THE 100 MOST COMMON WORDS

A tip when learning a new language

Tony Buzan, in his book ‘Use Your Perfect Memory: Dramatic New Techniques for Improving Your Memory; Third Edition,’ points out that just 100 words comprise 50% of all words used in conversation in (most) languages. Learning this core 100 words gets you a long way towards being able to speak in that language, albeit at a basic level.

The 100 basic words used in conversation are listed below:

1. A/an	2. After	3. Again	4. All	5. Almost
6. Also	7. Always	8. And	9. Because	10. Before
11. Big	12. But	13. (I) can	14. (I) come	15. Either/or
16. (I) find	17. First	18. For	19. Friend	20. From
21. (I) go	22. Good	23. Good-bye	24. Happy	25. (I) have
26. He	27. Hello	28. Here	29. How	30. I
31. (I) am	32. If	33. In	34. (I) know	35. Last
36. (I) like	37. Little	38. (I) love	39. (I) make	40. Many
41. One	42. More	43. Most	44. Much	45. My
46. New	47. No	48. Not	49. Now	50. Of
51. Often	52. On	53. One	54. Only	55. Or
56. Other	57. Our	58. Out	59. Over	60. People
61. Place	62. Please	63. Same	64. (I) see	65. She
66. So	67. Some	68. Sometimes	69. Still	70. Such
71. (I) tell	72. Thank you	73. That	74. The	75. Their
76. Them	77. Then	78. There is	79. They	80. Thing
81. (I) think	82. This	83. Time	84. To	85. Under
86. Up	87. Us	88. (I) use	89. Very	90. We
91. What	92. When	93. Where	94. Which	95. Who
96. Why	97. With	98. Yes	99. You	100. Your