Modern English is a conglomerate of vocabulary from many different languages and varies widely depending on the country it’s spoken it. Even still, there are a few common words and phrases that English speakers around the globe use on the regular. If you’re learning English, this is a helpful list to refer to for foundational vocabulary.
Words English speakers say all the time
More than 840 million people speak English as their first or second language, which makes it the second most-spoken language in the world after Chinese Mandarin. So if you’re in the process of learning English, don’t fret – many people have successfully done it! And once you learn to speak, you’ll have a world of opportunities and new people you can communicate with.
As with any language, learning English starts with learning the basics: vocabulary. So that you know which ones to prioritise, I’ve broken the most commonly spoken words into different categories.
Pronouns
The majority of sentences in English start with a pronoun to clarify who is the subject. These are:
- I
- you
- he/she/it
- we
- they
To mention something important about “you”: some languages such as German have different words for formal vs informal you (“Sie” for formal and “du” for informal). In English, we only have the word “you” for both situations, but we do distinguish them by using particular words and being more polite.
Common verbs in English
After each subject, then comes a verb. Here are some of the most common verbs in English:
- get
- have
- be
- to
- do
- make
- say
- talk
- walk
- go
- eat
- sleep
- work
- read
- ask
- help
- know
- would
- could
- can
- should
- need
- feel
- become
- leave
- come
- start
- stop
“Get” is infamous for being one of the most flexible words in the whole English language. How you use it depends entirely on the context. To give you a better idea, here are a few examples:
- Can you please get me a coffee? (Here “get” means either bring or make.)
- I totally get you, that makes sense. (Here “get” means understand.)
- I heard someone knocking. Can you please get the door? (Here “get” means open.)
- He got the gift instead of his sister. (Here “get” means receive.)
- I have to get home now, it’s so late! (Here “get” means go.)
For nearly every circumstance, there are alternative verbs for “get”, but if you want to truly sound like a native English speaker, using “get” is much more commonly used, especially when speaking.
Nouns
Nouns are used to describe a person, place. or thing. A few of the most common English nouns are:
- thing
- people
- woman
- man
- child
- family
- dog
- cat
- door
- window
- table
- chair
- kitchen
- bed
- blanket
- dishes
- towel
- shoes
- socks
- pants
- shirt
- dress
- floor
- food
- drinks
- water
My biggest recommendation for learning English nouns is to make sticky notes around the house for each item. Then each time you look at it, you’re reminded of that word. Because you start learning vocabulary according to your surroundings, they’re more familiar and become easier to memorise.
Another pro tip: if you don’t know the word for a noun when speaking to someone, just refer to it as “thing” and try to describe it. Honestly even native English speakers do this all the time when we’re feeling lazy!
Question words
When you want to transform your sentence into a question, you’ll often begin with a question word. Here is a quick overview of English question words:
- why
- where
- who
- how
- when
- which
- whose
- what
Prepositions in English
Prepositions are another essential element of English grammar, because they are combined with many other words to form phrases. The most common prepositions are:
- to
- in
- out
- for
- with
- on
- since
- at
- until
- by
- as
- about
- into
- between
- against
When I worked as an English teacher, one of the most commonly asked questions about prepositions was the difference between until and by in the context of due dates. Here is an example to clarify:
- The students need to turn in their homework by Monday. (Here we’re only stating the fixed deadline.)
- The students have until Monday to turn in their homework. (Here we’re talking about the total time period up until the deadline.)
English Adjectives
Adjectives are the spices of language and English is no exception. Here are a few of the most commonly used adjectives:
- awesome
- wonderful
- easy
- difficult
- hard
- big
- small
- beautiful
- cool
- new
- old
- pretty
- fantastic
By the way, if you’re speaking with an American, always go for the word “awesome”. I am one myself and we use it constantly (probably too much haha).
Miscellaneous English words
There are some popular, miscellaneous filler words that are important to keep in mind as well:
- like
- and
- but
- so
- well
- too
- just
- more
- this
- that
- because
- very
- even
- quite
- may
- maybe
- another
- few
- here
- there
A quick note on “like”: if you’ve watched American TV series like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, or Family Guy, you’ll notice that they use the word “like” all the time. It’s one of the words that is basically pure slang and has a few different meanings. A few examples are:
- I was talking to my friend and he was like “I had such a bad day yesterday”. (Here “like” is another word for “said” and it’s often used in the context of telling a story of a previous conversation.)
- I spoke to my sister yesterday and she was like seriously tired after working so much. (Here “like” means really, as in to emphasise the tiredness.)
- I talked to my boss yesterday to ask for a day off and he said no. Like, how could he be so mean? (Here “like” emphasises the surprising element of the other person’s response.)
In the same manner as “get”, this is another word that becomes clear once you hear how others use it and you become more advanced in your speaking skills.
Building your vocabulary with some of the most common words used in the English language is a great start for your journey in learning this beautiful language.
Not only do these common words expand the English terminology that you know, but they also help you with your English conversation skills since they are indeed words that you hear others use everyday.
If you know 1,000 words, you will be between a functional beginner and conversational level in English. In most of the world’s languages, 500 words will be more than enough to get you through any tourist situations and everyday introductions.
Using everyday common words are the most convenient way to learn English. The more you hear these words, the better it is for you to process and understand them.
And the more you use them, the stronger your English skills become. So it’s a great process of learning from others, and at the same time, learning from yourself, too!
Okay, time to share the list! Remember that with these 1,000 words you’ll be able to ask people how they’re doing, tell them about your day and navigate everyday life situations like shopping and public transit. But also keep in mind that native-like fluency, among many other things, requires about 10,000 vocabulary words.
be – “Will you be my friend?”
and – “You and I will always be friends.”
of – “Today is the first of November.”
a – “I saw a bear today.”
in – “She is in her room.”
to – “Let’s go to the park.”
have – “I have a few questions.”
too – “I like her too.”
it – “It is sunny outside.”
I – “I really like it here.”
that – “That door is open.”
for – “This letter is for you.”
you – “You are really nice.”
he – “He is my brother.”
with – “I want to go with you.”
on – “I watch movies on my iPad.”
do – “What will you do now?”
say – “Can I say something?”
this – “This is my favorite cookie.”
they – “They are here!”
at – “Can you pick me up at the mall?”
but – “I’m sorry but she’s away.”
we – “We are going to watch a movie.”
his – “This is his box.”
from – “This card came from my cousin.”
that – “That’s a really cool trick!”
not – “That’s not what I want.”
can’t – “I can’t open it.”
won’t – “I won’t open it.”
by – “Will you come by and see me?”
she – “She is very happy.”
or – “Do you like blue or yellow?”
as – “Her role as an English teacher is very important.”
what – “What are you thinking of?”
go – “I want to go there.”
their – “This is their house.”
can – “What can I do for you?”
who – “Who can help me?”
get – “Can you get me my eyeglasses?”
if – “What if I fail?”
would – “Would you help me out?”
her – “I have her book.”
all – “All my favorite books are on this shelf.”
my – “My mom is coming to visit.”
make – “Can we make our projects together?”
about – “What is this movie about?”
know – “Do you know where this place is?”
will – “I will help you find that place.”
as – “As soon as she’s here, I’ll talk to her.”
up – “I live up in the mountains.”
one – “She is one of my English teachers.”
time – “There was a time I liked to play golf.”
there – “There are so many things I want to learn.”
year – “This is the year I’m finally going to learn English.”
so – “I am so sorry.”
think – “I think I need to lie down.”
when – “When will I see you again?”
which – “Which of these slippers are yours?”
them – “Please give this to them.”
some – “Please give them some of the apples I brought home.”
me – “Can you give me some apples?”
people – “There are so many people at the mall today.”
take – “Please take home some of these apples”
out – “Please throw the trash out.”
into – “My puppy ran into the woods.”
just – “Just close your eyes.”
see – “Did you see that?”
him – “I heard him singing earlier.”
your – “Your mom is here.”
come – “Can your mom and dad come to the party?”
could – “Could you help me with my project?”
now – “I want to watch this now.”
than – “I like this cake better than the other one you showed me.”
like – “I like this bag better than the other one you showed me.”
other – “I like these shoes better than the other ones you showed me.”
how – “How do I turn this on?”
then – “We had breakfast and then we went to church.”
its – “I need to read its manual.”
our – “This is our home now.”
two – “Two cheeseburgers, please.”
more – “Can I have some more milk shake?”
these – “Do you like these ribbons?”
want – “Do you want these ribbons?”
way – “Can you look this way?”
look – “Please look this way.”
first – “She was my very first teacher.”
also – “She was also my best friend.”
new – “I have new shoes.”
because – “I am crying because I’m sad.”
day – “Today is National Friendship day.”
more – “I have more stickers at home.”
use – “How do I use this?”
no – “There’s no electricity now.”
man – “There’s a man outside looking for you.”
find – “Where can I find rare furniture?”
here – “My mom is here.”
thing – “One thing led to another.”
give – “Give her these pearls.”
many – “We shared many dreams together.”
well – “You know me so well.”
only – “You are my only friend here.”
those – “Those boots belong to my friend.”
tell – “Can you tell me which way to go?”
one – “She’s the one he’s been waiting for.”
very – “I’m very upset right now.”
her – “Her grandmother is sick.”
even – “She can’t even stand on her own.”
back – “I’ll be right back.”
any – “Have you had any luck on your research?”
good – “You’re a good person.”
woman – “That woman looks so polished.”
through – “Your faith will see you through tough times.”
us – “Do you want to go with us?”
life – “This is the best day of my life.”
child – “I just saw a child cross the street by herself.”
there – “Did you go there?”
work – “I have to go to work.”
down – “Let’s go down.”
may – “You may take your seats.”
after – “Let’s have dinner after work.”
should – “Should I buy this dress?”
call – “Call me when you get home, okay?”
world – “I want to travel and see the world.”
over – “I can’t wait for this day to be over.”
school – “My cousin goes to school here.”
still – “I still think you should go.”
try – “Can you try to be nicer to him?”
in – “What’s in that box?”
as – “As soon as I get home, I’m going to start watching that series.”
last – “This is my last slice of cake, I promise!”
ask – “Can you ask the waiter to bring us some wine?”
need – “I need some wine tonight!”
too – “I need some wine, too!”
feel – “I feel so tired, I just need to relax and unwind.”
three – “I have three sisters.”
when – “When was the last time you saw them?”
state – “Check out the state of that shed, it’s falling apart.”
never – “I’m never going to drink wine again.”
become – “Over the years we’ve become really close.”
between – “This is just between you and me.”
high – “Give me a high five!”
really – “I really like your painting!”
something – “I have something for you.”
most – “She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
another – “I’ll have another glass of wine, please.”
much – “I love you guys so much.”
family – “You are like family to me.”
own – “I want to get my own place.”
out – “Get out of my room.”
leave – “I want you to leave.”
put – “Please put down that book and listen to me.”
old – “I feel so old!”
while – “I can wait for you here while you shop.”
mean – “I didn’t mean to sound so angry.”
on – “Can you turn on the lights?”
keep – “Can we keep the lights on tonight?”
student – “I’ve always been a diligent student.”
why – “This is why I don’t go out anymore.”
let – “Why won’t you let him know how you feel?”
great – “This ice cream place is great for families with kids!”
same – “Hey, we’re wearing the same shirt!”
big – “I have this big crush on Brad Pitt.”
group – “The group sitting across our table is so noisy.”
begin – “Where do I begin with this huge project?”
seem – “She may seem quiet, but she’s really outgoing once you get to know her.”
country – “Japan is such a beautiful country!”
help – “I need help with my Math homework.”
talk – “Can we talk in private?”
where – “Where were you last night?”
turn – “If only I could turn back time.”
problem – “The problem is we think we have plenty of time.”
every – “Every person has his own big goal to fulfill.”
start – “This is a great to start to learn the English language.”
hand – “Don’t let go of my hand.”
might – “This might actually work.”
