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The 100 most common English words

Together these 100 words are 43.7% of every word in running English across our three corpora, and 49.9% of film dialogue, where talk repeats itself most. Each is listed with its rank, pronunciation and meaning; its level and an example sentence are in the full list, a hundred words to a page.

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  1. 0001the/ðə/pointing to something already known or unique
  2. 0002to/ˈtu/toward a place; or marking a verb base form
  3. 0003and/ənd/joining two words, phrases or clauses
  4. 0004of/ˈʌv/belonging to, or made from
  5. 0005a/ə/one, not yet identified
  6. 0006in/ɪn/inside something, or within a period
  7. 0007that/ˈðæt/pointing to a thing further off; introducing a clause
  8. 0008is/ˈɪz/present of be, for he, she or it
  9. 0009it/ˈɪt/the thing already mentioned
  10. 0010for/ˈfɔɹ/intended to benefit; or lasting a period
  11. 0011on/ˈɑn/resting upon a surface
  12. 0012was/ˈwɑz/past of be, for I, he, she or it
  13. 0013with/ˈwɪð/accompanied by, or using
  14. 0014this/ˈðɪs/pointing to a thing close by
  15. 0015are/ˈɑɹ/present of be, for you, we or they
  16. 0016he/ˈhi/the male person already mentioned
  17. 0017i/ˈaɪ/the person speaking
  18. 0018be/ˈbi/to exist, or to have some quality
  19. 0019as/ˈæz/in the role of; while something else happens
  20. 0020have/ˈhæv/to own, or to hold
  21. 0021at/ˈæt/in a particular spot or moment
  22. 0022not/ˈnɑt/reversing what follows
  23. 0023from/ˈfɹʌm/starting at a place or time
  24. 0024but/ˈbʌt/introducing a contrast
  25. 0025you/ˈju/the person spoken to
  26. 0026by/ˈbaɪ/beside; or naming who did something
  27. 0027his/ˈhɪz/belonging to him
  28. 0028they/ˈðeɪ/the people already mentioned
  29. 0029an/ˈæn/one, before a vowel sound
  30. 0030can/ˈkæn/to be able to
  31. 0031all/ˈɔl/every one of them
  32. 0032or/ˈɔɹ/offering an alternative
  33. 0033one/ˈwʌn/a single thing; the number 1
  34. 0034has/ˈhæz/present of have, for he, she or it
  35. 0035were/ˈwɝ/past of be, for you, we or they
  36. 0036we/ˈwi/the speaker and others
  37. 0037there/ˈðɛɹ/in that place
  38. 0038had/ˈhæd/past of have
  39. 0039will/ˈwɪl/marking future time
  40. 0040who/ˈhu/which person
  41. 0041her/ˈhɝ/belonging to, or naming, the female mentioned
  42. 0042so/ˈsoʊ/to that degree; therefore
  43. 0043been/ˈbɪn/past participle of be
  44. 0044what/ˈwʌt/which thing
  45. 0045about/əˈbaʊt/on the subject of; roughly
  46. 0046no/ˈnoʊ/none at all
  47. 0047their/ˈðɛɹ/belonging to them
  48. 0048when/ˈwɛn/at the time that
  49. 0049she/ˈʃi/the female person already mentioned
  50. 0050if/ˈɪf/on condition that
  51. 0051more/ˈmɔɹ/a greater amount
  52. 0052up/ˈʌp/toward a higher place
  53. 0053out/ˈaʊt/away from the inside
  54. 0054time/ˈtaɪm/the passing of minutes, hours and years
  55. 0055would/ˈwʊd/marking a hypothetical, or a polite request
  56. 0056some/ˈsʌm/an unspecified amount
  57. 0057which/ˈwɪtʃ/what particular one
  58. 0058do/ˈdu/to carry out an action
  59. 0059him/ˈhɪm/the male person, as object
  60. 0060like/ˈlaɪk/similar to; or to find pleasant
  61. 0061after/ˈæftɚ/later than
  62. 0062first/ˈfɝst/coming before all others
  63. 0063just/ˈdʒʌst/only; or a moment ago
  64. 0064two/ˈtu/the number 2
  65. 0065other/ˈʌðɚ/different from the one named
  66. 0066now/ˈnaʊ/at the present moment
  67. 0067them/ˈðɛm/the people mentioned, as object
  68. 0068also/ˈɔlsoʊ/in addition
  69. 0069over/ˈoʊvɚ/above, or across the top of
  70. 0070said/ˈsɛd/past of say
  71. 0071new/ˈnu/made or begun recently
  72. 0072my/ˈmaɪ/belonging to the speaker
  73. 0073into/ˈɪntu/moving to the inside of
  74. 0074only/ˈoʊnli/and nothing else
  75. 0075people/ˈpipəl/human beings in general
  76. 0076well/ˈwɛl/in a good way
  77. 0077these/ˈðiz/the things close by, more than one
  78. 0078than/ˈðæn/used when comparing
  79. 0079where/ˈwɛɹ/in which place
  80. 0080then/ˈðɛn/at that time; next
  81. 0081could/ˈkʊd/past of can; or marking possibility
  82. 0082its/ˈɪts/belonging to the thing mentioned
  83. 0083how/ˈhaʊ/in what way
  84. 0084me/ˈmi/the speaker, as object
  85. 0085your/ˈjɔɹ/belonging to the person spoken to
  86. 0086because/bɪˈkɔz/for the reason that
  87. 0087did/ˈdɪd/past of do
  88. 0088years/ˈjɪɹz/periods of twelve months, more than one
  89. 0089see/ˈsi/to take in with the eyes
  90. 0090back/ˈbæk/toward the rear; or the rear of the body
  91. 0091any/ˈɛni/one or some, no matter which
  92. 0092get/ˈɡɛt/to obtain or receive
  93. 0093may/ˈmeɪ/to be allowed; or marking possibility
  94. 0094right/ˈɹaɪt/correct; or the side opposite left
  95. 0095most/ˈmoʊst/the greatest amount
  96. 0096very/ˈvɛɹi/to a high degree
  97. 0097many/ˈmɛni/a large number of
  98. 0098before/bɪˈfɔɹ/earlier than
  99. 0099our/ˈaʊɚ/belonging to us
  100. 0100even/ˈivɪn/surprisingly including