English Words 501-1000 (Frequency)

Level: A2. This is the second block of the English frequency list — the words ranked 501 to 1000 by how often they appear in everyday speech. If you already know the top 500, these are your next most valuable words: common verbs, describing words, and the nouns of home, family and daily life. Learn them in the themed groups below, say each example out loud, and review with flashcards.

By the end of this page you can…

…recognise and use a core set of the 501-1000 most frequent English words, grouped by meaning, and build your own sentence with each one.

How this core was chosen

The ranking comes from the hermitdave FrequencyWords English 50k list, which counts how often each word appears in a large collection of film and TV subtitles. A lower rank number means a more common word.

That raw list is honest about real speech, which means it also contains things that are not teachable vocabulary:

• Proper names (john, jack, michael, america) — useful to recognise, but not general words.
• Single letters and fragments (l, s, o, ’cause, shouldn) — artefacts of how subtitles are written.
• Sounds and stage directions (laughs, sighs, hmm, ooh) — these are transcription labels, not words you study.
• Explicit slang — we leave it out of a learner page.

So this page shows a representative core of about 140 real, high-value words from ranks 501-1000, grouped by theme. Every word keeps its true rank from the list (shown in brackets), and the skipped items are left out on purpose, not forgotten.

Common verbs — set 1

Common verbs — set 2

People, roles and groups

Describing things — adjectives

Home, food and everyday nouns

Time, place and other useful words

Example sentences

Press play on each line and say it out loud — these reuse the words above in natural sentences.

1. I need to buy a ticket before we leave.
   buy (511) — pay to get something.
2. Can you send me the address?
   send (521) — make it go to someone.
3. We plan to finish the work by Friday.
   plan (559) and finish (754).
4. Don't lose your key — the door locks by itself.
   lose (557), key (883).
5. My parents became teachers when they were young.
   parents (582), become (530) → became.
6. The team won the match, and everyone was happy.
   team (516), win (607) → won.
7. It's getting dark, so let's drive home.
   dark (762), drive (612).
8. She caught the ball and threw it back.
   catch (636) → caught; throw (699) → threw.
9. I sometimes feel tired after a long day.
   sometimes (529), tired (742).
10. This hotel is cheap but very clean and quiet.
    hotel (792), quiet (660).
11. Please explain the rule again — it's difficult.
    explain (695), difficult (910).
12. The food at this restaurant is special.
    food (533), special (581).
13. We walked across the street to the park.
    across (818).
14. I promise to save some dinner for you.
    promise (568), save (528), dinner (560).
15. The officer asked us a few serious questions.
    officer (744), serious (588).
16. You are safe here, so you can relax.
    safe (570), relax (919).
17. He sold his old camera and bought a new one.
    sell (761) → sold; buy (511) → bought.
18. I wonder what the future will bring.
    wonder (703), future (680).
19. The building near the station is very tall.
    building (753), near (804).
20. That's a smart plan, and it's completely free.
    smart (911), free (505).

Quick recap before you practise.

Common mistakes

Learners at this level make a few predictable slips with these words:

• ✗ I buyed a ticket. → ✓ I bought a ticket. — buy is irregular. See Past Simple: Irregular Verbs.
• ✗ She is more tall than me. → ✓ She is taller than me. — short adjectives add -er. See Comparative Adjectives.
• ✗ I’m agree with you. → ✓ I agree with you. — agree is a verb, not an adjective; no be.
• ✗ He explained me the rule. → ✓ He explained the rule to me. — explain takes to someone.
• ✗ I have 25 years. → ✓ I am 25 (years old). — in English you are an age, you don’t have it.
• ✗ I spended too much. → ✓ I spent too much. — spend → spent is irregular.

Usage notes

• lose vs loose: lose (verb) rhymes with choose; loose (adjective, not on this list) rhymes with goose and means not tight.
• free has two meanings: costing nothing (a free gift) and not held or not busy (Are you free tonight?).
• couple usually means two (a couple = a pair) but in speech often means a few: a couple of days.
• card covers many things: a greeting card, a playing card, and a bank card — context tells you which.
• Verbs like enjoy, finish and imagine are followed by the -ing form: I enjoy reading, not I enjoy to read. See Gerund or Infinitive?.

