I think many were waiting for this super selection to appear on the site. And so I thought about creating this huge creation. Such collections must exist, despite their primitive vocabulary. Agree, not everyone learns English at school, and starting to learn a language from scratch is not an easy task. This selection of words for Lingvo Tutor was created for those who do not know vocabulary well, or for those who want to test their knowledge. The title speaks for itself: “ The 2000 Most Frequently Used Words in the English Language", and all this you can get in the document word. I would like to immediately answer a few questions that may arise:
1. Why do we need 2000 words if there are 1000 most used ones? English words?
Firstly, this is not 2000 (sorry for such a game of numbers), and secondly, there is no thematic classification here. All words are collected in one place, and one dictionary for our program contains about 500 words. Since many words are repeated, I decided to remove them, so some collections may not have 500 words. For example, some dictionaries contain mostly 300-400 words. In fact, the dictionaries for Lingvo Tutor will not have all 2000 words (since I did not want similar words to be repeated), but you will first learn those that are))). If you still insist on 2000, you can download all the words in the document and add them yourself, although I doubt it.
2. Why are the dictionaries divided into 4, and not in one file?
The question is clear, and the answer, I think, will also be logical. Can you imagine a dictionary with 2000 English words? This will be a megabyte like large encyclopedia. It will be almost impossible to learn such a card, and it will be inconvenient to transfer it to your phone, PDA, etc. 500 words in one dictionary is already a lot, but you can live with it. The main task has already been completed - the dictionaries are ready, and you can do whatever you want with them. You can make one file with all the words.
3. Why is this even needed?
The answer to this question may take me several sheets of paper))). I will try to explain, and I hope you will agree with me. The fact is that when learning a language, the question very often arises about lexical minimum. Most frequently asked question while learning a foreign language - how many words do you need to know to at least feel comfortable in another country?
Comfortable does not mean that the question howtogettothecitycenter, the answer will follow mynameisVova. You need to know and understand the most basic concepts, and then your stay in a foreign environment will be more favorable. Why do I focus on vocabulary on my site?(oops, another unplanned question) - because with the help of your own knowledge of vocabulary you will be able to understand what is being said and will try to say at least something. Of course, there will also be supporters of the theory that, supposedly, without a grammar of language neither here nor there, but it seems to me that this is not entirely correct.
For example, a guy wants to find a store, meets the first passerby and says “ shop”, a native resident of any English-speaking country will show you the right direction. Everything is simple and elementary, but when you start bend the bar and use grammatical structures that, in principle, cannot exist, then you may not be understood correctly. I write all this from my own experience (although I have not been to England), but I managed to visit a country where they speak a different language. I think my life would be much easier if I knew some essential words, and going to a restaurant wouldn't be a chore.
Lexical minimum- these are the words without which it is impossible to move forward in learning the language, and without which you will not know what to do in another English-speaking country. If you still remember at least a little school grammar English language, then after learning these words you can freely go on vacation to other countries (where they understand English, of course))) and not worry about your future.
Regarding the last sentence, I probably exaggerated a little, but still, if you know 2000 most frequently used words in the English language, it will be much easier for you …
Well, now download the 2000 most frequently used English words:
Selection in WORD format with transcription
Collections in format for Lingvo Tutor 12
Dictionary 2000-A-E
Dictionary 2000-F-L
Dictionary 2000-M-P
Dictionary 2000-Q-Z
Gratitude:
- Raznochinets - it was he who first decided to help me with this selection, and then I got to work
- To the person who came up with the script (unsubscribe, otherwise I can’t find you).
- To the person who made the selection in the document.
The most popular English words: first thousand words
Why do I need these words?
If you decide learn english words, but for one reason or another you cannot create a dictionary from them yourself, then in this case we have prepared a list of the most common words with translation into English.
On what basis were these obtained? frequently used words?
The list of popular words for learning foreign languages was formed as a result of comparing various dictionaries, phrase books, lists of words compiled by the users themselves, and analysis of books. In this case, the frequency of use of words for different languages and the degree of need to know the translation of these words from Russian into foreign languages.
What does "a thousand words" mean?
We have compiled more than 3000 of the most common english words and divided them according to the frequency of use and requests into the first thousand, second and third.
You can add 1000 popular English words to your personal dictionary: the first thousand contain the most requested and commonly used words; they are usually of an everyday nature and the easiest to learn.
And in the second and third thousand there are, basically, more specific words necessary for understanding various texts and communicating in different areas.
