Special Report:

The 100 Most

Common Words
In
Spoken and Written
English
By Sab Will

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English

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HOW TO USE THIS REPORT

INTRODUCTION
The main observations we can make are:

Spoken and written English are not the same

Some spoken words like erm and mm do not occur in written English
We need different English words for different circumstances
Written English is not enough for effective English speaking
Many common written words are less important when speaking

IDEAS FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS

Here are some ideas for using this list in learning English:

Learn the words by heart

Listen before reading and try to understand everything
Listen and repeat aloud until the accent is perfect
Do a dictation: listen, write everything down and then check
Read aloud to a friend and they write
Create new sentences using the key words
Write a story including some or all of the key words
Print out and cut up the words and use in card games
Spell the words aloud and students have to give the example sentence
Students test each other: A) says word; B) says sentence
Give top ten sentences students put in order
Students give parts of speech for each word
Stop recording at random; students guess what comes next
Students analyse a newspaper article and look for top written words
Students analyse a radio recording and listen for top spoken words
Students write a short diary entry without using the top 10 written words
Students give a presentation without using the top 10 spoken words
Your ideas are welcome!

ABOUT THIS LIST

This list was taken from a search done on the British National Corpus of spoken and written
English. The spoken aspect is often ignored which is a shame because this is exactly what a vast
number of students want to improve in and have great problems with.

HOTCH POTCH ENGLISH

This list is part of the vast range of materials produced for English students and teachers by Sab
Will for his popular Hotch Potch English and Fun English Lessons family of websites, blogs and
Facebook pages.
Sab Will is a published Cambridge University Press author and experienced English teacher and
teacher trainer. You can contact sab at sab@hotchpotchenglish.com.
Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English

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Spoken English

Written English

(listen)

(listen)

the

the

(Determiner)
The cat sat on the mat.

(Determiner)
The dishwasher is broken again.

of

(Pronoun)
I really love you.

(Preposition)
Half of 100 is 50.

you

and

(Pronoun)
You are a very intelligent man.

(Conjunction)
We need more money and resources.

and

(Conjunction)
I want fruit and ice cream.

(Determiner)
This situation is a disaster.

it

in

(Pronoun)
The cheese? Its on the table.

(Preposition)
We will see you in December.

to

(Determiner)
This is a hold-up.

(Infinitive)
Are you going to see Avatar?

is

(Verb)
Johns handsome. (is)
Peters got a dog. (has)

(Verb)
The pound is sinking.

to

to

(Infinitive)
I want you to say sorry.

(Preposition)
Are you coming to Paris with us?

of

was

(Preposition)
Best of luck!

(Verb)
The meeting was not a great success.

that

it

(Determiner)
I want that one!

(Pronoun)
Please send it again.

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English

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11
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Spoken English

Written English

(listen)

(listen)

nt

for

(Negative)
I dont want to fail.

(Preposition)
This is a message for Mr.Johnson.

in

that

(Preposition)
Put it in the fridge.

(Conjunction)
He thinks that the world is ending.

we

with

(Pronoun)
We go on holiday in May.

(Preposition)
All products come with a guarantee.

is

he

(Verb)
What is your name?

(Pronoun)
He ought to be ashamed of himself.

do

be

(Verb)
I do my homework at night.

(Verb)
You dont have to be a customer.

they

on

(Pronoun)
What time are they coming?

(Preposition)
Spread the sauce on the pizza base.

er

(Unclassified)
Er, Im not sure.

(Pronoun)
I was surprised not to hear from you.

was

by

(Verb)
I was too sick to go.

(Preposition)
All packages are sent by DHL.

yeah

(Interjection)
Yeah, I love that group too.

(Genitive)
SFRs after-sales service is fairly good.

have

at

(Verb)
I have long black hair.

(Preposition)
The meeting starts at 9 am sharp.

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English

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21
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Spoken English

Written English

(listen)

(listen)

what

you

(Determiner)
What is your favourite colour?

(Pronoun)
You will be staying at the Ritz.

he

are

(Pronoun)
He wont be here until 7.

(Verb)
Vegetarians are very welcome.

that

had

(Conjunction)
She said that shed bring the
cake.

(Verb)
We had a great conference this year.

to

his

(Preposition)
Im going to the cinema.

(Determiner)
His CV seems to be very interesting.

but

not

(Conjunction)
Its raining but Im still going out.

(Negative)
You may not smoke in the building.

for

this

(Preposition)
Ive been waiting for 10 minutes.

(Determiner)
This campaign should work well.

erm

have

(Unclassified)
Erm, can I get back to you on
that?

There have only been a few returns.

be

but

(Verb)
Be whatever you want to be.

(Conjunction)
The train was fast but uncomfortable.

on

from

(Preposition)
The cat sat on the mat.

(Preposition)
Maria will be coming from Italy.

this

which

(Determiner)
This car is going to be mine.

(Determiner)
Which hotel do you want to stay in?

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English

(Verb)

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31
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Spoken English

Written English

(listen)

(listen)

know

she

(Verb)
I know what you mean.

(Pronoun)
She will be talking about brand image.

well

they

(Adverb/ Exclamation)
Well done!
Oh well.

(Pronoun)
They have a very attractive product.

so

or

(Adverb)
I hope so.
Dont be so silly.

(Conjunction)
We can focus on advertising or PR.

oh

an

(Interjection)
Oh really?!

(Determiner)
Jordi has an interesting suggestion.

got

were

(Verb)
I got really sick yesterday.

(Verb)
There were 12 companies present.

ve

as

(Verb)
Ive never been to Africa.

(Conjunction)
They arrived as we were leaving.

not

we

(Negative)
You can not be serious!

(Pronoun)
We are in general agreement.

are

their

(Verb)
We are from the UK.

(Determiner)
Their new car is very nice indeed.

if

been

(Conjunction)
Ill pay you if you come.

(Verb)
There has been a slight problem.

with

has

(Preposition)
Im with my mother.

(Verb)
The iPhone 4 has two cameras.

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English

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41
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Spoken English

Written English

(listen)

(listen)

no

that

(Interjection)
Oh no! / No way!

(Determiner)
That excuse wont work this time.

re

will

(Verb)
Youre absolutely right.

(Modal Verb)
This will be a great year for us.

she

would

(Pronoun)
She told me she was coming.

(Modal Verb)
A choice would be more interesting.

at

her

(Preposition)
Ill meet you at the cinema.

(Determiner)
Her proposal has been accepted.

there

there

(Adverb)
There you are.

(Adverb)
There are two sides to everything.

think

nt

(Verb)
I think about you every day.

(Negative)
We havent finalised the deal yet.

yes

all

(Interjection)
Yes, I know what you mean.

(Determiner)
All our options are still open.

just

can

(Adverb)
I was just trying to be nice.

(Modal Verb)
I can use Photoshop and Illustrator.

all

if

(Determiner)
All dogs have four legs.

(Conjunction)
Well sign if you give us a discount.

can

who

(Modal Verb)
Can you call me tomorrow?

(Pronoun)
Who is going to take the minutes?

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English

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