Humanities › English The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English Share Flipboard Email Print (Rellas/Getty Images) English English Grammar An Introduction to Punctuation Writing By Richard Nordquist 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. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 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. the be of and a in (preposition: "in the old days") to (infinitive marker: "to sing") have it to (preposition: "to the country") for (preposition: "for you") I that (relative pronoun: "the book that I read") you he on (preposition: "on the beach") with (preposition: "with pleasure") do (verb: "I do") at (preposition: "at school") by (preposition: "by midnight") not this (determiner: "this page") but from (preposition: "from home") they his (determiner: "his job") that (determiner: "that song") she or which (determiner: "which book") as (conjunction: "as we agreed") we an say (verb: "say a prayer") will (auxiliary verb: "I will try") would can (auxiliary verb: "I can go") if their go (verb: "go now") what (determiner: "what time") there all (determiner: "all people") get (verb: "get busy") her (determiner: "her job") make (verb: "make money") who as (preposition: "as a child") out (adverb: "go out") up (adverb: "go up") see (verb: "see the sky") know (verb: "know a place") time (time: "a time to laugh") take (verb: "take a break") them some (determiner: "some money") could so (adverb: "I said so") him year into (preposition: "into the room") its then think (verb: "think hard") my come (verb: "come early") than more (adverb: "more quickly") about (preposition: "about you") now last (adjective: "last call") your me no (determiner: "no time") other (adjective: "other people") give just (adverb: "just try") should these (determiner: "these days") people also well (adverb: "well written") any (determiner: "any day") only new (adjective: "new friend") very when (conjunction: "when you go") may (auxiliary verb: "you may go") way look (verb: "look here") like (preposition: "like a boat") use (verb: "use your head") her (pronoun: "give her") such (determiner: "such problems") how (adverb: "see how") because when (adverb: "know when") as (adverb: "as good") good (adjective: "good time") find (verb: "find time") Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Nordquist, Richard. "The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/commonly-used-words-in-english-1692629. Nordquist, Richard. (2020, August 27). The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/commonly-used-words-in-english-1692629 Nordquist, Richard. "The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/commonly-used-words-in-english-1692629 (accessed March 20, 2023). copy citation Featured Video