The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English

Top 100 Words
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By
Richard Nordquist
English and Rhetoric Professor
  • Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
  • M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
  • B.A., English, State University of New York
Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks.
our editorial process
Richard Nordquist
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")
  57. could
  58. so (adverb: "I said so")
  59. him
  60. year
  61. into (preposition: "into the room")
  62. its
  63. then
  64. think (verb: "think hard")
  65. my
  66. come (verb: "come early")
  67. than
  68. more (adverb: "more quickly")
  69. about (preposition: "about you")
  70. now
  71. last (adjective: "last call")
  72. your
  73. me
  74. no (determiner: "no time")
  75. other (adjective: "other people")
  76. give
  77. just (adverb: "just try")
  78. should
  79. these (determiner: "these days")
  80. people
  81. also
  82. well (adverb: "well written")
  83. any (determiner: "any day")
  84. only
  85. new (adjective: "new friend")
  86. very
  87. when (conjunction: "when you go")
  88. may (auxiliary verb: "you may go")
  89. way
  90. look (verb: "look here")
  91. like (preposition: "like a boat")
  92. use (verb: "use your head")
  93. her (pronoun: "give her")
  94. such (determiner: "such problems")
  95. how (adverb: "see how")
  96. because
  97. when (adverb: "know when")
  98. as (adverb: "as good")
  99. good (adjective: "good time")
  100. find (verb: "find time")