The 100 Most Common English Words

Quick Answer: The 100 most common English words are mostly short function words such as the, be, to, of, and, a, in and that, plus core verbs (have, do, say, go, get, make), pronouns and a few nouns like time, people and year. Corpus studies agree that "the" is the most frequent word. Because these words appear in almost every sentence, learning them first gives beginners the fastest gain in understanding.

Key takeaways

• "The" is the most frequent word in large English corpora; be, to, of, and, a, in and that follow close behind.
• Most top words are function words (articles, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions) that hold sentences together.
• Exact rankings differ between lists, especially between spoken and written English, so treat any order as approximate.
• Many common verbs are irregular: go, went; say, said; make, made; take, took.
• Learn these words in chunks such as "a lot of" and "I don't know", because they mean little alone.
• Watch weak forms in speech: "to" often sounds like "tuh" and "of" like "uv".

Why these words matter so much

Researchers count words in huge collections of written and spoken English, called corpora. Frequency studies consistently find that a small number of words make up a large share of everything we read and hear. The exact order changes slightly between sources, such as written versus spoken English, but the same words appear at the top of every list.

The list below is grouped by word type so it is easier to learn. Order within groups is approximate.

Articles, determiners and quantifiers

the, a, an, this, that, these, those, some, any, all, no, every, other, more, many, much, most, such, only

• "The book on the table is mine."
• "Some people like this, but not all."

Pronouns

I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them, my, your, his, its, our, their, who, what, which

• "She told me about her trip."
• "What do you think of it?"

Common verbs

be, have, do, say, go, get, make, know, think, take, see, come, want, look, use, find, give, tell, work, can, will, would, could, should

• "I think we should go now."
• "Can you tell me where it is?"
• "She wants to make a cake."

Many of these are irregular in the past: go, went; say, said; make, made; take, took. See our irregular verbs list.

Prepositions

of, to, in, for, on, with, at, by, from, up, about, into, over, after, out

• "I'm talking to my friend about the weekend."
• "We met at the station after work."

Conjunctions

and, but, or, if, because, so, as, when, than

• "I was tired, but I went to the party because it was her birthday."

Adverbs and other small words

not, just, now, also, very, well, then, there, here, how, back, even, too, never

• "I'm just here for a minute."
• "This is a very good idea."

Adjectives

good, new, first, last, long, great, little, own, old, right, big, high, small, large

• "My new phone is very small."
• "It was a great first day."

Nouns

time, people, year, way, day, thing, man, woman, world, life, child, work

• "It's the best day of the year."
• "There are many ways to do this."

The top words in one table

Group	Examples
Most frequent of all	the, be, to, of, and, a, in, that
Core verbs	have, do, say, go, get, make, know, think
Pronouns	I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Question words	what, who, which, how, when
Time words	now, then, time, year, day

How to learn the most common words

Learn them in phrases

Function words make little sense alone. Learn them in short chunks:

• "a lot of", "in the morning", "at home", "on time"
• "I don't know", "What do you think?", "Can I have...?"

Our list of common English phrases for beginners is full of these.

Use spaced repetition

Review each word a few times over days and weeks, not 20 times in one evening. This is the idea behind spaced repetition.

Notice them in real texts

Take any short English text and underline the words from this list. You will see how many there are.

Say them aloud

Many common words are pronounced weakly in natural speech. "To" often sounds like "tuh", "and" like "n", and "of" like "uv". Listening practice helps you recognize these weak forms.

Common mistakes with common words

Mistake	Correct	Why
I am agree.	I agree.	agree is a verb; do not add am
I have been there in 2020.	I was there in 2020.	specific past time uses past simple
She said me the answer.	She told me the answer.	tell someone; say something
I go to home.	I go home.	no to before home
Make your homework.	Do your homework.	do homework
It's depend.	It depends.	depend needs s with it

For more confusing pairs, see say vs tell.

Practice: fill in the most common words

Use: the, of, and, to, in, is, for, that

1. I went ___ the shop ___ bought some bread.
2. A cup ___ coffee, please.
3. This present is ___ you.
4. She lives ___ London.
5. ___ sun ___ very hot today.
6. I think ___ he's right.

Answers: 1 to, and. 2 of. 3 for. 4 in. 5 The, is. 6 that.

After the first 100

Once you know these words, keep building with the next most common words, especially verbs, adjectives and nouns about daily life. How far do you need to go? Our guide how many English words do you need explains realistic targets for each level.

LearnLingo's free vocabulary hub and A1 course teach high-frequency words in short browser lessons, with spaced review so they stay with you.

People Also Ask

What is the most common word in English?

In most large collections of English text, the most common word is the. Other very frequent words include be, to, of, and, a, in and that.

How much English do the 100 most common words cover?

Frequency studies of large text collections find that a small set of the most common words makes up a large share of all the words in typical texts. Exact figures vary by source and text type.

Why are most common English words so short?

Most of them are function words like the, of, and, to and it. They hold sentences together, so they appear in almost every sentence.

Should beginners learn common words first?

Yes. High-frequency words appear everywhere, so learning them first gives the fastest improvement in understanding and speaking.

Related Reading

• How Many English Words Do You Need?
• The Best Way to Learn English Vocabulary
• 50 Common English Phrases for Beginners
• Spaced Repetition: Remember Words for Good