American – “The American culture is so dynamic.”
show – “Can you show me how to use this vacuum cleaner?”
part – “This is my favorite part of the movie!”
about – “What is the story about?”
against – “I am so against domestic abuse!”
place – “This place is wonderful!”
over – “She kept saying this over and over again.”
such – “He is such an annoying person.”
again – “Can we play that game again?”
few – “Just a few more errands and I’m done!”
case – “What an interesting case you are working on now!”
most – “That’s the most interesting story I’ve ever heard.”
week – “I had a rough week.”
company – “Will you keep me company?”
where – “Where are we going?”
system – “What’s wrong with the airport’s system?”
each – “Can you give each of them an apple?”
right – “I’m right this time.”
program – “This community program for teens is really helpful.”
hear – “Did you hear that?”
so – “I’m so sleepy.”
question – “I have a question for you.”
during – “During the session, I saw him fall asleep.”
work – “I have to work this weekend.”
play – “We can play soccer next weekend instead.”
government – “I hope the government does something about the poverty in this country.”
run – “If you see a bear here, run for your life.”
small – “I have a small favor to ask you.”
number – “I have a number of favors to ask you.”
off – “Please turn off the television.”
always – “I always bring pepper spray with me.”
move – “Let’s move on to the next tourist spot.”
like – “I really like you.”
night – “The night is young.”
live – “I’m going to live like there’s no tomorrow.”
Mr. – “Mr. Morris is here.”
point – “You have a point.”
believe – “I believe in you.”
hold – “Just hold my hand.”
today – “I’m going to see you today.”
bring – “Please bring a pen.”
happen – “What will happen if you don’t submit your report on time?”
next – “This is the next best thing.”
without – “I can’t live without my phone.”
before – “Before I go to bed I always wash my face.”
large – “There’s a large amount of data online about that topic.”
all – “That’s all I know about Dinosaurs.”
million – “I have a million questions about this book.”
must – “We must watch this movie together.”
home – “Can we go home now?”
under – “I hid it under my bed.”
water – “I filled the tub with water.”
room – “His room is at the end of the corridor.”
write – “Can you write me a prescription for this?”
mother – “His mother is a very lovely woman.”
area – “This area of this house needs to be fixed.”
national – “That virus has become a national concern.”
money – “She needs money to buy her medicine.”
story – “She shared her story to the media.”
young – “She is so young and so hopeful.”
fact – “It’s a fact: shopping can improve your mood.”
month – “It’s that time of the month!”
different – “Just because she’s different, it doesn’t mean she’s bad.”
lot – “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
right – “Turn right when you reach the corner.”
study – “Let’s study our English lessons together.
book – “Can I borrow your English book?”
eye – “She has the pink eye.”
job – “I love my job.”
word – “Describe yourself in one word.”
though – “Though you are angry now, I’m sure you will forget about this later.”
business – “His business is thriving.”
issue – “This is not an issue for me.”
side – “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
kind – “Always be kind, even to strangers.”
four – “There are four seasons in a year.”
head – “Let’s head back, it’s freezing out here.”
far – “We’ve gone too far and now we’re lost.”
black – “She has long, black hair.”
long – “She has long, brown hair.”
both – “They both love chocolate ice cream.”
little – “I have two little boys with me now.”
house – “The house is so quiet without you.”
yes – “I hope you say yes.”
after – “After all this time, he has finally learned to love.”
since – “Ever since his mom died, he has been cranky and angry at the world.”
long – “That was such a long time ago.”
provide – “Please provide me with a list of your services.”
service – “Do you have a specific dental service to treat this?”
around – “We went around the block.”
friend – “You’re a good friend.”
important – “You’re important to me.”
father – “My father is so important to me.”
sit – “Let’s sit outside together.”
away – “He’s away right now.”
until – “Until when will you be away?”
power – “With great power comes great responsibility.”
hour – “I’ve been checking his temperature every hour.”
game – “Let’s play a game.”
often – “I buy from his bakery as often as I can.”
yet – “He’s not yet home.”
line – “There’s a long line at the grocery cashier.”
political – “I stay away from political discussions.”
end – “It’s the end of an era.”
among – “Among all my pets, he’s my most favorite.”
ever – “Have you ever tried this cake?”
stand – “Can you stand still for a minute?”
bad – “What you did was so bad.”
lose – “I can’t lose you.”
however – “I want to buy this bag, however, I need to save up for it first.”
member – “She’s a member of the babysitter’s club.”
pay – “Let’s pay for our groceries.”
law – “There’s a law against jay-walking.”
meet – “I want you to meet my aunt.”
car – “Let’s go inside my car.”
city – “This is the city that never sleeps.”
almost – “I’m almost done with my report.”
include – “Did you remember to include the summary in your report?”
continue – “Can we continue working tomorrow?”
set – “Great, let me set an appointment for you.”
later – “I’ll finish it later.”
community – “Our community is very tight knit.”
much – “There’s so much to learn in the English language.”
name – “What’s your name?”
five – “I can give you five reasons why you need to watch that video.”
once – “I once had a puppy named Bark.”
white – “I love my white sneakers.”
least – “She’s the least productive among all the employees.”
president – “She was our class president back in high school.”
learn – “I’d love to learn more about the English language.”
real – “What is her real name?”
change – “What can we change so that things will get better?”
team – “They hired a team to do the design of their new office.”
minute – “She’s laughing every minute of every day.”
best – “This is the best potato salad I’ve ever tasted.”
several – “I have several old clothes I need to donate.”
idea – “It was your idea to go to the beach, remember?”
kid – “I loved that toy when I was a kid.”
body – “She worked out hard to achieve a toned body.”
information – “This is the information I need.”
nothing – “There’s nothing we can do now. “
ago – “Three years ago, I visited Japan for the first time.”
right – “You’re right, I want to go back there.”
lead – “Just lead the way and I’ll follow.”
social – “I feel awkward in these social gatherings.”
understand – “I understand how you feel.”
whether – “Whether in big groups or small groups, I always feel a little shy at first.”
back – “Looking back, I knew I was always an introvert.”
watch – “Let’s watch the sun set on the horizon.”
together – “They’re together now.”
follow – “I’ll follow you home.”
around – “You’ll always have me around.”
parent – “Every parent is trying hard and doing their best.”
only – “You are only allowed to go out today.”
stop – “Please stop that.”
face – “Why is your face so red?”
anything – “You can ask me for anything.”
create – “Did you create that presentation? It was so good.”
public – “This is public property.”
already – “I already asked him to resend his report.”
speak – “Could you speak a little louder?”
others – “The others haven’t arrived yet.”
read – “I read somewhere that this house is haunted.”
level – “What level are you in that game?”
allow – “Do you allow your kids to play outside the house?”
add – “Is it okay if we add a bit of sugar to the tea?”
office – “Welcome to my office.”
spend – “How much did you spend on your last shopping spree?”
door – “You left the door open.”
health – “You must take good care of your health.”
person – “You are a good person.”
art – “This is my work of art.”
sure – “Are you sure you want to do this alone?”
such – “You are such a brave little boy.”
war – “The war has finally ended.”
history – “She is my history professor.”
party – “Are you going to her party tonight?”
within – “We support everyone within our small community.”
grow – “We want everyone to grow and thrive in their careers.”
result – “The result of this outreach program is amazing.”
open – “Are you open to teaching on weekends?”
change – “Where can we change her diaper?”
morning – “It’s such a beautiful morning!”
walk – “Come take a walk with me.”
reason – “You are the reason I came home.”
low – “Her blood pressure has gotten really low.”
win – “We can win this match if we work together.”
research – “How is your research going?”
girl – “That girl is in my class.”
guy – “I’ve seen that guy in school before.”
early – “I come to work so early every day.”
food – “Let’s buy some food, I’m hungry!”
before – “Can I talk to you before you go home?”
moment – “The moment she walked in the room, her puppy started to jump and dance again.”
himself – “He cooked this Turkey himself.”
air – “I am loving the cold night air here.”
teacher – “You are the best teacher ever.”
force – “Don’t force him to play with other kids.”
offer – “Can I offer you a ride home?”
enough – “Boys, that’s enough playing for today.”
both – “You both need to change into your sleep clothes now.”
education – “I just want you to get the best education.”
across – “Your dog ran across the park.”
although – “Although she felt tired, she still couldn’t sleep.”
remember – “Do you think she will still remember me after ten years?”
foot – “Her foot got caught in one of the ropes.”
second – “This is the second time she got late this month.”
boy – “There’s a boy in her class who keeps pulling her hair.”
maybe – “Maybe we can have ice cream for dessert.”
toward – “He took a step toward her.”
able – “Will you be able to send me your report today?”
age – “What is the average marrying age these days?”
off – “The cat ran off with the dog.”
policy – “They have a generous return policy.”
everything – “Everything is on sale.”
love – “I love what you’re wearing!”
process – “Wait, give me time to process everything you’re telling me.”
music – “I love music.”
including – “Around 20 people attended, including Bob and Beth.”
consider – “I hope you consider my project proposal.”
appear – “How did that appear out of nowhere?”
actually – “I’m actually just heading out.”
buy – “I’m going to buy these shoes.”
probably – “He’s probably still asleep.”
human – “Give him a break, he is only human.”
wait – “Is it alright if you wait for a few minutes?”
serve – “This blow dryer has served me well for years.”
market – “Let’s visit the Sunday market.”
die – “I don’t want my cat to die, let’s take him to the vet please.”
send – “Please send the package to my address.”
expect – “You can’t expect much from their poor service.”
home – “I can’t wait to go home!”
sense – “I did sense that something was not okay.”
build – “He is going to build his dream house.”
stay – “You can stay with me for a few weeks.”
fall – “Be careful, you might fall.”
oh – “Oh no, I left my phone at home!”
nation – “We have to act as one nation.”
plan – “What’s your plan this time?”
cut – “Don’t cut your hair.”
college – “We met in college.”
interest – “Music is an interest of mine.”
death – “Death is such a heavy topic for me.”
course – “What course did you take up in college?”
someone – “Is there someone who can go with you?”
experience – “What an exciting experience!”
behind – “I’m scared to check what’s behind that door.”
reach – “I can’t reach him, he won’t answer his phone.”
local – “This is a local business.”
kill – “Smoking can kill you.”
six – “I have six books about Psychology.”
remain – “These remain on the top shelf.”
effect – “Wow, the effect of that mascara is great!”
use – “Can I use your phone?”
yeah – “Yeah, he did call me earlier.”
suggest – “He did suggest that to me.”
class – “We were in the same English class.”
control – “Where’s the remote control?”
raise – “It’s so challenging to discipline kids these days.”
care – “I don’t care about what you think.”
perhaps – “Perhaps we can arrive at a compromise.”
