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")

1. have
2. it
3. to (preposition: "to the country")
4. for (preposition: "for you")
5. I
6. that (relative pronoun: "the book that I read")
7. you
8. he
9. on (preposition: "on the beach")
10. with (preposition: "with pleasure")
11. do (verb: "I do")
12. at (preposition: "at school")
13. by (preposition: "by midnight")
14. not
15. this (determiner: "this page")
16. but
17. from (preposition: "from home")
18. they
19. his (determiner: "his job")
20. that (determiner: "that song")
21. she
22. or
23. which (determiner: "which book")
24. as (conjunction: "as we agreed")
25. we
26. an
27. say (verb: "say a prayer")
28. will (auxiliary verb: "I will try")
29. would
30. can (auxiliary verb: "I can go")
31. if
32. their
33. go (verb: "go now")
34. what (determiner: "what time")
35. there
36. all (determiner: "all people")
37. get (verb: "get busy")
38. her (determiner: "her job")
39. make (verb: "make money")
40. who
41. as (preposition: "as a child")
42. out (adverb: "go out")
43. up (adverb: "go up")
44. see (verb: "see the sky")
45. know (verb: "know a place")
46. time (time: "a time to laugh")
47. take (verb: "take a break")

1. them
2. some (determiner: "some money")
3. could
4. so (adverb: "I said so")
5. him
6. year
7. into (preposition: "into the room")
8. its
9. then
10. think (verb: "think hard")
11. my
12. come (verb: "come early")
13. than
14. more (adverb: "more quickly")
15. about (preposition: "about you")
16. now
17. last (adjective: "last call")
18. your
19. me
20. no (determiner: "no time")
21. other (adjective: "other people")

1. give
2. just (adverb: "just try")
3. should
4. these (determiner: "these days")
5. people
6. also
7. well (adverb: "well written")
8. any (determiner: "any day")
9. only
10. new (adjective: "new friend")
11. very
12. when (conjunction: "when you go")
13. may (auxiliary verb: "you may go")
14. way
15. look (verb: "look here")
16. like (preposition: "like a boat")
17. use (verb: "use your head")
18. her (pronoun: "give her")
19. such (determiner: "such problems")
20. how (adverb: "see how")
21. because
22. when (adverb: "know when")
23. as (adverb: "as good")
24. good (adjective: "good time")
25. find (verb: "find time")