The 1,000 most common English words
This page lists the 1,000 most common words in English, ranked by real-world frequency using the wordfreq corpus — a dataset built from books, websites, subtitles, and everyday text. Each word appears in the order native speakers actually encounter it, so the words at the top of the list are the ones you will meet again and again, whether you are reading a news article, watching a TV show, or sending an email.
The words are grouped into Beeblio's learning bands: the first 300, then up to 800, then up to 1,500, and so on. These bands matter because the roughly 1,500 most frequent English words already cover about 80% of everyday text. That means learning even the first 1,000 words on this list gives you a solid foundation for understanding most of what you will read and hear in daily life.
Use this list to spot gaps in your vocabulary, set realistic learning targets, or simply explore which words anchor the English language. Click any word to see it used in context on Beeblio.
Words 1–300 · First words band
- the
- to
- and
- of
- a
- in
- i
- is
- for
- that
- you
- it
- on
- with
- this
- was
- be
- as
- are
- have
- at
- he
- not
- by
- but
- from
- my
- or
- we
- an
- your
- all
- so
- his
- they
- me
- if
- one
- can
- will
- just
- like
- about
- up
- out
- what
- has
- when
- more
- do
- no
- were
- who
- had
- it's
- their
- there
- her
- which
- time
- get
- been
- would
- she
- new
- people
- how
- don't
- some
- also
- them
- now
- other
- i'm
- its
- our
- than
- good
- only
- after
- first
- him
- into
- know
- see
- two
- make
- over
- think
- any
- then
- could
- back
- these
- us
- want
- because
- go
- well
- said
- way
- 1
- 2
- most
- much
- very
- where
- even
- should
- may
- here
- need
- really
- did
- right
- work
- year
- years
- being
- day
- too
- going
- before
- off
- why
- made
- still
- take
- 3
- got
- many
- never
- those
- life
- say
- world
- down
- great
- through
- you're
- last
- s
- that's
- while
- best
- such
- love
- man
- home
- long
- look
- something
- use
- can't
- same
- used
- both
- every
- 4
- am
- come
- part
- state
- three
- around
- between
- always
- better
- find
- 5
- help
- high
- little
- old
- since
- another
- does
- own
- things
- under
- during
- game
- i've
- thing
- give
- house
- place
- school
- again
- next
- each
- mr
- without
- against
- didn't
- end
- found
- must
- show
- big
- feel
- sure
- team
- ever
- family
- keep
- might
- please
- put
- money
- free
- second
- someone
- away
- left
- number
- city
- days
- lot
- name
- night
- play
- until
- company
- doing
- few
- he's
- let
- real
- 6
- called
- different
- having
- set
- thought
- done
- however
- getting
- god
- government
- group
- looking
- public
- top
- women
- business
- care
- start
- system
- times
- week
- 7
- already
- anything
- case
- nothing
- person
- today
- change
- enough
- everything
- full
- live
- making
- point
- read
- there's
- told
- yet
- bad
- doesn't
- four
- hard
- mean
- once
- support
- tell
- including
- music
- power
- seen
- states
- stop
- water
- based
- believe
- call
- head
- men
- national
- small
- took
- white
- came
- far
- job
- side
- though
- try
- went
All words of the First words band →
Words 301–800 · Getting by band
- yes
- actually
- american
- later
- less
- line
- order
- party
- run
- says
- service
- 8
- country
- open
- season
- shit
- thank
- children
- everyone
- general
- they're
- trying
- united
- using
- area
- black
- d
- following
- law
- makes
- together
- war
- whole
- car
- face
- five
- kind
- maybe
- per
- president
- story
- working
- course
- games
- health
- hope
- important
- least
- means
- news
- within
- able
- book
- early
- friends
- i'll
- information
- local
- oh
- post
- t
- thanks
- video
- young
- ago
- others
- social
- talk
- 9
- court
- fact
- given
- guys
- half
- hand
- isn't
- level
- mind
- often
- single
- become
- body
- coming
- control
- death
- food
- guy
- hours
- office
- pay
- problem
- south
- true
- we're
- almost
- fuck
- history
- known
- large
- lost
- m
- research
- room
- several
- started
- taking
- university
- win
- wrong
- along
- anyone
- else
- girl
- john
- matter
- pretty
- remember
- air
- bit
- friend
- hit
- needs
- nice
- playing
- probably
- saying
- understand
- yeah
- york
- class
- close
- comes
- i'd
- idea
- international
- looks
- past
- possible
- wanted
- b
- cause
- due
- happy
- human
- members
- months
- move
- question
- r
- series
- wait
- woman
- ask
- community
- data
- late
- leave
- north
- saw
- special
- watch
- won't
- c
- either
- fucking
- future
- light
- low
- million
- morning
- police
- short
- stay
- taken
- age
- buy
- deal
- rather
- reason
- red
- report
- soon
- third
- turn
- whether
- among
- check
- development
- form
- further
- heart
- minutes
- myself
- services
- u.s
- yourself
- act
- although
- asked
- child
- fire
- fun
- living
- major
- media
- phone
- players
- art
- behind
- building
- easy
- gonna
- market
- near
- non
- plan
- political
- quite
- six
- talking
- west
- works
- according
- available
- e
- education
- final
- former
- front
- kids
- list
- ready
- sometimes
- son
- street
- wasn't