little – “There’s a little bird outside my window.”
late – “I am running late for my doctor’s appointment.”
hard – “That test was so hard.”
field – “He’s over there, by the soccer field.”
else – “Is anyone else coming?”
pass – “Can we pass by the grocery store?”
former – “She was my former housemate.”
sell – “We can sell your old couch online.”
major – “It’s a major issue for the project.”
sometimes – “Sometimes I forget to turn off the porch lights.”
require – “They’ll require you to show your I.D.”
along – “Can I tag along your road trip?”
development – “This news development is really interesting.”
themselves – “They can take care of themselves.”
report – “I read her report and it was great!”
role – “She’s going to play the role of Elsa.”
better – “Your singing has gotten so much better!”
economic – “Some countries are facing an economic crisis.”
effort – “The government must make an effort to solve this.”
up – “His grades have gone up.”
decide – “Please decide where to eat.”
rate – “How would you rate the hotel’s service?”
strong – “They have strong customer service here!”
possible – “Maybe it’s possible to change their bathroom amenities.”
heart – “My heart is so full.”
drug – “She got the patent for the drug she has created to cure cancer.”
show – “Can you show me how to solve this puzzle?”
leader – “You are a wonderful leader.”
light – “Watch her face light up when you mention his name.”
voice – “Hearing his mom’s voice is all he need right now.”
wife – “My wife is away for the weekend.”
whole – “I have the whole house to myself.”
police – “The police have questioned him about the incident.”
mind – “This relaxation technique really eases my mind.”
finally – “I can finally move out from my old apartment.”
pull – “My baby niece likes to pull my hair.”
return – “I give her tickles in return.”
free – “The best things in life are free.”
military – “His dad is in the military.”
price – “This is the price you pay for lying.”
report – “Did you report this to the police?”
less – “I am praying for less stress this coming new year.”
according – “According to the weather report, it’s going to rain today.”
decision – “This is a big decision for me.”
explain – “I’ll explain everything later, I promise.”
son – “His son is so cute!”
hope – “I hope I’ll have a son one day.”
even – “Even if they’ve broken up, they still remain friends.”
develop – “That rash could develop into something more serious.”
view – “This view is amazing!”
relationship – “They’ve taken their relationship to the next level.”
carry – “Can you carry my bag for me?”
town – “This town is extremely quiet.”
road – “There’s a road that leads to the edge of the woods.”
drive – “You can’t drive there, you need to walk.”
arm – “He broke his arm during practice.”
true – “It’s true, I’m leaving the company.”
federal – “Animal abuse is now a federal felony!”
break – “Don’t break the law.”
better – “You better learn how to follow rules.”
difference – “What’s the difference between happiness and contentment?”
thank – “I forgot to thank her for the pie she sent us.”
receive – “Did you receive the pie I sent you?”
value – “I value our friendship so much.”
international – “Their brand has gone international!”
building – “This building is so tall!”
action – “You next action is going to be critical.”
full – “My work load is so full now.”
model – “A great leader is a great model of how to do things.”
join – “He wants to join the soccer team.”
season – “Christmas is my favorite season!”
society – “Their society is holding a fund raiser.”
because – “I’m going home because my mom needs me.”
tax – “How much is the current income tax?”
director – “The director yelled ‘Cut!’”
early – “I’m too early for my appointment.”
position – “Please position your hand properly when drawing.”
player – “That basketball player is cute.”
agree – “I agree! He is cute!”
especially – “I especially like his blue eyes.”
record – “Can we record the minutes of this meeting, please?”
pick – “Did you pick a color theme already?”
wear – “Is that what you’re going to wear for the party?”
paper – “You can use a special paper for your invitations.”
special – “Some special paper are even scented!”
space – “Please leave some space to write down your phone number.”
ground – “The ground is shaking.”
form – “A new island was formed after that big earthquake.”
support – “I need your support for this project.”
event – “We’re holding a big event tonight.”
official – “Our official wedding photos are out!”
whose – “Whose umbrella is this?”
matter – “What does it matter anyway?”
everyone – “Everyone thinks I stole that file.”
center – “I hate being the center of attention.”
couple – “The couple is on their honeymoon now.”
site – “This site is so big!”
end – “It’s the end of an era.”
project – “This project file is due tomorrow.”
hit – “He hit the burglar with a bat.”
base – “All moms are their child’s home base.”
activity – “What musical activity can you suggest for my toddler?”
star – “My son can draw a star!”
table – “I saw him draw it while he was writing on the table.”
need – “I need to enroll him to a good preschool.”
court – “There’s a basketball court near our house.”
produce – “Fresh farm produce is the best.”
eat – “I could eat that all day.”
American – “My sister is dating an American.”
teach – “I love to teach English lessons.”
oil – “Could you buy me some cooking oil at the store?”
half – “Just half a liter please.”
situation – “The situation is getting out of hand.”
easy – “I thought you said this was going to be easy?”
cost – “The cost of fuel has increased!”
industry – “The fuel industry is hiking prices.”
figure – “Will our government figure out how to fix this problem?”
face – “I can’t bear to face this horrendous traffic again and again.”
street – “Let’s cross the street.”
image – “There’s an image of him stored inside my mind.”
itself – “The bike itself is pretty awesome.”
phone – “Plus, it has a phone holder.”
either – “I either walk or commute to work.”
data – “How can we simplify this data?”
cover – “Could you cover for me during emergencies?”
quite – “I’m quite satisfied with their work.”
picture – “Picture this: a lake, a cabin, and lots of peace and quiet.
clear – “That picture is so clear inside my head.”
practice – “Let’s practice our dance number.”
piece – “That’s a piece of cake!”
land – “Their plane is going to land soon.”
recent – “This is her most recent social media post.”
describe – “Describe yourself in one word.”
product – “This is my favorite product in their new line of cosmetics.”
doctor – “The doctor is in.”
wall – “Can you post this up on the wall?”
patient – “The patient is in so much pain now.”
worker – “She’s a factory worker.”
news – “I saw that on the news.”
test – “I have to pass this English test.”
movie – “Let’s watch a movie later.”
certain – “There’s a certain kind of magic in the air now.”
north – “Santa lives up north.”
love – ” l love Christmas!”
personal – “This letter is very personal.”
open – “Why did you open and read it?”
support – “Will you support him?”
simply – “I simply won’t tolerate bad behavior.”
third – “This is the third time you’ve lied to me.”
technology – “Write about the advantages of technology.”
catch – “Let’s catch up soon, please!”
step – “Watch your step.”
baby – “Her baby is so adorable.”
computer – “Can you turn on the computer, please?”
type – “You need to type in your password.”
attention – “Can I have your attention, please?”
draw – “Can you draw this for me?”
film – “That film is absolutely mind-blowing.”
Republican – “He is a Republican candidate.”
tree – “That tree has been there for generations.”
source – “You are my source of strength.”
red – “I’ll wear a red dress tonight.”
nearly – “He nearly died in that accident!”
organization – “Their organization is doing great things for street kids.”
choose – “Let me choose a color.”
cause – “We have to see the cause and effect of this experiment.”
hair – “I’ll cut my hair short for a change.”
look – “Can you look at the items I bought?”
point “What is the point of all this?
century – “We’re living in the 21st century, Mary.”
evidence – “The evidence clearly shows that he is guilty.”
window – “I’ll buy window curtains next week.”
difficult “Sometimes, life can be difficult.”
listen – “You have to listen to your teacher.”
soon – “I will launch my course soon.”
culture – “I hope they understand our culture better.”
billion – “My target is to have 1 billion dollars in my account by the end of the year.”
chance – “Is there any chance that you can do this for me?”
brother – “My brother always have my back.”
energy – “Now put that energy into walking.”
period – “They covered a period of twenty years.”
course – “Have seen my course already?”
summer – “I’ll go to the beach in summer.”
less – “Sometimes, less is more.”
realize – “I just realize that I have a meeting today.”
hundred – “I have a hundred dollars that I can lend you.”
available – “I am available to work on your project.”
plant – “Plant a seed.”
likely – “It was likely a deer trail.”
opportunity – “It was the perfect opportunity to test her theory.”
term – “I’m sure there’s a Latin term for it.”
short – “It was just a short stay at the hotel.”
letter – “I already passed my letter of intent.”
condition – “Do you know the condition I am in?”
choice – “I have no choice.”
place – “Let’s meet out at meeting place.”
single – “I am a single parent.”
rule – “It’s the rule of the law.”
daughter – “My daughter knows how to read now.”
administration – “I will take this up with the administration.”
south – “I am headed south.”
husband – “My husband just bought me a ring for my birthday.”
Congress – “It will be debated at the Congress.”
floor – “She is our floor manager.”
campaign – “I handled their election campaign.”
material – “She had nothing material to report.”
population – “The population of the nearest big city was growing.”
well – “I wish you well.”
call – ” I am going to call the bank.”
economy – “The economy is booming.”
medical -“She needs medical assistance.”
hospital – “I’ll take her to the nearest hospital.”
church – “I saw you in church last Sunday.”
close -“Please close the door.”
thousand – “There are a thousand reasons to learn English!”
risk – “Taking a risk can be rewarding.”
current – “What is your current address?”
fire – “Make sure your smoke alarm works in case of fire.”
future -“The future is full of hope.”
wrong – “That is the wrong answer.”
involve – “We need to involve the police.”
defense – “What is your defense or reason you did this?”
anyone – “Does anyone know the answer?”
increase – “Let’s increase your test score.”
security – “Some apartment buildings have security.”
bank – “I need to go to the bank to withdraw some money.”
myself – “I can clean up by myself.”
certainly – “I can certainly help clean up.”
west – “If you drive West, you will arrive in California.”
sport – “My favorite sport is soccer.”
board – “Can you see the board?”
seek – “Seek and you will find.”
per – “Lobster is $20 per pound.”
subject – “My favorite subject is English!”
officer – “Where can I find a police officer?”
private – “This is a private party.”
rest – “Let’s take a 15 minute rest.”
behavior – “This dog’s behavior is excellent.”
deal – “A used car can be a good deal.”
performance – “Your performance can be affected by your sleep.”
fight – “I don’t want to fight with you.”
throw – “Throw me the ball!”
top – “You are a top student.”
quickly – “Let’s finish reading this quickly.”
past – “In the past, my English was not as good as it is today.”
goal – “My goal is to speak English fluently.”
second – “My second goal is to increase my confidence.”
bed – “I go to bed around 10pm.”
order – “I would like to order a book.”
author – “The author of this series is world-famous.”
fill – “I need to fill (up) my gas tank.”
represent – “I represent my family.”
focus – “Turn off your phone and the TV and focus on your studies!”
foreign – “It’s great having foreign friends.”
drop – “Please don’t drop the eggs!”
plan – “Let’s make a plan.”
blood – “The hospital needs people to give blood.”
upon – “Once upon a time, a princess lived in a castle.”
agency – “Let’s contract an agency to help with marketing.”
push – “The door says ‘push,’ not ‘pull.’”
nature – “I love walking in nature!”
color – “My favorite color is blue.”
no – “‘No’ is one of the shortest complete sentences.”
recently – “I cleaned the bathroom most recently, so I think it’s your turn this time.”
store – “I’m going to the store to buy some bread.”
reduce – “Reduce, reuse, and recycle are the ways to help the environment.”
