English words 1–300: the “First words” band
The 300 most frequent words in English are the skeleton of the language. Words like the, be, of, and, have, it, to — along with the most common pronouns, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs — appear so relentlessly that you will meet them on virtually every line of any text you ever read. Beeblio calls this band "First words," and it marks every word in this range with its own colour so you can see at a glance exactly where your vocabulary stands.
Knowing these 300 words alone won't let you read freely, but they form the connective tissue that holds every sentence together. When you read a Beeblio text pinned to this band, the words within the band appear uncoloured — they're your known territory — while anything rarer is highlighted, so your attention goes straight to the gaps worth closing. That makes even a short, simple text surprisingly revealing: it shows you precisely which high-frequency words you still need to lock in before moving up to the 800-word band.
Texts pinned to the First-words band tend to be short dialogues, greetings, simple instructions, or beginner stories written with tight vocabulary control. They're a useful reality check at the very start of your English journey, and a satisfying milestone once you can read them without any highlights at all.
300 English words ranked 1–300 by frequency — the “First words” band. A learner who knows them can read texts pinned to this band with about 95% of the words already familiar.
- 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
Other bands
Getting by (800) · Everyday (1,500) · Confident (3,000) · Fluent reader (5,000) · Advanced (8,000) · Near-native (12,000)
Read at this level
Graded English readings for the First words band — every text stays inside these words plus a few new ones.
Questions
What kinds of words are actually in the 1–300 band?
Almost all of them are grammatical function words — articles, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, and the most common auxiliary and modal verbs such as <em>is</em>, <em>was</em>, <em>can</em>, and <em>will</em>. A handful of very common content words, like <em>time</em>, <em>person</em>, and <em>year</em>, also fall inside this range. Together they make up the words you need to build any sentence at all, even before you add topic-specific vocabulary.
How much of a real English text do these 300 words cover?
By themselves, the top 300 words account for a large share of the raw word tokens in everyday text — but coverage alone can be misleading, because the words they leave out are usually the nouns and verbs that carry the meaning. Think of this band as a vital foundation rather than a reading target on its own; the 1,500-word band is where coverage becomes broad enough (around 80% of everyday text) for reading to start feeling manageable.
How do I use a First-words band text in Beeblio?
Open any text pinned to this band and look for highlighted words — those are the ones ranked above 300 that you haven't covered yet. Tap a highlight to see the word's frequency rank, its translation, and example sentences. Once a full text lights up with no highlights, you're ready to move up to the next band.