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Home > Some Teaching Resources > 1000 most common (American) English words

1000 most common (American) English words

I have recently discovered that this is one of the most popular pages on my website. It was the 1st page on Google if you search for "1000 most common english" it's now the 3rd. (October 2014)

 

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Thanks to Petr Stetka for making the first donation to this website - on 5 September 2015 @ 55,257 visitors to this page.


Hi there,

I came across your 1000-words page via google. You describe the lists as being the most common words in "English" but actually these lists are "American English". This is an important distinction. This may be misleading for people searching for word lists in English/"British English". Please consider changing the phrasing on your site.

Cheers,
Chris

 

 

Links to other lists

Kevin's Word List Page

File format Link
xlsx file (Excel 2007) 4000-most-common-english-words-xlsx.xlsx (64 KB)
xls (Excel 97-2003) 4000-most-common-english-words-xls.xls (214 KB)
CSV file 4000-most-common-english-words-csv.csv (37 KB)
Source: http://www.wordfrequency.info/

You may find WordWeb useful. I use it and like it a lot.

WordWeb is a one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows that can look up words in almost any program. It works off-line, but can also look up words in web references such as the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Features of the free version include:

Also take a look at my list of online Grammar Checkers

See also Wiktionary:Frequency lists

 

Hi Henry,

I am glad that you found the word list and that you will find it useful.  You are more than welcome to use it.

I would be happy for you to send me the expanded version of the list once you have completed it.
and I will publish it on my site with credit to your work.

PS I did not create the list,  I found it on the web.
PPS there are ways of generating lists like this from Gutenberg texts as well as word clouds that can be intersting. For example if you take the text from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll see below:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28885
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/28885/pg28885.txt

Paste the text into Wordlist Maker

http://design215.com/toolbox/wordlist.php

This will generate a report with 
3117 unique words, 29508 total, found in 0.09 sec

I am not sure if this helps in your quest for words or not but it is an intersting thing to do.

 

1000-words.xls

Excel file 96 KB

CSV file 7 KB added May 8, 2013

Updated 16-11-12 Removed duplicate word "HOT" was listed as word 30 & 487 Thanks to David Apelt for noticing this though I think he may have too much time on his hands...

I have not and will probably not get around to fixing up the PDF files as I don't have access to the cursive script font anymore.

See below



1-1000.txt

txt file 7 KB

 

 

Note these PDF files are sorted in Alphabetical order. I did this so that my grade 1-2 students could use this as reference word lists when they needed to find how to spell a common word.

Most common English words numbers 1 - 100

PDF 11 KB

Most common English words numbers 101-200

PDF 11 KB

Most common English words numbers 201-300

PDF 11 KB

 

Complled from Vocabulary Workshop: 1000 Most Common Words in English http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/bl1000_list1.htm

Rank Word Rank Word
1 the 126 name
2 of 127 very
3 to 128 through
4 and 129 just
5 a 130 form
6 in 131 sentence
7 is 132 great
8 it 133 think
9 you 134 say
10 that 135 help
11 he 136 low
12 was 137 line
13 for 138 differ
14 on 139 turn
15 are 140 cause
16 with 141 much
17 as 142 mean
18 I 143 before
19 his 144 move
20 they 145 right
21 be 146 boy
22 at 147 old
23 one 148 too
24 have 149 same
25 this 150 tell
26 from 151 does
27 or 152 set
28 had 153 three
29 by 154 want
30 hot 155 air
31 word 156 well
32 but 157 also
33 what 158 play
34 some 159 small
35 we 160 end
36 can 161 put
37 out 162 home
38 other 163 read
39 were 164 hand
40 all 165 port
41 there 166 large
42 when 167 spell
43 up 168 add
44 use 169 even
45 your 170 land
46 how 171 here
47 said 172 must
48 an 173 big
49 each 174 high
50 she 175 such
51 which 176 follow
52 do 177 act
53 their 178 why
54 time 179 ask
55 if 180 men
56 will 181 change
57 way 182 went
58 about 183 light
59 many 184 kind
60 then 185 off
61 them 186 need
62 write 187 house
63 would 188 picture
64 like 189 try
65 so 190 us
66 these 191 again
67 her 192 animal
68 long 193 point
69 make 194 mother
70 thing 195 world
71 see 196 near
72 him 197 build
73 two 198 self
74 has 199 earth
75 look 200 father
76 more 201 head
77 day 202 stand
78 could 203 own
79 go 204 page
80 come 205 should
81 did 206 country
82 number 207 found
83 sound 208 answer
84 no 209 school
85 most 210 grow
86 people 211 study
87 my 212 still
88 over 213 learn
89 know 214 plant
90 water 215 cover
91 than 216 food
92 call 217 sun
93 first 218 four
94 who 219 between
95 may 220 state
96 down 221 keep
97 side 222 eye
98 been 223 never
99 now 224 last
100 find 225 let
101 any 226 thought
102 new 227 city
103 work 228 tree
104 part 229 cross
105 take 230 farm
106 get 231 hard
107 place 232 start
108 made 233 might
109 live 234 story
110 where 235 saw
111 after 236 far
112 back 237 sea
113 little 238 draw
114 only 239 left
115 round 240 late
116 man 241 run
117 year 242 don't
118 came 243 while
119 show 244 press
120 every 245 close
121 good 246 night
122 me 247 real
123 give 248 life
124 our 249 few
125 under 250 north
Rank Word Rank Word
251 open 376 ten
252 seem 377 simple
253 together 378 several
254 next 379 vowel
255 white 380 toward
256 children 381 war
257 begin 382 lay
258 got 383 against
259 walk 384 pattern
260 example 385 slow
261 ease 386 center
262 paper 387 love
263 group 388 person
264 always 389 money
265 music 390 serve
266 those 391 appear
267 both 392 road
268 mark 393 map
269 often 394 rain
270 letter 395 rule
271 until 396 govern
272 mile 397 pull
273 river 398 cold
274 car 399 notice
275 feet 400 voice
276 care 401 unit
277 second 402 power
278 book 403 town
279 carry 404 fine
280 took 405 certain
281 science 406 fly
282 eat 407 fall
283 room 408 lead
284 friend 409 cry
285 began 410 dark
286 idea 411 machine
287 fish 412 note
288 mountain 413 wait
289 stop 414 plan
290 once 415 figure
291 base 416 star
292 hear 417 box
293 horse 418 noun
294 cut 419 field
295 sure 420 rest
296 watch 421 correct
297 color 422 able
298 face 423 pound
299 wood 424 done
300 main 425 beauty
301 enough 426 drive
302 plain 427 stood
303 girl 428 contain
304 usual 429 front
305 young 430 teach
306 ready 431 week
307 above 432 final
308 ever 433 gave
309 red 434 green
310 list 435 oh
311 though 436 quick
312 feel 437 develop
313 talk 438 ocean
314 bird 439 warm
315 soon 440 free
316 body 441 minute
317 dog 442 strong
318 family 443 special
319 direct 444 mind
320 pose 445 behind
321 leave 446 clear
322 song 447 tail
323 measure 448 produce
324 door 449 fact
325 product 450 street
326 black 451 inch
327 short 452 multiply
328 numeral 453 nothing
329 class 454 course
330 wind 455 stay
331 question 456 wheel
332 happen 457 full
333 complete 458 force
334 ship 459 blue
335 area 460 object
336 half 461 decide
337 rock 462 surface
338 order 463 deep
339 fire 464 moon
340 south 465 island
341 problem 466 foot
342 piece 467 system
343 told 468 busy
344 knew 469 test
345 pass 470 record
346 since 471 boat
347 top 472 common
348 whole 473 gold
349 king 474 possible
350 space 475 plane
351 heard 476 stead
352 best 477 dry
353 hour 478 wonder
354 better 479 laugh
355 true . 480 thousand
356 during 481 ago
357 hundred 482 ran
358 five 483 check
359 remember 484 game
360 step 485 shape
361 early 486 equate
362 hold 487 hot
363 west 488 miss
364 ground 489 brought
365 interest 490 heat
366 reach 491 snow
367 fast 492 tire
368 verb 493 bring
369 sing 494 yes
370 listen 495 distant
371 six 496 fill
372 table 497 east
373 travel 498 paint
374 less 499 language
375 morning 500 among
Rank Word Rank Word
501 grand 626 cat
502 ball 627 century
503 yet 628 consider
504 wave 629 type
505 drop 630 law
506 heart 631 bit
507 am 632 coast
508 present 633 copy
509 heavy 634 phrase
510 dance 635 silent
511 engine 636 tall
512 position 637 sand
513 arm 638 soil
514 wide 639 roll
515 sail 640 temperature
516 material 641 finger
517 size 642 industry
518 vary 643 value
519 settle 644 fight
520 speak 645 lie
521 weight 646 beat