sound – “I like the sound of wind chimes.”
note – “Please take notes during the lesson.”
fine – “I feel fine.”
before – “Before the movie, let’s buy popcorn!”
near – “Near, far, wherever you are, I do believe that the heart goes on.”
movement – “The environmental movement is an international movement.”
page – “Please turn to page 62.”
enter – “You can enter the building on the left.”
share – “Let me share my idea.”
than – “Ice cream has more calories than water.”
common – “Most people can find something in common with each other.”
poor – “We had a poor harvest this year because it was so dry.”
other – “This pen doesn’t work, try the other one.”
natural – “This cleaner is natural, there aren’t any chemicals in it.”
race – “We watched the car race on TV.”
concern – “Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.”
series – “What is your favorite TV series?”
significant – “His job earns a significant amount of money.”
similar – “These earrings don’t match, but they are similar.”
hot – “Don’t touch the stove, it’s still hot.”
language – “Learning a new language is fun.”
each – “Put a flower in each vase.”
usually – “I usually shop at the corner store.”
response – “I didn’t expect his response to come so soon.”
dead – “My phone is dead, let me charge it.”
rise – “The sun will rise at 7:00 a.m.”
animal – “What kind of animal is that?”
factor – “Heredity is a factor in your overall health.”
decade – “I’ve lived in this city for over a decade.”
article – “Did you read that newspaper article?”
shoot – “He wants to shoot arrows at the target.”
east – “Drive east for three miles.”
save – “I save all my cans for recycling.”
seven – “There are seven slices of pie left.”
artist – “Taylor Swift is a recording artist.”
away – “I wish that mosquito would go away.”
scene – “He painted a colorful street scene.”
stock – “That shop has a good stock of postcards.”
career – “Retail sales is a good career for some people.”
despite – “Despite the rain, we will still have the picnic.”
central – “There is good shopping in central London.”
eight – “That recipe takes eight cups of flour.”
thus – “We haven’t had any problems thus far.”
treatment – “I will propose a treatment plan for your injury.”
beyond – “The town is just beyond those mountains.”
happy – “Kittens make me happy.”
exactly – “Use exactly one teaspoon of salt in that recipe.”
protect – “A coat will protect you from the cold weather.”
approach – “The cat slowly approached the bird.”
lie – “Teach your children not to lie.”
size – “What size is that shirt?
dog – “Do you think a dog is a good pet?”
fund – “I have a savings fund for college.”
serious – “She is so serious, she never laughs.”
occur – “Strange things occur in that empty house.”
media – “That issue has been discussed in the media.”
ready – “Are you ready to leave for work?”
sign – “That store needs a bigger sign.”
thought – “I’ll have to give it some thought.”
list – “I made a list of things to do.”
individual – “You can buy an individual or group membership.”
simple – “The appliance comes with simple instructions.”
quality – “I paid a little more for quality shoes.”
pressure – “There is no pressure to finish right now.”
accept – “Will you accept my credit card?”
answer – “Give me your answer by noon tomorrow.”
hard – “That test was very hard.”
resource – “The library has many online resources.”
identify – “I can’t identify that plant.”
left – “The door is on your left as you approach.”
meeting – “We’ll have a staff meeting after lunch.”
determine – “Eye color is genetically determined.”
prepare – “I’ll prepare breakfast tomorrow.”
disease – “Face masks help prevent disease.”
whatever – “Choose whatever flavor you like the best.”
success – “Failure is the back door to success.”
argue – “It’s not a good idea to argue with your boss.”
cup – “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
particularly – “It’s not particularly hot outside, just warm.”
amount – “It take a large amount of food to feed an elephant.”
ability – “He has the ability to explain things well.”
staff – “There are five people on staff here.”
recognize – “Do you recognize the person in this photo?”
indicate – “Her reply indicated that she understood.”
character – “You can trust people of good character.”
growth – “The company has seen strong growth this quarter.”
loss – “The farmer suffered heavy losses after the storm.”
degree – “Set the oven to 300 degrees.”
wonder – “I wonder if the Bulls will win the game.”
attack – “The army will attack at dawn.”
herself – “She bought herself a new coat.”
region – “What internet services are in your region?”
television – “I don’t watch much television.”
box – “I packed my dishes in a strong box.”
TV – “There is a good movie on TV tonight.”
training – “The company will pay for your training.”
pretty – “That is a pretty dress.”
trade – “The stock market traded lower today.”
deal – “I got a good deal at the store.”
election – “Who do you think will win the election?”
everybody – “Everybody likes ice cream.”
physical – “Keep a physical distance of six feet.”
lay – “Lay the baby in her crib, please.”
general – “My general impression of the restaurant was good.”
feeling – “I have a good feeling about this.”
standard – “The standard fee is $10.00.”
bill – “The electrician will send me a bill.”
message – “You have a text message on your phone.”
fail – “I fail to see what is so funny about that.”
outside – “The cat goes outside sometimes.”
arrive – “When will your plane arrive?”
analysis – “I’ll give you my analysis when I’ve seen everything.”
benefit – “There are many health benefits to quinoa.”
name – “What’s your name?”
sex – “Do you know the sex of your baby yet?”
forward – “Move the car forward a few feet.”
lawyer – “My lawyer helped me write a will.”
present – “If everyone is present, the meeting can begin.”
section – “What section of the stadium are you sitting in?”
environmental – “Environmental issues are in the news.”
glass – “Glass is much heavier than plastic.”
answer – “Could you answer a question for me?”
skill – “His best skill is woodworking.”
sister – “My sister lives close to me.”
PM – “The movie starts at 7:30 PM.”
professor – “Dr. Smith is my favorite professor.”
operation – “The mining operation employs thousands of people.”
financial – “I keep my accounts at my financial institution.”
crime – “The police fight crime.”
stage – “A caterpillar is the larval stage of a butterfly.”
ok – “Would it be ok to eat out tonight?”
compare – “We should compare cars before we buy one.”
authority – “City authorities make the local laws.”
miss – “I miss you, when will I see you again?”
design – “We need to design a new logo.”
sort – “Let’s sort these beads according to color.”
one – “I only have one cat.”
act – “I’ll act on your information today.”
ten – “The baby counted her ten toes.”
knowledge – “Do you have the knowledge to fix that?”
gun – “Gun ownership is a controversial topic.”
station – “There is a train station close to my house.”
blue – “My favorite color is blue.”
state – “After the accident I was in a state of shock.”
strategy – “Our new corporate strategy is written here.”
little – “I prefer little cars.”
clearly – “The instructions were clearly written.”
discuss – “We’ll discuss that at the meeting.”
indeed – “Your mother does indeed have hearing loss.”
force – “It takes a lot of force to open that door.”
truth – “Please tell me the truth.”
song – “That’s a beautiful song.”
example – “I need an example of that grammar point, please.”
democratic – “Does Australia have a democratic government?”
check – “Please check my work to be sure it’s correct.”
environment – “We live in a healthy environment.”
leg – “The boy broke his leg.”
dark – “Turn on the light, it’s dark in here.”
public – “Masks must be worn in public places.”
various – “That rug comes in various shades of gray.”
rather – “Would you rather have a hamburger than a hot dog?”
laugh – “That movie always makes me laugh.”
guess – “If you don’t know, just guess.”
executive – “The company’s executives are paid well.”
set – “Set the glass on the table, please.”
study – “He needs to study for the test.”
prove – “The employee proved his worth.”
hang – “Please hang your coat on the hook.”
entire – “He ate the entire meal in 10 minutes.”
rock – “There are decorative rocks in the garden.”
design – “The windows don’t open by design.”
enough – “Have you had enough coffee?”
forget – “Don’t forget to stop at the store.”
since – “She hasn’t eaten since yesterday.”
claim – “I made an insurance claim for my car accident.”
note – “Leave me a note if you’re going to be late.”
remove – “Remove the cookies from the oven.”
manager – “The manager will look at your application.”
help – “Could you help me move this table?”
close – “Close the door, please.”
sound – “The dog did not make a sound.”
enjoy – “I enjoy soda.”
network – “Band is the name of our internet network.”
legal – “The legal documents need to be signed.”
religious – “She is very religious, she attends church weekly.”
cold – “My feet are cold.”
form – “Please fill out this application form.”
final – “The divorce was final last month.”
main – “The main problem is a lack of money.”
science – “He studies health science at the university.”
green – “The grass is green.”
memory – “He has a good memory.”
card – “They sent me a card for my birthday.”
above – “Look on the shelf above the sink.”
seat – “That’s a comfortable seat.”
cell – “Your body is made of millions of cells.”
establish – “They established their business in 1942.”
nice – “That’s a very nice car.”
trial – “They are employing her on a trial basis.”
expert – “Matt is an IT expert.”
that – “Did you see that movie?”
spring – “Spring is the most beautiful season.”
firm – “Her ‘no” was very firm, she won’t change her mind.”
Democrat – “The Democrats control the Senate.”
radio – “I listen to the radio in the car.”
visit – “We visited the museum today.”
management – “That store has good management.”
care – “She cares for her mother at home.”
avoid – “You should avoid poison ivy.”
imagine – “Can you imagine if pigs could fly?”
tonight – “Would you like to go out tonight?”
huge – “That truck is huge!”
ball – “He threw the ball to the dog.”
no – “I said ‘no,’ please don’t ask again.”
close – “Close the window, please.”
finish – “Did you finish your homework?”
yourself – “You gave yourself a haircut?”
talk – “He talks a lot.”
theory – “In theory, that’s a good plan.”
impact – “The drought had a big impact on the crops.”
respond – “He hasn’t responded to my text yet.”
statement – “The police chief gave a statement to the media.”
maintain – “Exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight.”
charge – “I need to charge my phone.”
popular – “That’s a popular restaurant.”
traditional – “They serve traditional Italian food there.”
onto – “Jump onto the boat and we’ll go fishing.”
reveal – “Washing off the dirt revealed the boy’s skinned knee.”
direction – “What direction is the city from here?”
weapon – “No weapons are allowed in government buildings.”
employee – “That store only has three employees.”
cultural – “There is cultural significance to those old ruins.”
contain – “The carton contains a dozen egges.”
peace – “World leaders gathered for peace talks.”
head – “My head hurts.”
control – “Keep control of the car.”
base – “The glass has a heavy base so it won’t fall over.”
pain – “I have chest pain.”
apply – “Maria applied for the job.”
play – “The children play at the park.”
measure – “Measure twice, cut once.”
wide – “The doorway was very wide.”
shake – “Don’t shake the can of soda.”
fly – “We can fly to France next year.”
interview – “My job interview went well.”
manage – “Did you manage to find the keys?”
chair – “The table has six matching chairs.”
fish – “I don’t enjoy eating fish.”
particular – “That particular style looks good on you.”
camera – “I use the camera on my phone.”
structure – “The building’s structure is solid.”
politics – “Mitch is very active in politics.”
perform – “The singer will perform tonight.”
bit – “It rained a little bit last night.”
weight – “Keep track of your pet’s weight.”
suddenly – “The storm came up suddenly.”
discover – “You’ll discover treasures at that thrift store.”
candidate – “There are ten candidates for the position.”
top – “The flag flies on the top of that building.”
production – “Factory production has improved over the summer.”
treat – “Give yourself a treat for a job well done.”
trip – “We are taking a trip to Florida in January.”
evening – “I’m staying home this evening.”
affect – “My bank account will affect how much I can buy.”
inside – “The cat stays inside.”
conference – “There will be expert presenters at the conference.”
unit – “A foot is a unit of measure.”
best – “Those are the best glasses to buy.”
style – “My dress is out of style.”
adult – “Adults pay full price, but children are free.”
worry – “Don’t worry about tomorrow.”
range – My doctor offered me a range of options.
mention – “Can you mention me in your story?”
rather – “Rather than focusing on the bad things, let’s be grateful for the good things.”
far – “I don’t want to move far from my family.”
deep – “That poem about life is deep.”
front – “Please face front.”
edge – “Please do not stand so close to the edge of the cliff.”
individual – “These potato chips are in an individual serving size package.”
specific – “Could you be more specific?”
writer – “You are a good writer.”
trouble – “Stay out of trouble.”
necessary – “It is necessary to sleep.”
throughout – “Throughout my life I have always enjoyed reading.”
challenge – “I challenge you to do better.”
fear – “Do you have any fears?”
shoulder – “You do not have to shoulder all the work on your own.”
institution – “Have you attended any institution of higher learning?”
middle – “I am a middle child with one older brother and one younger sister.”
sea – “I want to sail the seven seas.”
dream – “I have a dream.”
bar – “A bar is a place where alcohol is served.”
beautiful – “You are beautiful.”
property – “Do you own property, like a house?”
instead – “Instead of eating cake I will have fruit.”
improve – “I am always looking for ways to improve.”
stuff – “When I moved, I realized I have a lot of stuff!”
claim – “I claim to be a fast reader, but actually I am average.”
