100 Most Common English Words

Level: A1. These are the words you meet in almost every English sentence. A small set of words does most of the work, so learning this core gives you a surprising amount of everyday English fast.

By the end of this page you can…

…recognise and use these high-frequency English words, say each one aloud with the audio, and test yourself with the practice and quiz below.

How this list was made

The ranking comes from the hermitdave FrequencyWords English list (the 2018 en_50k file, word lists CC BY-SA 4.0, built from OpenSubtitles). Each word keeps its real position in that list — the number in the Rank column is the raw list rank, never invented. Because the data is built from film and TV subtitles, the raw file also contains tokeniser fragments ('s, 't, 're, 'll, 'd and bare negatives such as don, didn, wasn), repeated title abbreviations (mr, dr.) and a little strong slang. Those entries are skipped here, but the words shown keep the rank the list gave them, so you may see small gaps in the numbers. The grouping into verbs, people, time, describing and function words is ours, to make the set easier to learn than a flat A–Z list.

The words

Pronouns and people words

Be, have, do and modal verbs

Yes, no and not

The most common action verbs

Question words

Linking and position words

Small everyday words

Spoken words

Example sentences

Play each line and say it aloud. Every sentence uses words from this list.

1. I know what you mean.
   Four of the top words in one line.
2. We can do it.
   'Can' plus the base verb 'do'.
3. She is here now.
   'Be' with a place and a time word.
4. They have a car.
   'Have' shows you own something.
5. He did not go.
   'Did not' makes the past negative.
6. Do you want this one?
   A yes/no question with 'do'.
7. I think so too.
   'So' stands in for the whole idea.
8. Come and see.
   Two common verbs joined by 'and'.
9. Just look at it.
   'Just' softens the request.
10. Tell me why.
    A question word at the end.
11. We will go back.
    'Will' points to the future.
12. Who are they?
    'Who' asks about people.
13. It was a good day.
    'Was' is the past of 'is'.
14. Can you see them?
    'Them' is the object pronoun.
15. Take it from here.
    'From' shows the starting point.
16. That is all right.
    'All right' means okay.
17. Yeah, okay, let us go.
    Everyday spoken words.
18. I would like to know more.
    'Would like' is a polite wish.

Quick recap before you practise.

How to say it

English spelling hides its sounds, so copy the audio, not the letters.

• the has two sounds: thuh before a consonant (the dog) and thee before a vowel (the apple).
• of is said “ov” — the f sounds like a v.
• to is usually weak: “tuh” in normal speech (I want to go → wanna go).
• what / where / when start with a plain w; the h is silent for most speakers.

Practice

Practice

Vocabulary practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 Which word is the most common in everyday English?

dog you table orange

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you — 'you' sits at the top of the frequency list.

2 Join two ideas: 'you ____ me' (one word).

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Hint: a connector

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and — 'and' joins words and ideas.

3 Choose the verb that makes a yes/no question: '___ you want it?'

Do Are Is Was

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Do — 'Do' forms yes/no questions with most verbs.

4 Past of 'is': 'She ____ here.' (one word)

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Hint: past of is

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was — 'was' is the past singular of 'be'.

5 Put the words in order.

knowIyou

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I know you — Subject + verb + object: I know you.

6 Match each word to its job.

• the Match for the — choose — makes it negativemarks a verbpoints to a known thingspeaker and others
• to Match for to — choose — makes it negativemarks a verbpoints to a known thingspeaker and others
• not Match for not — choose — makes it negativemarks a verbpoints to a known thingspeaker and others
• we Match for we — choose — makes it negativemarks a verbpoints to a known thingspeaker and others

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• the → points to a known thing
• to → marks a verb
• not → makes it negative
• we → speaker and others

These function words appear in almost every sentence.

Quiz

Check yourself

Vocabulary quiz

12 questions · pick an answer and you'll see straight away if it's right.

0/12 0 answered

1. 1What does the word 'they' refer to?

   A one thing B those people C the speaker D a place
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   those people — 'they' is the plural subject pronoun.

2. 2Choose the correct form: 'We ___ ready.'

   A is B am C are D was
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   are — 'are' is the we/you/they present form.

3. 3Which word is the opposite of 'yes'?

   A so B no C now D on
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   no — 'no' is the opposite of 'yes'.

4. 4Complete (future): 'I ___ help you.'

   A will B was C did D am
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   will — 'will' + base verb makes the future.

5. 5Which word is a question word?

   A and B where C the D but
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   where — 'where' asks about place.

6. 6'My' shows that…

   A it is a question B something belongs to me C it is past D it is a place
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   something belongs to me — 'my' is a possessive.

7. 7Choose the natural sentence.

   A I has a car. B I have a car. C I am a car. D I do a car.
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   I have a car. — Use 'have' with 'I'.

8. 8'to' in 'I want to go' is…

   A a question B a marker before the verb C a place D past tense
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   a marker before the verb — 'to' marks the verb that follows.

9. 9Which word points to a thing near you?

   A that B this C there D then
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   this — 'this' is near the speaker; 'that' is farther away.

10. 10'did' is the past of…

    A do B be C have D go
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    do — 'did' is the past of 'do'.

11. 11Which pair are both pronouns?

    A he, she B the, a C in, on D and, but
    Show answer

    he, she — 'he' and 'she' are subject pronouns.

12. 12Complete: 'Come ___ see.'

    A and B but C or D if
    Show answer

    and — 'and' joins the two actions.

Recap cheat-sheet

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