522 general 647 excite
523 ice 648 natural
524 matter 649 view
525 circle 650 sense
526 pair 651 ear
527 include 652 else
528 divide 653 quite
529 syllable 654 broke
530 felt 655 case
531 perhaps 656 middle
532 pick 657 kill
533 sudden 658 son
534 count 659 lake
535 square 660 moment
536 reason 661 scale
537 length 662 loud
538 represent 663 spring
539 art 664 observe
540 subject 665 child
541 region 666 straight
542 energy 667 consonant
543 hunt 668 nation
544 probable 669 dictionary
545 bed 670 milk
546 brother 671 speed
547 egg 672 method
548 ride 673 organ
549 cell 674 pay
550 believe 675 age
551 fraction 676 section
552 forest 677 dress
553 sit 678 cloud
554 race 679 surprise
555 window 680 quiet
556 store 681 stone
557 summer 682 tiny
558 train 683 climb
559 sleep 684 cool
560 prove 685 design
561 lone 686 poor
562 leg 687 lot
563 exercise 688 experiment
564 wall 689 bottom
565 catch 690 key
566 mount 691 iron
567 wish 692 single
568 sky 693 stick
569 board 694 flat
570 joy 695 twenty
571 winter 696 skin
572 sat 697 smile
573 written 698 crease
574 wild 699 hole
575 instrument 700 trade
576 kept 701 melody
577 glass 702 trip
578 grass 703 office
579 cow 704 receive
580 job 705 row
581 edge 706 mouth
582 sign 707 exact
583 visit 708 symbol
584 past 709 die
585 soft 710 least
586 fun 711 trouble
587 bright 712 shout
588 gas 713 except
589 weather 714 wrote
590 month 715 seed
591 million 716 tone
592 bear 717 join
593 finish 718 suggest
594 happy 719 clean
595 hope 720 break
596 flower 721 lady
597 clothe 722 yard
598 strange 723 rise
599 gone 724 bad
600 jump 725 blow
601 baby 726 oil
602 eight 727 blood
603 village 728 touch
604 meet 729 grew
605 root 730 cent
606 buy 731 mix
607 raise 732 team
608 solve 733 wire
609 metal 734 cost
610 whether 735 lost
611 push 736 brown
612 seven 737 wear
613 paragraph 738 garden
614 third 739 equal
615 shall 740 sent
616 held 741 choose
617 hair 742 fell
618 describe 743 fit
619 cook 744 flow
620 floor 745 fair
621 either 746 bank
622 result 747 collect
623 burn 748 save
624 hill 749 control
625 safe 750 decimal
Rank Word Rank Word
751 gentle 876 truck
752 woman 877 noise
753 captain 878 level
754 practice 879 chance
755 separate 880 gather
756 difficult 881 shop
757 doctor 882 stretch
758 please 883 throw
759 protect 884 shine
760 noon 885 property
761 whose 886 column
762 locate 887 molecule
763 ring 888 select
764 character 889 wrong
765 insect 890 gray
766 caught 891 repeat
767 period 892 require
768 indicate 893 broad
769 radio 894 prepare
770 spoke 895 salt
771 atom 896 nose
772 human 897 plural
773 history 898 anger
774 effect 899 claim
775 electric 900 continent
776 expect 901 oxygen
777 crop 902 sugar
778 modern 903 death
779 element 904 pretty
780 hit 905 skill
781 student 906 women
782 corner 907 season
783 party 908 solution
784 supply 909 magnet
785 bone 910 silver
786 rail 911 thank
787 imagine 912 branch
788 provide 913 match
789 agree 914 suffix
790 thus 915 especially
791 capital 916 fig
792 won't 917 afraid
793 chair 918 huge
794 danger 919 sister
795 fruit 920 steel
796 rich 921 discuss
797 thick 922 forward
798 soldier 923 similar
799 process 924 guide
800 operate 925 experience
801 guess 926 score
802 necessary 927 apple
803 sharp 928 bought
804 wing 929 led
805 create 930 pitch
806 neighbor 931 coat
807 wash 932 mass
808 bat 933 card
809 rather 934 band
810 crowd 935 rope
811 corn 936 slip
812 compare 937 win
813 poem 938 dream
814 string 939 evening
815 bell 940 condition
816 depend 941 feed
817 meat 942 tool
818 rub 943 ]total
819 tube 944 basic
820 famous 945 smell
921 dollar 946 valley
822 stream 947 nor
823 fear 948 double
284 sight 949 seat
825 thin 950 arrive
826 triangle 951 master
827 planet 952 track
828 hurry 953 parent
829 chief 954 shore
930 colony 955 division
831 clock 956 sheet
832 mine 957 substance
833 tie 958 favor
834 enter 959 connect
835 major 960 post
836 fresh 961 spend
837 search 962 chord
838 send 963 fat
839 yellow 964 glad
840 gun 965 original
841 allow 966 share
842 print 967 station
843 dead 968 dad
844 spot 969 bread
845 desert 970 charge
846 suit 971 proper
847 current 972 bar
848 lift 973 offer
840 rose 974 segment
850 continue 975 slave
851 block 976 duck
852 chart 977 instant
853 hat 978 market
854 sell 979 degree
855 success 980 populate
856 company 981 chick
857 subtract 982 dear
858 event 983 enemy
859 particular 984 reply
860 deal 985 drink
961 swim 986 occur
862 term 987 support
863 opposite 988 speech
864 wife 989 nature
865 shoe 990 range
866 shoulder 991 steam
867 spread 992 motion
868 arrange 993 path
869 camp 994 liquid
870 invent 995 log
871 cotton 996 meant
872 born 997 quotient
873 determine 998 teeth
874 quart 999 shell
875 nine 1000 neck

APA citation:
Russell, R. (2016, July 04, 02:20 pm). 1000 most common English words.
     Retrieved March 30, 2024, from http://www.rupert.id.au/resources/1000words.php

Last refreshed: March 30 2024. 02:17.38 am

rupert dot russell at acu dot edu dot au Support Wikipedia

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

 


since August 14, 2005