These 1000 common words are just a speck of the many English terms you can learn! Aren’t you excited to learn more? For now, focus on familiarizing yourself with these words. And make a conscious effort to use them in your everyday conversations.
The power of everyday English conversations is truly remarkable. And it’s the best way to deepen your learning and love for the language.
If you want more lessons relating to English vocabulary, here’s a great lesson that talks about the different ways you can improve your English vocabulary fast.
Studies that estimate and rank the most common words in English examine texts written in English. Perhaps the most comprehensive such analysis is one that was conducted against the Oxford English Corpus (OEC), a massive text corpus that is written in the English language.
In total, the texts in the Oxford English Corpus contain more than 2 billion words.[1] The OEC includes a wide variety of writing samples, such as literary works, novels, academic journals, newspapers, magazines, Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, blogs, chat logs, and emails.[2]
Another English corpus that has been used to study word frequency is the Brown Corpus, which was compiled by researchers at Brown University in the 1960s. The researchers published their analysis of the Brown Corpus in 1967. Their findings were similar, but not identical, to the findings of the OEC analysis.
According to The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists, the first 25 words in the OEC make up about one-third of all printed material in English, and the first 100 words make up about half of all written English.[3] According to a study cited by Robert McCrum in The Story of English, all of the first hundred of the most common words in English are of Old English origin,[4] except for «people», ultimately from Latin «populus», and «because», in part from Latin «causa».
Some lists of common words distinguish between word forms, while others rank all forms of a word as a single lexeme (the form of the word as it would appear in a dictionary). For example, the lexeme be (as in to be) comprises all its conjugations (is, was, am, are, were, etc.), and contractions of those conjugations.[5] These top 100 lemmas listed below account for 50% of all the words in the Oxford English Corpus.[1]
100 most common words
A list of 100 words that occur most frequently in written English is given below, based on an analysis of the Oxford English Corpus (a collection of texts in the English language, comprising over 2 billion words).[1] A part of speech is provided for most of the words, but part-of-speech categories vary between analyses, and not all possibilities are listed. For example, «I» may be a pronoun or a Roman numeral; «to» may be a preposition or an infinitive marker; «time» may be a noun or a verb. Also, a single spelling can represent more than one root word. For example, «singer» may be a form of either «sing» or «singe». Different corpora may treat such difference differently.
The number of distinct senses that are listed in Wiktionary is shown in the polysemy column. For example, «out» can refer to an escape, a removal from play in baseball, or any of 36 other concepts. On average, each word in the list has 15.38 senses. The sense count does not include the use of terms in phrasal verbs such as «put out» (as in «inconvenienced») and other multiword expressions such as the interjection «get out!», where the word «out» does not have an individual meaning.[6] As an example, «out» occurs in at least 560 phrasal verbs[7] and appears in nearly 1700 multiword expressions.[8]
The table also includes frequencies from other corpora. Note that as well as usage differences, lemmatisation may differ from corpus to corpus – for example splitting the prepositional use of «to» from the use as a particle. Also the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) list includes dispersion as well as frequency to calculate rank.
| Word | Parts of speech | OEC rank | COCA rank[9] | Dolch level | Polysemy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the | Article | 1 | 1 | Pre-primer | 12 |
| be | Verb | 2 | 2 | Primer | 21 |
| to | Preposition | 3 | 7, 9 | Pre-primer | 17 |
| of | Preposition | 4 | 4 | Grade 1 | 12 |
| and | Conjunction | 5 | 3 | Pre-primer | 16 |
| a | Article | 6 | 5 | Pre-primer | 20 |
| in | Preposition | 7 | 6, 128, 3038 | Pre-primer | 23 |
| that | Conjunction et al. | 8 | 12, 27, 903 | Primer | 17 |
| have | Verb | 9 | 8 | Primer | 25 |
| I | Pronoun | 10 | 11 | Pre-primer | 7 |
| it | Pronoun | 11 | 10 | Pre-primer | 18 |
| for | Preposition | 12 | 13, 2339 | Pre-primer | 19 |
| not | Adverb et al. | 13 | 28, 2929 | Pre-primer | 5 |
| on | Preposition | 14 | 17, 155 | Primer | 43 |
| with | Preposition | 15 | 16 | Primer | 11 |
| he | Pronoun | 16 | 15 | Primer | 7 |
| as | Adverb, conjunction, et al. | 17 | 33, 49, 129 | Grade 1 | 17 |
| you | Pronoun | 18 | 14 | Pre-primer | 9 |
| do | Verb, noun | 19 | 18 | Primer | 38 |
| at | Preposition | 20 | 22 | Primer | 14 |
| this | Determiner, adverb, noun | 21 | 20, 4665 | Primer | 9 |
| but | Preposition, adverb, conjunction | 22 | 23, 1715 | Primer | 17 |
| his | Possessive pronoun | 23 | 25, 1887 | Grade 1 | 6 |
| by | Preposition | 24 | 30, 1190 | Grade 1 | 19 |
| from | Preposition | 25 | 26 | Grade 1 | 4 |
| they | Pronoun | 26 | 21 | Primer | 6 |
| we | Pronoun | 27 | 24 | Pre-primer | 6 |
| say | Verb et al. | 28 | 19 | Primer | 17 |
| her | Possessive pronoun | 29, 106 | 42 | Grade 1 | 3 |
| she | Pronoun | 30 | 31 | Primer | 7 |
| or | Conjunction | 31 | 32 | Grade 2 | 11 |
| an | Article | 32 | (a) | Grade 1 | 6 |
| will | Verb, noun | 33 | 48, 1506 | Primer | 16 |
| my | Possessive pronoun | 34 | 44 | Pre-primer | 5 |
| one | Noun, adjective, et al. | 35 | 51, 104, 839 | Pre-primer | 24 |
| all | Adjective | 36 | 43, 222 | Primer | 15 |
| would | Verb | 37 | 41 | Grade 2 | 13 |
| there | Adverb, pronoun, et al. | 38 | 53, 116 | Primer | 14 |
| their | Possessive pronoun | 39 | 36 | Grade 2 | 2 |
| what | Pronoun, adverb, et al. | 40 | 34 | Primer | 19 |
| so | Conjunction, adverb, et al. | 41 | 55, 196 | Primer | 18 |
| up | Adverb, preposition, et al. | 42 | 50, 456 | Pre-primer | 50 |
| out | Preposition | 43 | 64, 149 | Primer | 38 |
| if | Conjunction | 44 | 40 | Grade 3 | 9 |
| about | Preposition, adverb, et al. | 45 | 46, 179 | Grade 3 | 18 |
| who | Pronoun, noun | 46 | 38 | Primer | 5 |
| get | Verb | 47 | 39 | Primer | 37 |
| which | Pronoun | 48 | 58 | Grade 2 | 7 |
| go | Verb, noun | 49 | 35 | Pre-primer | 54 |
| me | Pronoun | 50 | 61 | Pre-primer | 10 |
| when | Adverb | 51 | 57, 136 | Grade 1 | 11 |
| make | Verb, noun | 52 | 45 | Grade 2 [as «made»] | 48 |
| can | Verb, noun | 53 | 37, 2973 | Pre-primer | 18 |
| like | Preposition, verb | 54 | 74, 208, 1123, 1684, 2702 | Primer | 26 |
| time | Noun | 55 | 52 | Dolch list of 95 nouns | 14 |
| no | Determiner, adverb | 56 | 93, 699, 916, 1111, 4555 | Primer | 10 |
| just | Adjective | 57 | 66, 1823 | 14 | |
| him | Pronoun | 58 | 68 | 5 | |
| know | Verb, noun | 59 | 47 | 13 | |
| take | Verb, noun | 60 | 63 | 66 | |
| people | Noun | 61 | 62 | 9 | |
| into | Preposition | 62 | 65 | 10 | |
| year | Noun | 63 | 54 | 7 | |
| your | Possessive pronoun | 64 | 69 | 4 | |
| good | Adjective | 65 | 110, 2280 | 32 | |
| some | Determiner, pronoun | 66 | 60 | 10 | |
| could | Verb | 67 | 71 | 6 | |
| them | Pronoun | 68 | 59 | 3 | |
| see | Verb | 69 | 67 | 25 | |
| other | Adjective, pronoun | 70 | 75, 715, 2355 | 12 | |
| than | Conjunction, preposition | 71 | 73, 712 | 4 | |
| then | Adverb | 72 | 77 | 10 | |
| now | Preposition | 73 | 72, 1906 | 13 | |
| look | Verb | 74 | 85, 604 | 17 | |
| only | Adverb | 75 | 101, 329 | 11 | |
| come | Verb | 76 | 70 | 20 | |
| its | Possessive pronoun | 77 | 78 | 2 | |
| over | Preposition | 78 | 124, 182 | 19 | |
| think | Verb | 79 | 56 | 10 | |
| also | Adverb | 80 | 87 | 2 | |
| back | Noun, adverb | 81 | 108, 323, 1877 | 36 | |
| after | Preposition | 82 | 120, 260 | 14 | |
| use | Verb, noun | 83 | 92, 429 | 17 | |
| two | Noun | 84 | 80 | 6 | |
| how | Adverb | 85 | 76 | 11 | |
| our | Possessive pronoun | 86 | 79 | 3 | |
| work | Verb, noun | 87 | 117, 199 | 28 | |
| first | Adjective | 88 | 86, 2064 | 10 | |
| well | Adverb | 89 | 100, 644 | 30 | |
| way | Noun, adverb | 90 | 84, 4090 | 16 | |
| even | Adjective | 91 | 107, 484 | 23 | |
| new | Adjective et al. | 92 | 88 | 18 | |
| want | Verb | 93 | 83 | 10 | |
| because | Conjunction | 94 | 89, 509 | 7 | |
| any | Pronoun | 95 | 109, 4720 | 4 | |
| these | Pronoun | 96 | 82 | 2 | |
| give | Verb | 97 | 98 | 19 | |
| day | Noun | 98 | 90 | 9 | |
| most | Adverb | 99 | 144, 187 | 12 | |
| us | Pronoun | 100 | 113 | 6 |
Parts of speech
The following is a very similar list, subdivided by part of speech.[1] The list labeled «Others» includes pronouns, possessives, articles, modal verbs, adverbs, and conjunctions.
| Rank | Nouns | Verbs | Adjectives | Prepositions | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | time | be | good | to | the |
| 2 | person | have | new | of | and |
| 3 | year | do | first | in | a |
| 4 | way | say | last | for | that |
| 5 | day | get | long | on | I |
| 6 | thing | make | great | with | it |
| 7 | man | go | little | at | not |
| 8 | world | know | own | by | he |
| 9 | life | take | other | from | as |
| 10 | hand | see | old | up | you |
| 11 | part | come | right | about | this |
| 12 | child | think | big | into | but |
| 13 | eye | look | high | over | his |
| 14 | woman | want | different | after | they |
| 15 | place | give | small | her | |
| 16 | work | use | large | she | |
| 17 | week | find | next | or | |
| 18 | case | tell | early | an | |
| 19 | point | ask | young | will | |
| 20 | government | work | important | my | |
| 21 | company | seem | few | one | |
| 22 | number | feel | public | all | |
| 23 | group | try | bad | would | |
| 24 | problem | leave | same | there | |
| 25 | fact | call | able | their |
See also
- Basic English
- Frequency analysis, the study of the frequency of letters or groups of letters
- Letter frequencies
- Oxford English Corpus
- Swadesh list, a compilation of basic concepts for the purpose of historical-comparative linguistics
- Zipf’s law, a theory stating that the frequency of any word is inversely proportional to its rank in a frequency table
Word lists
- Dolch Word List, a list of frequently used English words
- General Service List
- Word lists by frequency
References
- ^ a b c d «The Oxford English Corpus: Facts about the language». OxfordDictionaries.com. Oxford University Press. What is the commonest word?. Archived from the original on December 26, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
- ^ «The Oxford English Corpus». AskOxford.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2006. Retrieved June 22, 2006.
- ^ The First 100 Most Commonly Used English Words Archived 2013-06-16 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Bill Bryson, The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way, Harper Perennial, 2001, page 58
- ^ Benjamin Zimmer. June 22, 2006. Time after time after time…. Language Log. Retrieved June 22, 2006.
- ^ Benjamin, Martin (2019). «Polysemy in top 100 Oxford English Corpus words within Wiktionary». Teach You Backwards. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ^ Garcia-Vega, M (2010). «Teasing out the meaning of «out»«. 29th International Conference on Lexis and Grammar.
- ^ «out — English-French Dictionary». www.wordreference.com. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- ^ «Word frequency: based on 450 million word COCA corpus». www.wordfrequency.info. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
External links
The Linguistic Society of America mentions 6,909 distinct languages in the world. Have you ever wondered which language has the most words in it out of all these languages?
This is quite a difficult question to answer, even for some linguistics. You start learning any new language; you may have this question in mind how many words this language has?
Even though it seems a pretty simple question, it has various complexities. By the end of this article, you will be able to find the answer to your question; “which language has the most words?”
It is still controversial how many words a language has. This is because there are some words that dictionaries do not include.
However, there are certain languages that many linguistics consider as the richest languages. Here are a few of them:
1. English – Does It Have The Most Words?
According to some linguists, English is one of the largest languages in terms of word count. Only a limited amount of dictionary entries support this assertion.
The Oxford English Dictionary contains almost 200,000 words. It includes 47,156 obsolete words and 171,476 active words.
Many countries in the world speak English as a second language. English is a language that has also taken hundreds of words from other languages.
It has incorporated these words into its own. It enables native English speakers to choose a broader range of vocabulary.
This is mainly because of the Viking invasions in England. Then, the Normans, colonization, and exploration waves added some to the English lexicon.
Due to this reason, the English dictionary got several new foreign terms. Every day, new words are being added to the English language. It has become the global lingua franca.
2. Korean – Is It The Richest Language?
Korean is at the very top of the list. There are 1,100,373 terms in the largest dictionary of the Korean language. This information comes from a government-approved official source.
This is the only most extensive collection of words in any language’s dictionary. It has around double the number of words in English, having 505,000 in its most extensive dictionary.
Even that appears to be a huge sum. But, this number includes both the South Korean and North Korean vocabulary.
And I assume it covers all the dialects in both locations. It clarifies some of the complications.
3. Arabic – Does It Have The Most Words:
Its strong impact on other languages is undeniable. But is Arabic the richest language in terms of words? Arabic might be the richest language due to its complexity based on its intricacy.
Arabic words use about three, four, or five letter roots to make a word. These roots create a wide range of meanings.
You might end up with a large number of words if you counted each variant as a different word. However, native speakers are not using all these words.
There are hundreds of terms used for camel in Arabic. It also has different love words, including unique words for every stage of love. That demonstrates the Arabic language’s incredible versatility and depth.
Many individuals might don’t know that a large number of words originate from Arabic.
Spanish, Latin, Italian, German, Greek, and other languages frequently use these words. Most people don’t know this fact before they make their way into the English Language.
4. German – Extensive Vocabulary:
If we count compound words, German contains over 300,000 words. So, German language speakers can theoretically make as many terms as they want.
German has some words that are some of the longest words in existence. German uses compound words and makes them super long.
For instance, the German word “Unabhängigkeitserklärung” means “declaration of independence.” Do you think it is a single word?
Given the compounding possibilities, German would soon surpass English.
This can happen with the continuous addition of different legitimate German “words.” Germans would accept these words without hesitation.
5. Japanese – With Massive Word Count:
Another popular competitor is Japanese, which contains a massive 500,00 words. Half of them, however, are written in Kanji (Chinese characters).
You may write a daily newspaper with roughly 1200 Kanji words on a daily basis.
This can give you an idea that how massive word count Japanese has. Even though it relates to Chinese, but it still is one the languages with most words.
6. Finnish – Has The Most Words:
Finnish is an agglutinative language. It has the ability to produce an unlimited number of characters. You will not, however, discover such an extensive vocabulary.
Agglutinative languages can make new words by the combination of prefixes and suffixes. Finnish is one of these languages.
Are Dictionaries A Reliable Source To Estimate Which Language Has The Most Words?
Based on the facts, the answer would be no. Have you ever heard any language expert saying that English contains the most words?
They state this claim but verifying it is nearly impossible. Moreover, dictionaries do not contain all of the words of a language. Most of the dictionaries exclude slang words.
Many Linguistics refer that the English language has the most words. But, what if we search for Korean? Dictionary says that it’s 1,100,373 words.
This word count is about twice the number of words in English. So, the claim goes wrong here.
The Duden contains almost 145,000 German words. The Diccionario de la Real Academia Española documents almost 88,000 words.
In a nutshell, dictionaries are not a correct approach. We can’t estimate the language having the most words based on dictionary entries. But there is an exception in some European languages.
Facts: Dictionaries Cannot Estimate Which Language Has The Most Words
Several examples show that dictionaries are not the ultimate approach. It is impossible to estimate the language having the most words in this way.
Steven Frank is the author of The Pen Commandments. He says that English comprises 500,000 words.
While the Oxford English Dictionary estimates a different figure. It states that the English language contains about 200,000 terms. It includes 47,156 obsolete words and 171,476 active words.
Other examples are:
According to Steven Frank, the German language has around 135,000 people. At the same time, the word count in authoritative dictionaries is 330,000.
Steven Frank claims that the French language has less than 100,000 words. The dictionary Littré, on the other hand, contains 132,000 active terms.
At the same time, according to the dictionary Larousse, French has 59,000 words.
These dictionaries have limitations to the terms of a single country. This is despite the people speaking the French language well beyond France’s boundaries.
Bottom Line:
By Now, you must have an idea that which language has the most words. Many linguistics say that the English language has the most words of any language on the planet. However, proving this is not easy.
It’s difficult to estimate the total number of words in non-alphabetic languages. For example, Chinese.
One approach for determining which language has the most words is the dictionaries. But it mainly works for all of Europe’s major languages.
Furthermore, dictionaries would not be able to include all the terms in a language. Most of the time, dictionaries do not have compounded words in many ways.
So, in the end, it really doesn’t matter. You’ll be dealing with a large vocabulary.
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I’ve always loved learning and teaching languages. I started my career as a teacher in Madrid, Spain, where I taught business professionals. I then moved to Brussels, Belgium, where I worked with international affairs students and interns who were working with the European Union.
Nouns, verbs, prepositions, and adjectives make this list
Updated on March 24, 2019
If you’re an English learner, knowing which words are most commonly used in the language can help you to improve your vocabulary skills and gain confidence in casual conversations.
Don’t count on these words to help you become fluent in English, but do use them as a resource to help you build your skills as you grow more comfortable with the English language.
Common English Words
All
- Everyone in a group.
- All the children did their homework.
And
- A conjunction that joins parts of speech together in a sentence.
- She jumped, jogged, and danced in gym class.
Boy
- A male child.
- The little boy asked his mother if she would buy him candy.
Book
- A long text of words that people read.
- The college student had to read a 500-page book for English class.
Call
- To yell out or speak loudly; to contact someone by phone.
- The girl called out to her brother so he would wait for her.
Car
- A four-wheeled vehicle that transports people from one place to another.
- He drove the car from school to work.
Chair
- A piece of furniture that can hold one person.
- My mother is the only one allowed to sit in the big chair in the living room.
Children
- Young people who have not yet reached adulthood.
- The children didn’t listen to what their parents told them.
City
- A place where many people live.
- New York is the biggest city in the United States.
Dog
- An animal that many people have as a household pet.
- My dog likes to play with bones.
Door
- A passageway from which you can enter or exit a room or a building.
- The students rushed through the classroom door just before the bell rang.
Enemy
- The opposite of a friend. A competitor or rival.
- The hero of the story killed his enemy with a sword.
End
- To finish something or come to a conclusion.
- The end of the book was a happy one.
Enough
- To have more than one needs of something.
- Most Americans have enough food to eat, but that’s not true in other countries.
Eat
- To consume food.
- The children liked to eat apples and bananas after school.
Friend
- The opposite of an enemy. Someone on your side and with whom you enjoy spending time.
- The girl played with her friend in the yard until her mother told her to come inside.
Father
- A male parent.
- The father picked up his child when she started crying.
Go
- To travel to and from a location.
- We go to school every day.
Good
- To behave well or in a kind manner.
- My mother said that if I’m good and don’t hit my brother, she will take me to the movies.
Girl
- A female child.
- The girl dropped her schoolbooks on the ground.
Food
- An edible substance that people, animals, and plants eat to live.
- Starving people do not have enough food to eat and may die.
Hear
- To listen to something.
- I could hear my brother and sister arguing from the other room.
House
- A place where people, often families, live.
- My friend lives in the biggest house on the street.
Inside
- The internal part of something or to be located within something.
- The inside of the house was warm and cozy.
Laugh
- To express that you find something amusing.
- The children laughed after the clown made a joke.
Listen
- To hear something.
- We listen to music because we like to dance.
Man
- An adult male.
- The man was much taller than his son.
Name
- The title of a place, book, person, etc.
- I never liked my name growing up.
Never
- Not ever.
- I am never getting back together with my boyfriend.
Next
- The thing that happens after something else in a sequence; to be situated by something else.
- Let’s go to the next question.
New
- Something just created or unused or unopened.
- My mother bought me a new doll for Christmas. It was still in the package.
Noise
- Loud sounds, especially made by music or a group of people.
- There was so much noise at the party, the neighbors called the police.
Often
- To happen frequently.
- My teacher gets mad because I often forget my homework.
Pair
- Two things that go together.
- I like the new pair of shoes my sister bought me for my birthday.
Pick
- To choose or select.
- I picked the cupcake with vanilla frosting.
Play
- To have fun with someone or engage in an activity or sport.
- I like to play football with my brother.
Room
- A part of a home, building, office or another structure.
- The room at the end of the hall is the coldest in the building.
See
- To watch or observe something.
- I see clouds in the sky, which must mean it will rain soon.
Sell
- To offer a service or a good for a price.
- I am going to sell my surfboard for $50 because it’s time for a new one.
Sit
- To rest on a floor, chair, or another surface.
- The teacher told the children to sit on the carpet.
Speak
- To say something.
- I speak too loudly sometimes.
Smile
- To grin or show pleasure.
- I smile when my brother tells jokes.
Sister
- The opposite of brother. The female child in relation to other children of the same parents.
- My parents took my sister and me to the circus.
Think
- To contemplate something or have an idea or belief.
- I think all pets should have a home.
Then
- Something that comes after an event in a sequence.
- I opened the refrigerator. Then, I ate some food.
Walk
- To travel on foot.
- I walk home from school every day.
Water
- A substance plants, people, animals, and the earth need to survive.
- If animals don’t have enough water to drink, they will die.
Work
- To make a living, engage in an activity for pay, or to reach a goal.
- I work as a teacher because I like children.
Write
- To put something on paper with a pen or pencil. To use a computer to type text.
- I have to write three essays in English class this semester.
Woman
- A female adult.
- That woman was our new school principal.
Yes
- To answer affirmatively or respond to one’s name being called.
- «Yes, I’m here,» the student said when the teacher called her name.
Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989, famously said:
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are «I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.»
What did he mean by that? Terrifying to whom, and why? I don’t suppose he meant it literally.
I suspect the answer is as relevant today as it was when he said this in 1986, so I think this question is more appropriate for Politics.SE than History.SE.
asked Oct 25, 2017 at 13:24
0
Reagan made the statement during The President’s News Conference, and understanding the context of the event can help establish his meaning. It’s worth mentioning that I’ve seen some indications that the saying wasn’t coined by Reagan, but was in general use as far back as the 70s.
I’d say he was referring to the belief (often held by conservative voters in the United States), that the government, in general, is incredibly inefficient in everything that they do. Sometimes to such a degree that their attempts to help end up actively harming instead. This was also suggested by Reagan during his 1981 Inaugural address.
The view that Reagan was expressing tended to be a precursor to calls for smaller government, where an individual or private organization could complete an action more effectively than the government doing the same.
Drunk Cynic
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answered Oct 25, 2017 at 13:46
3
A great many of the current problems on the farm were caused by government-imposed embargoes and inflation, not to mention government’s long history of conflicting and haphazard policies (Reagan’s speech that originated the phrase)
Specifically in the context of that speech, one of the implications of that phrase is that:
-
Government enacts policies that harm some people as the expense of benefiting others (pretty much any act of governance does that, in the context of farms it can be trade policies that make it more difficult/expensive to sell your goods internationally; or regulations that help consumers at the expense of producers — which also benefit less regulated foreign producers at the expense of domestic ones).
-
Government creates uncertainty (due to changing policies). Nothing can harm business more than uncertainty since you can’t make longer term plans and investments; and ones you make get screwed up.
As other answers noted, other issues are generic to conservative small-government worldview and not specific to that speech:
-
Government may claim that they intend to help you, but instead do not intend to help you at best or harm you at worst.
There were numerous examples in history, including US history. Tuskegee syphilis experiment is among the most (in)famous examples.
-
Government may claim that they intend to help you, but as usual eff things up due to the fact that «government» is comprised of fallible human beings who make mistakes and screw up.
This takes a variety of shapes, including unintended consequences («Cobra effect») that make the problem worse; or simple errors. For one of the fun examples specific to US agriculture, see ethanol mess.
-
Government’s goals don’t always align with your own goals.
This may be a simple misalignment (you wish to sell your produce for maximum profit, they wish to minimize risks to consumers which reduces your profits). Or it can be a result of incentives of individual members of government (increase one’s power, get re-elected, or a mundane «I wanna go home by 4:30pm and have 1 hour lunch» by a clerk who will take shortcuts and do a shoddy job which presumably isn’t your own goal). A congressperson may say that their goal is to improve your life as a poor person, to get your vote. But their policies are aimed at getting your vote, but may ultimately harm you (e.g. minimal wage laws causes you to lose your job because your employer can’t afford your services anymore).
-
Government can even be honestly and earnestly trying to help you align with your goal. But, it will often do a shoddier job of that than anyone else can.
Veterans Affairs hospitals are a prime example. I’m sure nobody in government wants veterans to get bad care. But government is so crappy at running things that that was indeed the outcome.
-
And last, but not least, hard-working Americans typically remember to end that statement with:
I’m from the government, and I’m here to help … by using money taxed off your income.
Whether the person would instead prefer to go without said help and keep those taxed monies instead is never inquired into.
CDJB♦
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answered Oct 25, 2017 at 14:27
user4012user4012
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6
Understand that Reagan was a Conservative. That viewpoint is one that views government intervention dimly. Why? Because if the Government does things, they will be done the way the Government thinks they should be done, not necessarily done in a way that will actually help you. Put a different way, sometimes the Government is more concerned with the process than the result. That was a complaint about Reagan’s predecessor, Jimmy Carter
I would like to put forward another theory: The root of the problem is that Jimmy Carter is the first Process President in American history. “Process President”—using a definition by Aaron Wildavsky and Jack Knott—means that Carter places “greater emphasis on methods, procedures and instruments for making policy than on the content of policy itself.”
Carter is an activist. He wants to do things. Yet his campaign statements should have warned us that save for the human rights thrust in foreign policy, his passion in government is for how things are done, rather than what should be done.
Activism is fine and good, but when combined with the power and scope of the Government, it can produce policies that aim for some «greater good» while missing the point that it involves actual people. A recent example of this was the Raisin Board (part of the US Dept of Agriculture). Created as part of the New Deal, it was a governmental board designed to «help» farmers by controlling the price of raisins. It did this by seizing part of farmers crops (usually without compensation). As such, supply dropped and prices rose. The Supreme Court ruled last year it was unconstitutional
California produces 99% of the nation’s raisins. In years when the market was glutted, the Raisin Administrative Committee would set aside part of the crop and keep it off the open market. Those extra raisins were then sold overseas or were given to the school lunch program.
In theory, all the growers benefit from the higher market prices. But Horne, a grower from Kerman, near Fresno, objected and accused the board of «stealing his crop» in two years when more than 30% of the crop was set aside. He was fined more than $680,000 by the USDA for violating marketing orders in 2003 and 2004.
He sued, alleging this scheme violated the 5th Amendment, which says private property may not be taken for public use without just compensation.
The high court agreed in Horne vs. USDA. Although most cases about taking property have involved real estate, the principle applies to raisins as well, the court said.
There’s an equally legendary quote from Phill Gramm (it’s anecdotal but instructive) that went something like this
Former Texas Republican senator Phil Gramm tells the story about the time he was on an interview show with an educational elitist who held to a worldview similar to that of Harris-Perry. He told her, “My educational policies are based on the fact that I care more about my children than you do.” She said, “No, you don’t.” Gramm replied, “Okay: What are their names?”
answered Oct 25, 2017 at 14:52
MachavityMachavity
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The phrase was popular before Reagan’s use in the ’80s. It’s best to look at the 1970s examples of its use to understand the full meaning.
From sometime in 1976, see Crop Production Conference Report:
The marketplace was behaving beautifully…Such still appears to be the case, but the process has become less clear in view of the interjection of a factor that had appeared to be pushed aside only a few weeks earlier. That factor is the long arm of government intervention. Along those lines, I would like to tell an appropriate story: «The three most unbelieved statements in the world are:
1) The check is in the mail;
2) Of course, I’ll love you in the morning like I do tonight, and
3) I’m from the government and I’m here to help you
So here the intent was to criticize government intervention in the free market economy.
Then, see Extension of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, 1977: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Child and Human Development of the Committee on Human Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, First Session … April 6 and 7, 1977:
… a story I heard down in Richmond. The story is basically just three questions which are supposedly the most suspicious statements anyone can ask.
The first is : The check’s in the mail ;
The second is: Of course I’ll respect you in the morning; and
the third is: I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you.
Next, see Economic problems of the elderly in Mississippi: hearing before the Subcommittee on Retirement Income and Employment of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, second session, Jackson, Miss., February 20, 1978 :
reminds me of a story … the three biggest lies in the world…
The first was «my check is in the mail to you,»
the next was «next year your taxes are going to be lower,» and
third was «I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help you.»
So basically it was a late-70s cliché to say when you didn’t want the government to be involved in a situation.
answered Oct 26, 2017 at 14:42
DavePhDDavePhD
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What did he mean by that? Terrifying to whom, and why? I don’t suppose he meant it literally.
Why not?
For example, compare read this FBI press release about operation Cross Country XI. Look, they’re helping recuse people from sex trafficking.
Now, read some journalistic reporting on what really happened.
The Washington Post published the following article about the operation cross country IX, noting that «sex trafficking» is just jargon for prostitution these days, among other problems.
Reason, a libertarian magazine, delivers a more pointed assessment, with the title: Feds ‘Rescue’ Women from Freedom and Money in 11th ‘Operation Cross Country’, and some stories about the experience of the «rescued» women.
Either way, to hear the FBI tell it, they rescued dozens of women from sex trafficking, while the «rescued» women themselves, who got arrested and charged with a crime probably don’t see it the same way. Quite literally, the government is taking the position it helped these people, by seizing their property and charging them with a crime.
And, of course, prostitution/sex trafficking is hardly the only time this happens. This same kind of disconnect between the words of the government and the help they deliver come up frequently in drug cases, where government helps people with narcotic addictions by throwing them in prison for a couple decades, as another great example. Not that one needs to resort to general categorizations — a New Orleans district attorney has been sued for using fake subpoenas to arrest witnesses and even victims of crime as an investigative tool, for example, and I could go on and on and on.
So while there are certainly less literal interpretations for why «The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help'», it can be interpreted quite literally, with the same effect, too.
answered Oct 25, 2017 at 17:36
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There are many good reasons already stated but some people might not have been around to remember the time period in question.
This was the cold war era where government organizations had little over site and national security covered up a large number of sins. Add to that the cronyism and corruption (minor and major) that results from long term stagnation and you get a number of organizations who do what is good for the organization (not good for the country or the citizens). The stagnation means that for someone to advance themselves in an organization, they have to solve a visible problem, even if they have to create that problem in the first place.
Even when they were actually trying to be beneficial, the policies were generally created from theories by people with no real world experience. Look at what were called «The Projects» which was suppose to help the poor by providing cheap housing. Instead they created high crime slums that simply became legal segregation.
The government got us into Vietnam and kept us in it to have a proxy war with the USSR and to line the pockets of weapon makers who were big campaign contributors.
Watergate was still fresh on people’s minds it exposed not what Nixon had done but what everyone had been doing. The famous tape recordings were made by recording devices concealed by the Kennedy administration.
If you want to get an idea of how government was thought of at that time watch some 70s or 80s movies or watch Stranger Things on Netflix (I can’t watch that, it’s just SOS for me). Or read Stephen King’s early works that include any reference to The Company. The popular opinion was that the government was malicious, corrupt, incompetent or any combination of the three.
That’s why Reagan’s speeches tended to resonate with the people. He rarely invented concepts in his speeches. He was popular because he said things that the majority of the population (who were largely ignored) was already thinking.
answered Oct 25, 2017 at 18:24
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In many ways, I believe, Reagan meant it literally. While others have provided some excellent examples, I would like to provide a few more.
Take, for example, the case of American Indian Reservations. They were initially proposed as a sanctuary and way to prevent Am Inds and Am Settlers from coming into conflict. Sure, it wasn’t nice to move them, but hey, we’re giving them all this land out west. It’ll be fantastic. I exaggerate, but not by much. The reality of the Am Ind Reservation system has been nothing short of a horrific tragedy. While they are «sovereign» nations, they have effectively been ghettoized and segregated. Even where tribes have done fairly well, poverty and substance abuse are higher than in comparable areas. That doesn’t even touch on the actual horror of the relocation.
Additionally consider the current case of higher education. While there are many issues to choose from, I’ll discuss two: Sexual Assault and College Loans.
College loans were initially proposed as a way to help enable the poor and middle class to access college educations to improve their economic stations. It kinda worked in the beginning. College attendance rates did improve as did graduation rates. However, there was a huge issue. This was that now that «free» money was suddenly available, tuition and fees skyrocketed well beyond inflation. This resulted in a popular tactic in the 80’s of completing schooling, particularly for things like MD’s and lawyers then declaring bankruptcy to discharge the loans. This acted as somewhat of a check to the increase in tuition. However, when Congress changed the laws to make it nearly impossible to have student loans discharged. Tuition rates resumed an accelerated increase. Now we have an entire generation of people with tremendous debt and few opportunities.
On the topic of sexual assault in higher education, let’s first agree that sexual assault is both horrible and criminal. As such, it should be prosecuted by the police and judicial system. Schools have no business prosecuting or investigating these matters, once charges are leveled, the police should be called. However, when the Obama administration issues a letter regarding the need for more action under Title IX to prevent/punish sexual assault, the result was something that would be more familiar in the USSR or East Germany than in America. Both young men and young women were accused of heinous crimes, expelled, publicly smeared with titles like rapist without anything that we would recognize as due process. We know that this was/is common, because the volume of law suites from from the people whose lives were destroyed by power maddened school officials is increasing and almost universally being decided in favor of the students, not the schools. This is beginning to change with the combination of law suites and new direction from the Dept of Ed.
answered Oct 27, 2017 at 18:59
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It’s about power, and trust.
Do you trust other people to look out for your interests better than you do? On the surface that question sounds absurd, but it isn’t as cut-and-dried as it may seem. There’s an information asymmetry: they may actually have information that equips them to decide better than you.
As an example, is it in your best interests for the US to go to war in Syria? How do you know? You don’t know. And you arguably shouldn’t have to know: this is a division-of-labor representative republic. You certainly have a right to voice your opinion as best you can from the information and time you have, but at some point you have to trust the people that are making those decisions for you.
So then the question becomes how much? As little as possible? As much as prudent? Reagan was clearly from the former’s school of thought. And that is the function of that saying. It isn’t literally true, and it isn’t even true in most cases. But it does declare that one is a member of the Red (American conservative) Tribe: one thinks that trust and power should be given only grudgingly when at all.
That may sound rather misanthropic but I don’t think it necessarily is, and it certainly provides a useful defensive wall on the slippery slope to tyranny.
answered Oct 26, 2017 at 13:50
Jared SmithJared Smith
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Reagan was specifically opposed to idea that Government knows better than you what is good for you .
This idea, very prevalent among today «educated elites» with left and «liberal» leanings, basically says that ordinary average human is immature and ignorant, unable to take care of himself without outside help. And that outside help would be «benevolent» government, permanent nanny if you will (nanny-state) from cradle to grave.
It is obvious that this idea gradually leads to restriction of liberties (all for supposed good of mankind) and ends with tyranny. In the process, creative spirit of man would be destroyed, because even adults would expect that government «must do something» whenever problem arises, instead of trying to solve it by themselves.
Reagan and fellow minded people considered that success of United States in the world, its rise to superpower status, is founded exactly on free, independent and entrepreneurial American spirit. Therefore, rise of the big government would lead to exactly opposite direction — stifling of that spirit and gradual demise of US.
answered Oct 27, 2017 at 6:55
rs.29rs.29
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It was the linguist JR Firth who, in 1930, coined the term phonoaesthetics to refer to the study of how words sound. I came across it recently when, 26 years later than most, I heard Marlow ask in Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective: «What’s the loveliest word in the English language, officer? In the sound it makes in the mouth? In the shape it makes in the page? E-L-B-O-W.» (And yes, for anyone else who didn’t know, it is where the band got its name.)
The film Donnie Darko offers a tip of its hat, too, in the lines of Drew Barrymore’s character, teacher Karen Pomeroy: «This famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, ‘cellar door’ is the most beautiful.» The famous linguist was none other than JRR Tolkien, and he made the claim in his 1955 lecture English and Welsh.
There’s also Robert Beard’s The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English. Although you’re unlikely to agree with them all, Beard’s list does help make some phonetic links: the B and L common to bungalow, elbow and one of my favourites, for example. Long vowels and liquid sounds such as L and R have been considered particularly beautiful since the ancient Greeks, but I’d love to know where B fits in.
So, in no particular order, here are five that for me illustrate Tolkien’s description of the phonetic pleasure of words as «simpler, deeper-rooted, and yet more immediate» than any practical or structural understanding of their sense.
cwtch
Beautiful and useful, it fills the space created by my loathing of the word cuddle or the even more egregious snuggle. (A chap who asked if I «fancied a snuggle?» once had the same effect on my libido as salt on slugs.) Admittedly it’s not English — Tolkien also believed «cellar doors» to be more frequent in Welsh — but, as none of the Welsh friends from whom I learned it were Welsh-speakers, it’s in.
kecks
First heard used with a provocative wiggle («Do you like my new kecks?») by a lad from Leeds on whom I had a crush. Both kecks and cwtch possess a splash of nostalgia (not least for the days of maintenance grants, which allowed word-lovers to mudlark further afield) but I love their sound, too: short, punchy, and based on the voiceless velar stop. K, however, was considered one of the least beautiful sounds by the ancient Greeks, so perhaps it’s a personal quirk.
beetroot
No liquid sounds here, either, but B makes a reappearance. A down-to-earth word with no time for fripperies. I suspect menus that describe it as «creamy» miss the point. Unlike a red, red rose, beetroot illustrates Paul Claudel’s belief that «to beware adjectives is the beginning of style».
rococo
Closer to a classical sense of phonetic beauty, it’s as smooth and chubby as a cherub. And finally (those Bs and Ls again) …
balalaika
A word as sensuous as a single malt. I never did get to kiss the boy in the corduroys but, if I had, I’m sure it would have been as lovely as «balalaika».
Harriet Powney blogs at http://lasoeurlumiere.wordpress.com/
Have you heard language experts say that English has more words than other languages? The claim is made but it’s practically impossible to verify.
Steven Frank, the author of The Pen Commandments claims that English has 500,000 words with German having about 135,000 and French having fewer than 100,000.
But wait…
A blog post for The Economist agrees that English is rich in vocabulary, but comparisons with other languages can’t be made for several reasons.
The simplest problem in comparing the size of different languages is inflection.
Do we count “run”, “runs” and “ran” as three separate words? Another problem is multiple meanings. Do we count “run” the verb and “run” the noun as one word or two? What about “run” as in the long run of a play on Broadway? According to a recent NPR article, “run” has at least 645 different meanings!
When counting a language’s words do we count compounds? Is “every day” one word or two? Are the names of new chemical compounds words? Answering the question, “What is the richest language?” becomes more and more complicated.
Estoy, Estás, Está—One Word or Three?
Some languages inflect much more than English. The Spanish verb “estar” has dozens of forms—estoy, estás, está, “I am,” “you are,” “he is” and so on.
Does that make Spanish richer in word count?
Some languages inflect much less (Chinese is famously ending-free). So, whether we count inflected forms will have a huge influence on final counts.
Moreover, many languages habitually build long words from short ones.
German is obvious; it is a trifle to coin a new compound word for a new situation. For example, is the German Unabhängigkeitserklärung—declaration of independence—one word?
Given the possibilities for compounds, German would quickly outstrip English, with the constant addition of new legitimate German “words”, which Germans would accept without blinking.
A Sentence that Translates as One Word
The Turkish language is similar in this way.
Turkish not only crams words together but does so in ways that make whole, meaningful sentences.
“Were you one of those people whom we could not make into a Czechoslovak?” translates as one word in Turkish.
You write it without spaces, pronounce it in one breath in speaking, it can’t be interrupted with digressions, and so forth.
Counting the Words in the Dictionary
Another way of measuring the vocabulary in a language and comparing counts is by counting the number of words listed in a standard authoritative dictionary in that language.
From a list on Wikipedia, here’s one such comparison. This is a list of dictionaries considered authoritative or complete by approximate number of total words or headwords, included.
These figures do not include entries with senses for different word classes (such as noun and adjective) and homographs.
Wikipedia says it’s possible to count the number of entries in a dictionary, but it’s not possible to count the number of words in a language:
| Language | Words in the Dictionary |
| Korean | 1,100,373 |
| Japanese | 500,000 |
| Italian | 260,000 |
| English | 171,476 |
| Russian | 150,000 |
| Spanish | 93,000 |
| Chinese | 85,568 |
Which language has the most words? Maybe it’s English.
The Oxford Dictionary says it’s quite probable that English has more words than most comparable world languages. The reason is historical.
English was originally a Germanic language, related to Dutch and German. English shares much of its grammar and basic vocabulary with those languages.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066 English was hugely influenced by Norman French, which became the language of the ruling class for a considerable period, and by Latin, which was the language of scholarship and of the Church.
Very large numbers of French and Latin words entered the language. This melding of languages means English has a much larger vocabulary than either the Germanic languages or the members of the Romance language family according to Oxford.
English builds its vocabulary through a willingness to accept foreign words. And because English became an international language, it has absorbed vocabulary from a large number of other sources.
So, which language is richest in words?
Let us ask a different, and we think more important question:
Does it really matter?
Whatever languages you translate or interpret in—Chinese, Japanese, Russian, sign language, or others—you are bound to have a rich body of words to work with.
But if you want to dig deeper into the subject, check out Part 2 on the Arabic language.
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Sources:
Economist
Oxford Dictionaries
Wikipedia