1 | 6.18% | the | 6.18 |
2 | 4.23% | is, was, be, are, 's (is), were, been, being, 're, 'm, am | 10.41 |
3 | 2.94% | of | 13.35 |
4 | 2.68% | and | 16.03 |
5 | 2.43% | a, an | 18.49 |
6 | 1.80% | in, inside (preposition) | 20.29 |
7 | 1.62% | to (infinitive verb marker) * | 21.29 |
8 | 1.37% | have, has, have, 've, 's (has), had, having, 'd (had) | 23.28 |
9 | 1.27% | he, him, his | 24.55 |
10 | 1.25% | it, its | 25.80 |
11 | 1.17% | I, me, my | 26.27 |
12 | 0.91% | to (preposition) * | 27.88 |
13 | 0.86% | they, them, their | 28.74 |
14 | 0.86% | not, n't, no (interjection) | 29.60 |
15 | 0.83% | for | 30.43 |
16 | 0.83% | you, your | 31.26 |
17 | 0.70% | she, her | 31.96 |
18 | 0.65% | with | 32.61 |
19 | 0.64% | on | 33.25 |
20 | 0.62% | that (conjunction) * | 33.87 |
21 | 0.58% | this, these | 34.45 |
22 | 0.57% | that (demonstrative),* those | 35.02 |
23 | 0.55% | do, did, does, done, doing | 35.57 |
24 | 0.51% | we, us, our | 36.08 |
25 | 0.50% | by | 36.58 |
26 | 0.47% | at | 37.05 |
27 | 0.45% | but (conjunction) | 37.50 |
28 | 0.44% | 's (possessive) | 37.94 |
29 | 0.41% | from | 38.35 |
30 | 0.40% | as (many parts of speech) | 38.75 |
31 | 0.37% | wich | 39.12 |
32 | 0.37% | or | 39.49 |
33 | 0.31% | will, 'll | 39.80 |
34 | 0.28% | said, say, says, saying | 40.08 |
35 | 0.25% | would | 40.33 |
36 | 0.25 | what | 40.58 |
37 | 0.23% | there (existential, in "there is ..." phrases) * | 40.81 |
38 | 0.23% | if | 41.04 |
39 | 0.23% | can - be able to ; may | 41.27 |
40 | 0.22% | all | 41.49 |
41 | 0.22% | who, whose | 41.71 |
42 | 0.21% | so (adverb / conjunction) | 41.92 |
43 | 0.20% | go, went, gone, goes | 42.12 |
44 | 0.20% | more | 42.32 |
45 | 0.19% | other, another | 42.51 |
46 | 0.19% | one (numeral) | 42.70 |
47 | 0.18% | see, saw, seen, seeing | 42.88 |
48 | 0.18% | know, knew, known, knows, knowing - have knowledge of | 43.06 |
49 | 0.18% | up | 43.24 |
50 | 0.17% | some | 43.41 |
The items listed above make up over 43% of the body of English. Note that all but two words are included in Basic English. This is the reason why Basic English is so clear and able to say things in a way common to those who make use of everyday English.
Note : "to", "that" and other words are separated by senses. If combined as one word, they would rank higher.
A useful list of the 1,000 most common words in the English Language can be found HERE.
Finally, Michael P. West provides in his book "A General Service List of English Words" (Longman, London, 1953) a list of 2,284 useful words. The Longman Defining Vocabulary for intermediate students is based on this list, which makes Longman's books useful for advanced Basic English learners.