The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English

Top 100 Words
(Rellas/Getty Images)
by Richard Nordquist
Richard Nordquist is a freelance writer and former professor of English and Rhetoric who wrote college-level Grammar and Composition textbooks.
Updated March 02, 2019

Listed here, according to the 100-million-word British National Corpus, are the 100 most commonly used words in English. Many of these words are function words: they glue pieces of sentences together into longer syntactic units. 

Where needed, the part of speech is identified to distinguish different grammatical uses of the same word. 

  1. the
  2. be
  3. of
  4. and
  5. a
  6. in (preposition: "in the old days")
  7. to (infinitive marker: "to sing")
  8. have
  9. it
  10. to (preposition: "to the country")
  11. for (preposition: "for you")
  12. I
  13. that (relative pronoun: "the book that I read")
  14. you
  15. he
  16. on (preposition: "on the beach")
  17. with (preposition: "with pleasure")
  18. do (verb: "I do")
  19. at (preposition: "at school")
  20. by (preposition: "by midnight")
  21. not
  22. this (determiner: "this page")
  23. but
  24. from (preposition: "from home")
  25. they
  26. his (determiner: "his job")
  27. that (determiner: "that song")
  28. she
  29. or
  30. which (determiner: "which book")
  31. as (conjunction: "as we agreed")
  32. we
  33. an
  34. say (verb: "say a prayer")
  35. will (auxiliary verb: "I will try")
  36. would
  37. can (auxiliary verb: "I can go")
  38. if
  39. their
  40. go (verb: "go now")
  41. what (determiner: "what time")
  42. there
  43. all (determiner: "all people")
  44. get (verb: "get busy")
  45. her (determiner: "her job")
  46. make (verb: "make money")
  47. who
  48. as (preposition: "as a child")
  49. out (adverb: "go out")
  50. up (adverb: "go up")
  51. see (verb: "see the sky")
  52. know (verb: "know a place")
  53. time (time: "a time to laugh")
  54. take (verb: "take a break")
  55. them
  56. some (determiner: "some money")
  1. could
  2. so (adverb: "I said so")
  3. him
  4. year
  5. into (preposition: "into the room")
  6. its
  7. then
  8. think (verb: "think hard")
  9. my
  10. come (verb: "come early")
  11. than
  12. more (adverb: "more quickly")
  13. about (preposition: "about you")
  14. now
  15. last (adjective: "last call")
  16. your
  17. me
  18. no (determiner: "no time")
  19. other (adjective: "other people")
  20. give
  21. just (adverb: "just try")
  22. should
  23. these (determiner: "these days")
  24. people
  25. also
  26. well (adverb: "well written")
  27. any (determiner: "any day")
  28. only
  29. new (adjective: "new friend")
  30. very
  31. when (conjunction: "when you go")
  32. may (auxiliary verb: "you may go")
  33. way
  34. look (verb: "look here")
  35. like (preposition: "like a boat")
  36. use (verb: "use your head")
  37. her (pronoun: "give her")
  38. such (determiner: "such problems")
  39. how (adverb: "see how")
  40. because
  41. when (adverb: "know when")
  42. as (adverb: "as good")
  43. good (adjective: "good time")
  44. find (verb: "find time")