Learn English – When someone can speak a language very well, they are “fluent”. What if you can only understand it

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When someone can speak a language very well, they are fluent. Is there a word to describe a situation where you can understand the language when spoken to you perfectly, but just can't speak it as well? I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe it.

Best Answer

You could consider using passive speaker as defined in Wikipedia:

A passive speaker (also referred to as a receptive bilingual or passive bilingual) is someone who has had enough exposure to a language in childhood to have a native-like comprehension of it, but has little or no active command of it.

As it is not a broadly used term, you might have to add something after saying it for example:

He is a passive speaker in French. He does understand it very well, but can't speak it fluently.