Basic English Key Words List: Verbs, Prepositions, Articles

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By
Kenneth Beare
Kenneth Beare
English as a Second Language (ESL) Expert
  • TESOL Diploma, Trinity College London
  • M.A., Music Performance, Cologne University of Music
  • B.A., Vocal Performance, Eastman School of Music
Kenneth Beare is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and course developer with over three decades of teaching experience.
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Updated on July 29, 2018

This list provides a starting point for a basic understanding and fluency in the English language. The list of 850 words that was developed by Charles K. Ogden, and released in 1930 with the book: Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar. For more information about this list, you can visit Odgen's Basic English page. This list is an excellent starting point for building up a vocabulary which allows you to converse fluently in English.

While this list is helpful for a strong beginning, more advanced vocabulary building will help you quickly improve your English. ​These vocabulary books will further help you build your vocabulary, especially at advanced levels. Teachers can use this list as a starting point for developing an essential vocabulary to their lessons. Teachers can also use this list along with other ideas on how to teach vocabulary on this site.

Basic Verbs, Prepositions, Articles, Pronouns, etc.

1. come
2. get
3. give
4. go
5. keep
6. let
7. make
8. put
9. seem
10. take		 11. be
12. do
13. have
14. say
15. see
16. send
17. may
18. will
19. about
20. across		 21. after
22. against
23. among
24. at
25. before
26. between
27. by
28. down
29. from
30. in		 31. off
32. on
33. over
34. through
35. to
36. under
37. up
38. with
39. as
40. for		 41. of
42. till
43. than
44. a
45. the
46. all
47. any
48. every
49. no
50. other
51. some
52. such
53. that
54. this
55. i
56. he
57. you
58. who
59. and
60. because		 61. but
62. or
63. if
64. though
65. while
66. how
67. when
68. where
69. why
70. again		 71. ever
72. far
73. forward
74. here
75. near
76. now
77. out
78. still
79. then
80. there		 81. together
82. well
83. almost
84. enough
85. even
86. little
87. much
88. not
89. only
90. quite		 91. so
92. very
93. tomorrow
94. yesterday
95. north
96. south
97. east
98. west
99. please
100. yes
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Your Citation
Beare, Kenneth. "Basic English Key Words List: Verbs, Prepositions, Articles." ThoughtCo, Jul. 30, 2021, thoughtco.com/basic-english-key-words-1212307. Beare, Kenneth. (2021, July 30). Basic English Key Words List: Verbs, Prepositions, Articles. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/basic-english-key-words-1212307 Beare, Kenneth. "Basic English Key Words List: Verbs, Prepositions, Articles." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/basic-english-key-words-1212307 (accessed March 31, 2023).