system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:How is it that although we don't know all of the words in the dictionary by heart, we can easily spot when something is not a word?
gpt
1. Recognition is easier than recall, so if you see a real world you usually recognize it, even if it's not one you use.
2. In a specific language, certain letter combinations are rare or completely unused. Here are some realistic non-words: famp, droom, pank. Here are some plainly unrealistic ones: qqaq, eoao, thethith, yfg.