basic vocabulary

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noun Linguistics.

the set of lexical items in a language that are most resistant to replacement, referring to the most common and universal elements of human experience, such as parts of the body (foot, eye), universal features of the environment (water, star), common activities (eat, sleep), and the lowest numerals.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also called core vocabulary.

Words nearby basic vocabulary

basic slag, basic stain, basic statement, basic steel, basic training, basic vocabulary, basic wage, basidia, basidiocarp, basidioma, basidiomycete

How to use basic vocabulary in a sentence

We were barely into the appetizer when he asked a fairly basic question—where did my family live?
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The training, at least as described by the U.S. military, is incredibly basic.
Pentagon Insider on New Plan to Fight ISIS: ‘Of Course It’s Not Enough’|Nancy A. Youssef|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Nothing in it was meant to change the basic operations of the capitalist economy or to intervene aggressively in class relations.
Thank Congress, Not LBJ for Great Society|Julian Zelizer, Scott Porch|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And yet—as any private who went through basic can tell you—good weapons training means not shooting wildly 14 times.
A Veteran’s View: NYC Cold War Between Cops and City Hall|Matt Gallagher|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I was put in a solitary confinement completely cut off from the outside world without even enjoying basic prisoner rights.
A Daughter’s Plea: Free My Father from Prison in Iran|Mitra Pourshajari, Movements.Org, Advancing Human Rights|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nuclei and certain other structures in the blood are stained by the basic dyes, and are hence called basophilic.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
I hope you are able to bear the brunt of the battle, for my vocabulary will scarcely carry me through ten words.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
This word, as well as the one last-named, is very expressive in the vocabulary of the vulgar.
Notes and Queries, Number 194, July 16, 1853|Various
The strength, the originality, the true raison d'être of the Provençal speech resides in its rich vocabulary.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer
What we call curiosity in the ape is the basic form of the characteristic which we call attention or observation in man.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris