100 Commonest English Words

Based on evidence from the billion-word Oxford English Corpus, Oxford have identified the hundred
commonest English words found in writing globally:

1. the 26. they 51. when 76. come

2. be 27. we 52. make 77. its
3. to 28. say 53. can 78. over
4. of 29. her 54. like 79. think
5. and 30. she 55. time 80. also
6. a 31. or 56. no 81. back
7. in 32. an 57. just 82. after
8. that 33. will 58. him 83. use
9. have 34. my 59. know 84. two
10. I 35. one 60. take 85. how
11. it 36. all 61. person 86. our
12. for 37. would 62. into 87. work
13. not 38. there 63. year 88. first
14. on 39. their 64. your 89. well
15. with 40. what 65. good 90. way
16. he 41. so 66. some 91. even
17. as 42. up 67. could 92. new
18. you 43. out 68. them 93. want
19. do 44. if 69. see 94. because
20. at 45. about 70. other 95. any
21. this 46. who 71. than 96. these
22. but 47. get 72. then 97. give
23. his 48. which 73. now 98. day
24. by 49. go 74. look 99. most
25. from 50. me 75. only 100. us

Source: Concise Oxford English Dictionary (11th edition, 2006)

Top 25 Verbs
1. be
2. have
3. do
4. say
5. get
6. make
 7. go
8. know
9. take
10. see
11. come
12. think
13. look
14. want
15. give
16. use
17. find
18. tell
19. ask
20. work
21. seem
22. feel
23. try
24. leave
25. call

Top 25 Nouns
1. time
2. person
3. year
4. way
5. day
6. thing
7. man
8. world
9. life
10. hand
11. part
12. child
13. eye
14. woman
15. place
16. work
17. week
18. case
19. point
20. government
21. company
 22. number
23. group
24. problem
25. fact

Top 25 Adjectives
1. good
2. new
3. first
4. last
5. long
6. great
7. little
8. own
9. other
10. old
11. right
12. big
13. high
14. different
15. small
16. large
17. next
18. early
19. young
20. important
21. few
22. public
23. bad
24. same
25. able

Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs are an important feature of English. We use irregular verbs a lot when speaking,
less when writing. Of course, the most famous English verb of all, the verb "to be", is irregular.

What is the difference between regular verbs and irregular verbs?

 Base Form Past Simple Past Participle

With regular verbs, the rule is simple...

finish finished finished

The past simple and past participle always end in -ed: stop stopped stopped

work worked worked

But with irregular verbs, there is no rule...

Sometimes the verb changes completely: sing sang sung

Sometimes there is "half" a change: buy bought bought

Sometimes there is no change: cut cut cut

One good way to learn irregular verbs is to try sorting them into groups, as above

Irregular Verbs List

This is a list of some irregular verbs in English. Of course, there are many others, but these are
the more common irregular verbs.

V1 V2 V3
Base Form Past Simple Past Participle

awake awoke awoken

be was, were been

beat beat beaten

become became become

begin began begun

bend bent bent

bet bet bet

bid bid bid

bite bit bitten

blow blew blown

break broke broken

bring brought brought

broadcast broadcast broadcast

build built built

burn burned/burnt burned/burnt

buy bought bought

catch caught caught

choose chose chosen

come came come

cost cost cost

cut cut cut

dig dug dug

do did done

draw drew drawn

dream dreamed/dreamt dreamed/dreamt

drive drove driven

drink drank drunk

eat ate eaten

fall fell fallen

feel felt felt

fight fought fought

find found found

fly flew flown

forget forgot forgotten

forgive forgave forgiven

freeze froze frozen

get got gotten

give gave given

go went gone

grow grew grown

hang hung hung

have had had

hear heard heard

hide hid hidden

hit hit hit

hold held held

hurt hurt hurt

keep kept kept

know knew known

lay laid laid

lead led led

learn learned/learnt learned/learnt

leave left left

lend lent lent

let let let

lie lay lain

lose lost lost

make made made

mean meant meant

meet met met

pay paid paid

put put put

read read read

ride rode ridden

ring rang rung

rise rose risen

run ran run

say said said

see saw seen

sell sold sold

send sent sent

show showed showed/shown

shut shut shut

sing sang sung

sit sat sat

sleep slept slept

speak spoke spoken

spend spent spent

stand stood stood

swim swam swum

take took taken

teach taught taught

tear tore torn

tell told told

think thought thought

throw threw thrown

understand understood understood

wake woke woken

wear wore worn

win won won

write wrote written

Regular Verbs
English regular verbs change their form very little (unlike irregular verbs). The past tense and
past participle of regular verbs end in -ed, for example:

work, worked, worked

But you should note the following points:

1. Some verbs can be both regular and irregular, for example:

learn, learned, learned

learn, learnt, learnt

2. Some verbs change their meaning depending on whether they are regular or irregular, for
example "to hang":

hang, hanged,
regular to kill or die, by dropping with a rope around the neck
hanged

to fix something (for example, a picture) at the top so that the lower
irregular hang, hung, hung
part is free

3. The present tense of some regular verbs is the same as the past tense of some irregular verbs:

regular found, founded, founded

irregular find, found, found

Regular Verbs List
There are thousands of regular verbs in English. This is a list of 600 of the more common regular
verbs. Note that there are some spelling variations in American English (for example, "practise"
becomes "practice" in American English).

 accept  allow  applaud

 add  amuse  appreciate  attach
 admire  analyse  approve  attack
 admit  announce  argue  attempt
 advise  annoy  arrange  attend
 afford  answer  arrest  attract
 agree  apologise  arrive  avoid
 alert  appear  ask

 back  beg  boil  brake

 bake  behave  bolt  branch
 balance  belong  bomb  breathe
 ban  bleach  book  bruise
 bang  bless  bore  brush
 bare  blind  borrow  bubble
 bat  blink  bounce  bump
 bathe  blot  bow  burn
 battle  blush  box  bury
 beam  boast  brake  buzz

 calculate  choke  compare

 call  chop  compete  cough
 camp  claim  complain  count
 care  clap  complete  cover
 carry  clean  concentrate  crack
 carve  clear  concern  crash
 cause  clip  confess  crawl
 challenge  close  confuse  cross
 change  coach  connect  crush
 charge  coil  consider  cry
 chase  collect  consist  cure
 cheat  colour  contain  curl
 check  comb  continue  curve
 cheer  command  copy  cycle
 chew  communicate  correct
 dam  deliver  disapprove
 damage  depend  disarm
 dress
 dance  describe  discover
 drip
 dare  desert  dislike
 drop
 decay  deserve  divide
 drown
 deceive  destroy  double
 drum
 decide  detect  doubt
 dry
 decorate  develop  drag
 dust
 delay  disagree  drain
 delight  disappear  dream

 earn  end  excite

 educate  enjoy  excuse
 explain
 embarrass  enter  exercise
 explode
 employ  entertain  exist
 extend
 empty  escape  expand
 encourage  examine  expect

 face  fetch  flash

 fade  file  float  force
 fail  fill  flood  form
 fancy  film  flow  found
 fasten  fire  flower  frame
 fax  fit  fold  frighten
 fear  fix  follow  fry
 fence  flap  fool

 gather  grab  grin

 guard
 gaze  grate  grip
 guess
 glow  grease  groan
 guide
 glue  greet  guarantee

 hammer  harm  heat

 hand  hate  help  hug
 handle  haunt  hook  hum
 hang  head  hop  hunt
 happen  heal  hope  hurry
 harass  heap  hover
 identify  increase  intend
 ignore  influence  interest
 invite
 imagine  inform  interfere
 irritate
 impress  inject  interrupt
 itch
 improve  injure  introduce
 include  instruct  invent

 jail  jog  joke  juggle

 jam  join  judge  jump

 kick  kiss  knit

 knot
 kill  kneel  knock

 label  learn  lighten  load

 land  level  like  lock
 last  license  list  long
 laugh  lick  listen  look
 launch  lie  live  love

 man  matter  milk

 manage  measure  mine  move
 march  meddle  miss  muddle
 mark  melt  mix  mug
 marry  memorise  moan  multiply
 match  mend  moor  murder
 mate  mess up  mourn

 nail  need  nod  notice

 name  nest  note  number

 obey  obtain  offer  overflow

 object  occur  open  owe
 observe  offend  order  own

 pack  permit  pop  prevent

 paddle  phone  possess  prick
 paint  pick  post  print
 park  pinch  pour  produce
 part  pine  practise  program
 pass  place  pray  promise
 paste  plan  preach  protect
 pat  plant  precede  provide
 pause  play  prefer  pull
 peck  please  prepare  pump
 pedal  plug  present  punch
 peel  point  preserve  puncture
 peep  poke  press  punish
 perform  polish  pretend  push

 question  queue

 race  refuse  remove  rhyme

 radiate  regret  repair  rinse
 rain  reign  repeat  risk
 raise  reject  replace  rob
 reach  rejoice  reply  rock
 realise  relax  report  roll
 receive  release  reproduce  rot
 recognise  rely  request  rub
 record  remain  rescue  ruin
 reduce  remember  retire  rule
 reflect  remind  return  rush

