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Vocabulary by category

19 areas across 140 word lists and 5614 words. Each category can be practised as a whole — across its lists and across the levels.

Why a roof over the lists

The vocabulary page shows 140 cards. That is not an overview but a shelf: whoever stands in front of it is not looking for a list but for an area — moving house, starting a job, seeing a doctor, talking about a film.

And the answer to an area is rarely one list. Moving house takes several lists that sit at opposite ends of the alphabet and side by side in the category.

What a category is, and what it is not

  • An area of life, not a level. Every category runs across the levels, and that is the point: the same area at A2 and at C1 is one area in two resolutions. Practise the category and you get both — on two separate list pages you would never see the connection.
  • No second grading. The level of a word does not change here, and the quiz still uses the level you have set. The band on each card shows how the words are spread across the levels.
  • Exactly one per list. Two memberships would be easier to hand out and would make every number on this page useless: going through all 19 would mean practising more words than there are. The build stops if a list is in two categories or in none.
  • A decision, not a measurement. Which category a borderline list belongs to is a choice. It is reasoned — every category page says what holds its lists together — and it is open to challenge.

The largest is “The scaffolding” with 842 words, the smallest “Society and the news” with 160. Both numbers are calculated and nowhere typed by hand.

The 19 categories

The scaffoldingThe words without which no sentence stands.21 lists  ·  842 wordsGreetings, politeness and conversationThe set phrases, the reactions that keep a conversation going, and saying things kindly.six lists  ·  240 wordsPeople and feelingsFamily, friendship, character and feeling — at more than one resolution.eleven lists  ·  442 wordsHome and daily lifeThe rooms, the chores, the daily round and the flat itself.five lists  ·  200 wordsFood and drinkThe table, the kitchen, the restaurant and the field the food came from.six lists  ·  240 wordsShopping, clothes and moneyThe shop, the price, the clothes and the bank.seven lists  ·  282 wordsGetting around and travellingThe street, the station, the trip and the city around it.nine lists  ·  361 wordsThe body and healthFrom where it hurts to what the doctor writes down.seven lists  ·  281 wordsNature, weather and the environmentThe seasons, the forecast, the landscape and what to do when disaster strikes.nine lists  ·  361 wordsFree time, sport and entertainmentHobbies, games, films, matches and the results.five lists  ·  201 wordsFestivals, the arts and historyThe festival calendar, the arts, and the long history behind both.six lists  ·  242 wordsSchool, university and researchThe classroom, the exam, the lecture hall and the paper.five lists  ·  201 wordsWork and careersThe job, the office, the colleagues and the meeting.seven lists  ·  279 wordsThe economy, business and financeGrowth, the company, the market and the share price.four lists  ·  161 wordsThe state, the law and public servicesThe counter, the form, the court and diplomacy.eight lists  ·  320 wordsSociety and the newsWhat the news reports, and what people discuss.four lists  ·  160 wordsTechnology, the internet and scienceThe phone, the app, the laboratory and the machine.seven lists  ·  280 wordsThinking and arguingReasons, opinions, abstract nouns and the words that carry an argument.eight lists  ·  320 wordsSet expressions and written ChineseFour-character expressions, formal verbs and the words that make a text sound written.five lists  ·  201 words

Practise a category as a whole

Every category page has a quiz drawn from all its lists. If you would rather have the full choice — level, mode, length — you will also find the categories in the “Area” field of the practice page, each as the first entry of its group.