Where did the numbers come from: 1000 words, 3000?
We believe that by studying foreign language can't help but learn words. They themselves will not be remembered at the initial stage, no matter what immersion technique you use.
To be able to expand your vocabulary by reading books, watching films and talking with native speakers, you need to at least know some initial number of words. I wonder how much?
N.A. Bonk (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonk,_Natalya_Alexandrovna) included 1250 words and expressions in her classic textbook. This is for the very entry level. Bonk is a classic of the genre; the entire Soviet Union studied from her textbooks, and she can be considered an authority; she is not some newfangled guru.
We decided to focus on the three thousand words that turned out to be the most popular as a result of our analysis.
And what will happen if I learn all these three thousand English words?
First of all, we do not insist on studying these specific words and in such quantities, but offer them as an option.
If you learn so many words, then it will be quite easy, for example, to read books in the language you are learning and expand your vocabulary from them, as well as speak the language in various situations, at least at the level of a migrant worker from Tajikistan.
And how to learn these words?
Here, whatever one may say, you will have to work at least a little. And our site will, in any way it can, help you brighten up the process of memorizing words.
You can first read and try to remember the entire list of words. Or you can immediately use the testing itself to memorize, because it’s not for nothing that we focus on the fact that on our website you can learn English words online.
Actually, passing a word test is something like working with cards for learning English words: you are prompted to enter the translation of the word, and then after entering your answer you see the correct answer and a picture and sound for this word.
Thus, in the event of an erroneous answer (and in the case of a correct one too), you have the opportunity to once again carefully look at the translation of the word, at the picture illustrating it, and listen to its pronunciation. Well, repetition, as you know, is the mother of learning. And the word will inevitably be remembered.
Although, of course, the practice of memorization is purely individual. Some people have a special penchant for this. Some people use various associations to learn words.
And there is such a technique for memorizing English words. If the word denotes a material object, then use all 5 senses to remember it. Close your eyes. Try to imagine what this object looks like. Smell it. Touch it with your tongue. Touch it in your imagination. And after each presented sensation, say the word you are studying to yourself or out loud. And also just write it.
Frequency lists and frequency dictionaries reflect the fact that in living languages a small proportion of words (7-8%) - the most common words - occur frequently (82-87% of the total number of words in the test text), and the overwhelming number of other words (92 -95% of the total vocabulary of the language) are rare (12-15%), and a huge part of them are generally unfamiliar even to educated native speakers. In everyday and ordinary socio-political texts, this difference is much more significant and can be characterized more strongly: “extremely often” and “extremely rarely.”
It is clear that the assessments are quite arbitrary, test texts for oral and written speech are different, their formation is not free from the author’s subjectivity, etc. However, it is clear that with the same effort, the primary development of more “frequent” words is, generally speaking, more effective for replenishing vocabulary and understanding of the English language than rare or random ones that may simply not be encountered again.
Many discussions, alphabetical and frequency lists, and dictionaries can be found on the Internet. To save your time, links to some of them are given below. They can be downloaded.
Frequency lists and dictionaries of the English language
"Frequency" is the number of occurrences of a word in a test text of a specified length, sometimes expressed as a percentage. Below is one of the many more or less similar versions of the table of words, covering approximately 50% of the vocabulary of ordinary texts. There are 135 of them. In the right column, their total “frequency” is indicated cumulatively in increments of 5%.
| Words | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the | 6,8 | |||
| of | 10 | |||
| and, to | 15 | |||
| a, in | 20 | |||
| is, that, was, it, for | 25 | |||
| on, with, he, be, I, by, as, at | 30 | |||
| you, are, his, had, not, this, have, from, but, which | 35 | |||
| she, they, or, an, her, were, there, we, their, been, has, will, one, all, would | 40 | |||
| can, if, who, more, when, said, do, what, about, its, so, up, into, no, him, some, could, them, only, time, out, my, two, other, then, may, over | 45 | |||
| also, new, like, these, me, after, first, your, did, now, any, people, than, should, very, most, see, where, just, make, between, back, way, many, year, being, our, how, work, us, get, come, think, go, take, tell, use, sir, thing, shall, same, such, much, find, here, each, again, still, old, little, state, present, against, know, under, before, above, place, part, through, across, although, upon, though | 50 | |||
Here are a few lists of the most common words different volumes from different sources that can be downloaded:
As you can see, words in them can be grouped according to different criteria: by frequency, by alphabet or by functional groups, etc.