 sack  shiver  soothe  stop

 sail  shock  sound  store
 satisfy  shop  spare  strap
 save  shrug  spark  strengthen
 saw  sigh  sparkle  stretch
 scare  sign  spell  strip
 scatter  signal  spill  stroke
 scold  sin  spoil  stuff
 scorch  sip  spot  subtract
 scrape  ski  spray  succeed
 scratch  skip  sprout  suck
 scream  slap  squash  suffer
 screw  slip  squeak  suggest
 scribble  slow  squeal  suit
 scrub  smash  squeeze  supply
 seal  smell  stain  support
 search  smile  stamp  suppose
 separate  smoke  stare  surprise
 serve  snatch  start  surround
 settle  sneeze  stay  suspect
 shade  sniff  steer  suspend
 share  snore  step  switch
 shave  snow  stir
 shelter  soak  stitch

 talk  thaw  trace

 trot
 tame  tick  trade
 trouble
 tap  tickle  train
 trust
 taste  tie  transport
 try
 tease  time  trap
 tug
 telephone  tip  travel
 tumble
 tempt  tire  treat
 turn
 terrify  touch  tremble
 twist
 test  tour  trick
 type
 thank  tow  trip

 undress  unite  unpack

 use
 unfasten  unlock  untidy

 vanish  visit

 wail  waste  whirl

 wait  watch  whisper  work
 walk  water  whistle  worry
 wander  wave  wink  wrap
 want  weigh  wipe  wreck
 warm  welcome  wish  wrestle
 warn  whine  wobble  wriggle
 wash  whip  wonder

 x-ray

 yawn  yell
  zip  zoom

English Prepositions List

There are more than 100 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small number when you think
of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs etc). Prepositions are important words. We use
individual prepositions more frequently than other individual words. In fact, the prepositions of,
to and in are among the ten most frequent words in English. Here is a list of 70 of the more
common one-word prepositions. Many of these prepositions have more than one meaning. Please
refer to a dictionary for precise meaning and usage.

 aboard
 about
 above
 across
 after
 against
 along
 amid
 among
 anti
 around
 as
 at

 before
 behind
 below
 beneath
 beside
 besides
 between
 beyond
 but
 by

 concerning
 considering

 despite
 down
 during
 except
 excepting
 excluding

 following
 for
 from

 in
 inside
 into

 like

 minus

 near

 of
 off
 on
 onto
 opposite
 outside
 over

 past
 per
 plus

 regarding
 round

 save
 since

 than
 through
 to
 toward
 towards

 under
 underneath
 unlike
 until
  up
 upon

 versus
 via

 with
 within
 without

Interjections
Hi! That's an interjection. :-)

"Interjection" is a big name for a little word. Interjections are short exclamations like Oh!, Um
or Ah! They have no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually more in
speaking than in writing. When interjections are inserted into a sentence, they have no
grammatical connection to the sentence. An interjection is sometimes followed by an
exclamation mark (!) when written.

Here are some interjections with examples:

interjection meaning example

expressing pleasure "Ah, that feels good."

expressing realization "Ah, now I understand."

ah
expressing resignation "Ah well, it can't be heped."

expressing surprise "Ah! I've won!"

alas expressing grief or pity "Alas, she's dead now."

expressing pity "Oh dear! Does it hurt?"

dear
expressing surprise "Dear me! That's a surprise!"
 "It's hot today." "Eh?" "I said it's hot
asking for repetition
today."

expressing enquiry "What do you think of that, eh?"

eh

expressing surprise "Eh! Really?"

inviting agreement "Let's go, eh?"

er expressing hesitation "Lima is the capital of...er...Peru."

expressing greeting "Hello John. How are you today?"

hello, hullo
expressing surprise "Hello! My car's gone!"

calling attention "Hey! look at that!"

hey
expressing surprise, joy etc "Hey! What a good idea!"

hi expressing greeting "Hi! What's new?"

expressing hesitation, doubt or

hmm "Hmm. I'm not so sure."
disagreement

expressing surprise "Oh! You're here!"

oh, o expressing pain "Oh! I've got a toothache."

expressing pleading "Oh, please say 'yes'!"

ouch expressing pain "Ouch! That hurts!"

uh expressing hesitation "Uh...I don't know the answer to that."

uh-huh expressing agreement "Shall we go?" "Uh-huh."

um, umm expressing hesitation "85 divided by 5 is...um...17."

expressing surprise "Well I never!"

well
introducing a remark "Well, what did he say?"