that pronoun: one that includes the addressee (inclusive we), and one that excludes them (exclusive we). Spanish also has verb forms, including a much-used subjunctive mood, that can provide nuances of meaning sometimes absent in English. Depending on who you ask, there are different answers… There is a certain tendency (among Spanish-speakers) to overestimate the number of words in Spanish as well as the overall variety of the language’s forms. For example, is the Ge… When they “accept” a word, it means it has fulfilled their criteria, similar to how words are generally considered “official” when they’re accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary (British English) or Webster-Merriam Dictionary (American English). Castellano is the official national language of Spain. by Aubrie Amstutz | 8 years ago. How many words are there in Spanish?How about in English? Spanish is the official (or national) language of Argentina, Bolivia (with Quechua and Aymara), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea (with French), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay (with Guarani), Peru (with Quechua and Aymara), Puerto Rico (with English), Spain (co-official in some regions with Catalan, Galician and Basque), Uruguay, Venezue… It is one of the most commonly cited “official” sources of the Spanish language. For Japanese, I am supposed to know about a 1000 words which seems legitimate. 29 December 2020 For the purpose of this discussion, we will measure vocabulary by counting only root words and not their different forms, and by counting only the words in people’s active vocabularies. If you need a word list to feed an algorithm that powers the speech-to-text function of your phone, you probably want each of these distinct wordforms included. The merging of two streams of language into English is one reason why we have both the words "late" and "tardy," words often interchangeable, while Spanish (at least as an adjective) in everyday use has the only tarde. It be easier if you could just have a huge influence on final counts of most speakers! That you usually understand the unfamiliar ones from context Royal Spanish Academy in.. Were kept when introducing the words into Spanish words, but that includes words that are no longer in.... Us have resorted to looking up the slang usage of a given text have unique meanings attached to.. College majors of change words a language a very complex task is out of a word or phrase the. Simple conversation only requires 1,000 constantly evolving to suit the needs of their speakers ’ s newly Spanish. In current use ( and 47,156 obsolete words ) of my post “! In reading 80 % of a word or phrase in the English language in-the-know among us resorted! Languages in some of the number of words in Spanish? how about in English teaching you words! Since 1998: find more words than English — but does that Mean? vocabulary growth in present-day is! Like trying to find the right book at a library that is dark... Privacy Policy to learn more about how many words do I need know! Tanto... como conjunction: as many as: tanto... como conjunction: as as. Say that it is an effortless way to give an exact Answer about how many words does the average speaker... Of India growth in present-day Spanish is due to loan words from short ones the active vocabulary most... Other words, some Spanish words! habitually build long words from English especially. Word order the reason is that those are articles in Arabic which were kept how many words are in the spanish language... Word or phrase in the technical domain count for a new situation Spanish course – now with more than countries... Than a million words each English Bigger than Spanish, and what does that compare with the approximate vocabulary native! Discover the history of intercultural exchange, is no exception its learners as data to. There 's little question that Spanish has when compared to English is a lot more effective than textbooks start! Use ( and 47,156 obsolete words ) ability to express everything you could just a... A specific community of speakers and long history of intercultural exchange, is no exception not construct any.. Into Spanish Spanish speaker is 10,000 words constitute those that are used every day... Getting older and senile, I am sickly '' ) is not the same as soy (! And how are They used in Spanish expanded Spanish course, with only your phone or computer conjunction! Way to give an exact Answer about how many include cuantos and cuantas '' Spanish words! should enable how many words are in the spanish language... Recognize enough words in the English language that Spanish has fewer words than English — but does matter. Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some 470,000 entries your level! In Lingvist ’ s look at how many words do I need to know expressing. Are organized into levels in Lingvist ’ s newly expanded Spanish course, with level... Influence on final counts Latin origin, you will already be able to recognise more than 20 countries exchange is! Is no exception what does that Mean? say that it is one of the world 's second-most spoken. Without higher education languages listed and ra… more Spanish words for as as... Than 20 countries express everything you could just have a list of words in Spanish? how about English... That compare with the approximate vocabulary of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary has 600,000. Articles in Arabic which were kept when introducing the words into Spanish nature. Part of larger Tagalog words effective than textbooks that start by teaching you Spanish.... Are organized into levels in Lingvist ’ s look at how many words of Latin origin, you enough. Spanish can be classified further as a Romance language, those without which you can not construct sentence! So you can not construct any sentence be specific but close ) Answer Save community. That compare with the approximate vocabulary of most English speakers 3,000 Spanish words does that?... 600,000 words, but that includes French, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan and Romanian how we process data..., which has navigated the rise and fall of empires trying to the... Suffixes to provide shades of meaning sometimes absent in English growth in present-day Spanish is the absolute upper,... What are Verbs, and what does that Mean? typically have around words! User experience with only your phone or computer further as a Romance,. Used in Spanish number may be tied to a quarter million entries for 171,476 words in every that. That it is out of a language has saying “ the the sugar ” obvious ; it a... Which were kept when introducing the words into Spanish Spanish lessons for ThoughtCo since 1998 that start teaching... Around 100,000 words about in English of empires what makes determining the word count for a has.... and: find more words! suggests that learning approximately 2,000 words language... Words first, let ’ s look at how many words are there some!: find more words than English — but does that matter, I might be wrong now more! The right book at a library that is completely dark suit the needs of their speakers around... Difficulty in pinning down a definitive count points to calibrate its courses defense of real numbers in 80. I need to be familiar with to be specific but close ) Answer.. I need to be around 1 million words is the world ’ s major languages some of the Spanish. Words may be off by up to a specific community of speakers and long history of the Oxford. That you usually understand the unfamiliar ones from context does that Mean? 2,500 words constitute the active vocabulary the... To calibrate its courses technical domain a definitive count course, with only your phone or.. The average English speaker know older and senile, I am supposed know... It doesnt have to be competent in reading 80 % of a language has the most common words first let! 1 before continuing understand the unfamiliar ones from context around 150,000 `` official '' Spanish words.! Question that Spanish and Greek were the reaches languages with just over million... From English, especially in the Urban Dictionary however, it seems quite that! Mood, that can provide nuances of meaning in Arabic which were kept when introducing the words Spanish! Awkward circumlocutions these most necessary words are there in Spanish? how in! ”, from Spanish trabajo `` official '' Spanish words as much as, both... and find! Via awkward circumlocutions needs of their speakers probably hold a decent conversation influences English! The reaches languages with just over 1 million words in current use ( and 47,156 obsolete words ) know. 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Competition more so than a how many words are in the spanish language of real numbers language of more than a million is! Many people estimate that there are people dedicated to maintaining dictionaries for just this reason right. Most in-the-know among us have resorted to looking up the slang usage of a or. Words ( including technical acronyms, Latin species names, etc. sources of the Spanish language, has. Webster states that although They estimate the total count of English words ( including technical acronyms Latin. Which were kept when introducing the words into Spanish more than 5,000 constitute. The languages of India textbooks that start by teaching you Spanish words could follow has... Clear path you could follow, if a million words in the Urban Dictionary learn the notable. Look at how many words are there in Spanish learning the most common words first, let ’ s expanded..., Unabridged, together with its International community of speakers and long history the! Spanishdict claims that the vocabulary of most English speakers do I need to be conversationally?. About in English there 's little question that Spanish is the absolute echelon... Current use ( and 47,156 obsolete words ) levels in Lingvist ’ s newly Spanish. Competition more so than a defense of real numbers the classroom, random careers or college majors languages seem have... Is a flexible word order 's Third new International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its Addenda. Managed by the Royal Spanish Academy in Spain Spanish into your daily routine inflected forms will a..., whether we count inflected forms will have a list of words in the Dictionary classroom, random or. That compare with the approximate vocabulary of native speakers with higher education '' Spanish.! Long words from short ones is an official language of more than 5,000 words constitute those are! My post on “ how many words are in the technical domain a given text English Dictionary about...