Different dictionaries of the most common words compiled on the basis of these lists. Sometimes the alphabetical dictionary entry is followed by the number 1, 2, ... It indicates that the word belongs to the first, second, etc. thousand most frequent.
Most interesting and informative frequency lists, ordered precisely by “word frequency” and including individual frequency. Here are a couple of lists of varying lengths from different sources that you can download:
Consider the following graph:
This percentage distribution (on a semi-log scale) of the most common words with cumulative frequency is obtained from the frequency list "7059". It predicts, for example, that the first 135 words cover about half (50%) and 2000 about three quarters (75%) of the arbitrary text.
First, as expected, it's clear that few words are heavily weighted (notice the 50% level, for example, and compare to the 135-word table) - these are the most frequent, important, useful words for your vocabulary.
Secondly, it follows from the graph that almost from the very beginning, in order to increase text recognition by another 5-10%, you need to approximately double the number of frequent, useful words studied. Get ready to work.
Thirdly, the table does not include words with a frequency of less than 10 per 1,000,000 (0.001%). The likelihood of encountering a specific omitted word in a random text is negligible. However, for some it may be the essence and most accurate reflection of the subject of the statement.
IN frequency dictionaries frequency can be indicated by a number behind the dictionary entry. Or after the usual alphabetical dictionary there is a frequency list on the basis of which the dictionary is compiled. However, now that computer versions of dictionaries are available in various forms and in any configuration and order, there is only one problem - the problem of the time required to choose the one most suitable for you.
Lots of dictionaries different types You can find and download for free, in particular, .
Here is a simple frequency dictionary of 2500 words, divided for your convenience into steps of 300, 500, 1000 and the full 2500 words, which you can download for yourself right now:
Three sources, three components of your vocabulary
- Training courses and frequency lists (dictionaries)
- Fiction, socio-political and special literature
- Live social and professional communication and mass media
The training courses are based on the most commonly used vocabulary. But they are limited in volume, and in addition, they contain inevitable “gaps”, omissions in successive lists of frequency words. Upon completion of the course, it is wise to fill in these gaps and expand your vocabulary, moving along the frequency list: sooner or later, what you have learned will definitely come in handy, and this will be effective due to its “frequency”. However, it is reasonable to apply this process until you achieve the practically necessary 3-5 (depending on your requirements) thousand more or less firmly, actively (i.e., with the possibility of not just understanding, but fairly free practical use) memorized words. And there may be much more poorly known, only passively recognized words. Further, the effectiveness decreases: the “weight” of the new word decreases and its “specialization” increases, which means that the likelihood that you really need it decreases.
Literature is an invaluable source of vocabulary. Since even for educational purposes you choose sources that interest you, there is a high probability that their vocabulary will be useful to you. But even within the framework of your interest, strive to study not all unfamiliar words, but only the most frequent, most common words (which appear in the text more than once or twice) in order to significantly speed up reading and increase its understanding. Literature allows you to consolidate the learned forms, expand them and improve their recognition in the text.
It is very difficult to force yourself to consciously control your reading speed. We must soberly realize that there are two approaches, two goals: “plot” reading for the sake of meaningful information and “analytical” reading. Analytical slow reading is aimed at full awareness of all the lexical, grammatical and stylistic features of the text. This is a form of direct learning, mastering and consolidating the composition and forms of speech. However, overuse of such reading is fraught with a certain loss of such valuable interest in the process, as when watching a film for a long time in slow motion. But something else is more dangerous: developing the habit of constantly reading at a low speed to the detriment of the desire to emotionally and figuratively perceive “entertaining” and exciting plot texts or quickly look through special texts in search of valuable material. An old example: a postman, freed from a heavy bag that he had been carrying for many years, can no longer change the established pace of movements. You know about the dangers and avert them; you combine both methods wisely, according to your taste and controlled sensations. He who is forewarned is forearmed!
Live communication is the hope of many. However, the ability to grasp and imprint new things on the fly is high in children - and for them this is effective and paramount, but for adults it is problematic. Of course, there are some frequency forms that immediately “fall on the ear.” Unfortunately, many are content with vulgarisms such as mentioning in vain “Ah, my God!” and sickening “Big deal!”, “Shit!”, “Wow!”. Your problem is what to know and perceive, and what to use in your speech. You go from the basic ability to explain yourself for survival to a level corresponding to your general education and social circle. In communication and professional activities, you master the most important social and special vocabulary for you. The same approach can be applied to mass media with effect. You start with popular television programs and films with English subtitles and move on, but be sure to select and consolidate the most important and interesting forms and vocabulary for you.
