The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English

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")