Practice

Practice

Words 501-1000 practice

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

1 Which sentence is correct?

I buyed a new phone. I bought a new phone. I buy a new phone yesterday. I did bought a new phone.

Check

Show answer

I bought a new phone. — Buy is irregular: the past tense is bought.

2 Fill the gap: 'Please be ____ , the baby is sleeping.' (adjective meaning 'with little noise')

Check

Hint: opposite of loud

Show answer

quiet — Quiet means with little noise; quite is a different word.

3 Match each verb to its natural partner.

• drive Match for drive — choose — a bikea cara matchan email
• send Match for send — choose — a bikea cara matchan email
• win Match for win — choose — a bikea cara matchan email
• fix Match for fix — choose — a bikea cara matchan email

Check

Show answer

• drive → a car
• send → an email
• win → a match
• fix → a bike

These are common collocations: drive a car, send an email, win a match, fix a bike.

4 Put the words in order.

explainCanthe ruleyouto me

CheckReset

Show answer

Can you explain the rule to me — Explain takes 'the rule to me' — the thing first, then 'to' plus the person.

5 Choose the best word: 'I ___ reading before bed.'

enjoy agree expect lose

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Show answer

enjoy — Enjoy + -ing: I enjoy reading.

6 Fill the gap with the past tense: 'She ____ her old camera last week.' (sell)

Check

Hint: irregular past of sell

Show answer

sold — Sell is irregular: sell → sold.

How to say it

A few of these words trip up English learners — copy the sound, not the spelling.

• buy is said like by / bye — the u is silent; it rhymes with my.
• couple is KUP-ul, with a short u like in cup, not koo.
• wonder (WUN-der, like under) is different from wander (WON-der, to walk with no aim).
• lose has a z sound: looz. Loose has an s sound: loos.
• clothes is hard: say it almost like close (the verb), with a tiny th.

Quiz

Check yourself

Words 501-1000 quiz

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

0/12 0 answered

1. 1What does 'expect' mean?

   A to repair something B to think something will happen C to choose one of two D to keep for later
   Show answer

   to think something will happen — Expect means to think or believe something will happen.

2. 2Which is the correct past tense of 'catch'?

   A catched B caught C catch D cought
   Show answer

   caught — Catch is irregular: catch → caught.

3. 3A 'couple' usually means…

   A ten B one C two D many
   Show answer

   two — A couple is a pair — two.

4. 4Choose the correct sentence.

   A I'm agree with you. B I agree with you. C I agree you. D I have agree with you.
   Show answer

   I agree with you. — Agree is a verb used without 'be': I agree with you.

5. 5Which word means 'costing nothing'?

   A rich B free C worth D safe
   Show answer

   free — Free can mean costing nothing (a free gift).

6. 6Pick the best word: 'The soup is ___ ; please heat it up.'

   A cold B clear C busy D simple
   Show answer

   cold — Cold means low in temperature.

7. 7'Explain' is followed by…

   A explain me something B explain something to me C explain to something me D explain for me something
   Show answer

   explain something to me — Explain + something + to + person: explain the rule to me.

8. 8Which verb takes the -ing form after it?

   A want B decide C enjoy D need
   Show answer

   enjoy — Enjoy + -ing: I enjoy reading.

9. 9What is a 'detective'?

   A a type of hotel B a police officer who solves crimes C a kind of food D a school subject
   Show answer

   a police officer who solves crimes — A detective is a police officer who investigates crimes.

10. 10Choose the correct comparative.

    A She is more strong than me. B She is stronger than me. C She is most strong than me. D She is strongest than me.
    Show answer

    She is stronger than me. — Short adjectives add -er: stronger.

11. 11'During the film' means…

    A before the film B all through the film C after the film D instead of the film
    Show answer

    all through the film — During means all through a period of time.

12. 12Which sentence uses 'lose' correctly?

    A These trousers are too lose. B Don't lose your ticket. C The screw is lose. D My shoe is lose.
    Show answer

    Don't lose your ticket. — Lose is the verb (not have any more); loose is the adjective (not tight).

Recap cheat-sheet

Quick recap before the quiz.

Next

• Next set: English Words 1001-1500 (Frequency)
• Study tip: use these in How to Use Flashcards for English and Spaced Repetition Explained.
• New here? Start with Start Learning English Here.