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1000 most common (American) English words

Try this for a different list: https://www.ef-australia.com.au/english-resources/english-vocabulary/top-1000-words/

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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. (2024, June 06, 08:20 am). 1000 most common English words.
Retrieved December 22, 2024, from http://www.rupert.id.au/resources/1000words.php

Last refreshed: December 22 2024. 01:02.12 am

rupert dot russell at acu dot edu dot au

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since August 14, 2005