- bring
- college
- current
- example
- experience
- heard
- london
- meet
- program
- type
- baby
- chance
- father
- march
- process
- she's
- song
- study
- word
- across
- action
- clear
- gave
- gets
- himself
- month
- outside
- self
- students
- words
- board
- cost
- cut
- dr
- field
- held
- instead
- main
- moment
- mother
- road
- seems
- thinking
- town
- wants
- de
- department
- energy
- fight
- fine
- force
- hear
- issue
- played
- points
- price
- re
- rest
- results
- running
- shows
- space
- summer
- term
- wife
- 0
- america
- beautiful
- date
- goes
- killed
- land
- miss
- project
- sex
- shot
- site
- strong
- you'll
- account
- co
- especially
- eyes
- include
- june
- parents
- period
- position
- record
- similar
- total
- w
- above
- club
- common
- died
- film
- happened
- knew
- lead
- likely
- military
- perfect
- personal
- security
- share
- st
- tv
- what's
- won
- x
- april
- center
- county
- couple
- dead
- english
- happen
- hold
- industry
- inside
- issues
- online
- player
- private
- problems
- return
- rights
- sense
- star
- test
- view
- weeks
- break
- british
- companies
- event
- higher
- hour
- l
- member
- middle
- needed
- present
- result
- sorry
- takes
- training
- wish
- wouldn't
- answer
- boy
- design
- finally
- girls
- gold
- gone
- guess
- interest
- july
- king
- learn
- policy
- society
- added
- al
- alone
- average
- bank
- brought
- certain
- church
- east
- hands
- hot
- let's
- longer
- medical
- movie
- original
- park
- performance
- press
- received
- role
- sent
- themselves
- tried
- worked
- worth
- areas
- became
- bill
- books
- cool
- director
- exactly
- giving
- ground
- meeting
- n
- provide
- questions
- relationship
- september
- sound
- source
- usually
- value
- evidence
- follow
- lives
- official
- ok
- production
- rate
- reading
- round
- save
- stand
- stuff
- tax
- whatever
- amount
- blue
- countries
- david
- drive
- eat
- fall
- fast
- federal
- feeling
- felt
- green
- league
- management
- match
- model
- p
- picture
- size
- step
- trust
- you've
- central
- changes
- england
- forward
- groups
- hey
- key
- mom
- o
- page
- paid
- range
- review
- science
- trade
- uk
- upon
- various
- attention
All words of the Getting by band →
Words 801–1,000 · Everyday band
- brother
- cannot
- character
- chief
- cup
- football
- hate
- haven't
- james
- led
- looked
- lower
- natural
- october
- property
- quality
- send
- style
- u
- vote
- amazing
- august
- blood
- china
- complete
- dog
- economic
- hell
- involved
- itself
- language
- lord
- november
- oil
- related
- serious
- stage
- terms
- title
- add
- article
- attack
- born
- couldn't
- damn
- decided
- decision
- enjoy
- entire
- french
- january
- kill
- met
- perhaps
- poor
- release
- situation
- technology
- turned
- website
- written
- choice
- code
- considered
- continue
- council
- cover
- currently
- door
- election
- european
- events
- f
- financial
- foreign
- hair
- increase
- legal
- lose
- michael
- pick
- race
- seem
- seven
- sign
- simple
- simply
- staff
- super
- union
- walk
- washington
- bed
- began
- built
- career
- changed
- crazy
- daily
- daughter
- december
- die
- difficult
- figure
- hospital
- knows
- loss
- modern
- ones
- paper
- parts
- popular
- published
- safe
- starting
- systems
- version
- voice
- whose
- writing
- army
- australia
- earth
- forget
- goal
- h
- huge
- internet
- listen
- okay
- practice
- rules
- sea
- sir
- success
- towards
- v
- waiting
- ways
- access
- aren't
- base
- below
- created
- deep
- followed
- la
- lol
- mark
- missing
- offer
- pass
- professional
- released
- risk
- schools
- sleep
- table
- ten
- truth
- ball
- box
- build
- card
- cases
- dark
- district
- europe
- george
- india
- mine
- minister
- note
- percent
- piece
- products
- recent
- seeing
- straight
- visit
- wall
- wanna
- we've
- wrote
- allowed
- boys
- culture
- etc
- fans
- february
- gives
- growth
- included
- married
- officer
- pain
- paul
- places
- respect
- response
All words of the Everyday band →
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Questions
How is this list different from other 'most common English words' lists?
The rankings come from wordfreq, a corpus built from a wide range of real sources including websites, books, and subtitles — not just a single type of text. This makes the frequencies reflect the English people actually read and hear, rather than the vocabulary of one narrow domain.
If I learn all 1,000 words on this list, how much English will I understand?
You will be able to recognise a large share of everyday text, since the ~1,500 most frequent English words cover roughly 80% of typical reading material. The first 1,000 words get you most of the way there, though real comprehension also depends on grammar and context.
What do the coloured bands mean?
Beeblio groups words into frequency bands — 0–300, 301–800, 801–1,500, and so on up to 12,000. The band a word sits in tells you how common it is: a word in the 0–300 band appears far more often in everyday text than one in the 801–1,500 band. The colours make it easy to see at a glance how well-known a word should be at your stage of learning.