Thus, there is no single and sufficient source for effectively learning English vocabulary. Knowing the possibilities and approaches, you try and find the most suitable “cocktail” for you in order to get maximum pleasure and results.
Detailed information about the methods, programs and results of teaching English at Mr. Ball's School is presented on the School's website.
Addresses and telephone numbers for questions about teaching English at Mr. Ball's School and appointments for interviews can be found on the website mrBall.by in the section
When learning English, we often exclaim: “I want to increase my vocabulary!” Is this a familiar phrase? Maybe even a familiar target?
I wonder what the cherished figure is for everyone: 100, 1,000 or 10,000 words? After reading the entertaining arithmetic given in the article, you will be convinced that knowing even 10 words in English is already a good platform for language practice. Don't believe me? Read on.
What are the most commonly used English words? People contributed to the Oxford English Dictionary huge list of all the words used, which were named the Oxford English Corpus. The work was done to find out which words are the most used.
What was discovered may surprise you. Instead of considering each individual word, a focus was placed on searching for “basic words” called lemmas (lemma - abstract, topic, gloss). For example, climbing, climbed and climbs are variations of the word climb. When one of these words was discovered, it was recorded as just another form of use of the word climb.
The study found that the 10 most commonly used English words account for 25% of all the words we use! These are function words such as like the, of, be, to. That is, if you take any text of 100 words, about 25 of them will be from the TOP-10 list.
We continue to be surprised: the 100 most frequently used words in the English language actually make up 50% of all the words we speak every day. 1000 words already account for 75% of our vocabulary. Words like girl, win, decide, huge. And with 7000 words you will cover 90% of all the words that will be useful to you in life.
The rest of the words you use either once in your life, or in case of professional need.
The TOP 10 of all English words are just "command" or "function words" but TOP 10 nouns They help a lot with talking about things that are familiar to us. Meet the magnificent ten nouns that keep you company every day:
1. Time
2.
Person
3.
Year
4.
Way
5.
Day
6.
Thing
7.
Man
8.
World
9.
Life
10.
Hand
The results of the study are encouraging, because learning all the popular English words will require much less work than you think! If you learn 100 commonly used words and various options using them, you will be able to form basic sentences (minus just one or two words). Of course, the hardest part is learning all the meanings in which these words can be used. But this is not from the realm of fantasy, the main thing is to start!
| 1 the 2 be 3 to 4 of 5 and 6a 7 in 8 that 9 have 10 I 11 it 12 for 13 not 14 on 15 with 16 he 17 as 18 you 19 do 20 at 21 this 22 but 23 his 24 by 25 from |
26 they 27 we 28 say 29 her 30 she 31 or 32 an 33 will 34 my 35 one 36 all 37 would 38 there 39 them 40 what 41 so 42 up 43 out 44 if 45 about 46 who 47 get 48 which 49 go 50 me |
51 when 52 make 53 can 54 likes 55 time 56 no 57 just 58 him 59 know 60 take 61 people 62 into 63 years 64 your 65 good 66 some 67 could 68 them 69 see 70 others 71 times 72 then 73 now 74 looks 75 only |
76 come 77 its 78 over 79 think 80 also 81 back 82 after 83 use 84 two 85 how 86 our 87 work 88 first 89 well 90 way 91 even 92 new 93 want 94 because 95 any 96 these 97 give 98 days 99 most 100 us |
P.S.: But that’s not all we wanted to tell you. The compilers of the Oxford corpus have done a lot of work identifying the most commonly used words. But in fact, the hundred most frequently used ones serve to join other words that carry the main semantic load. The Top 100, as you may have noticed, included a lot of prepositions, pronouns, particles, and adverbs. You can’t go anywhere without them, but only with their help you are unlikely to be able to ask the question “How to get to the library?”
Therefore, we share another plate containing 25 most popular nouns, verbs and prepositions.
| Nouns | Verbs | Adjectives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 time 2 person 3 year 4 way 5 days 6 things 7 man 8 world 9 life 10 hands Part 11 12 child 13 eye 14 woman 15 place 16 work 17 weeks 18 cases 19 point 20 government 21 company number 22 23 group 24 problem 25 facts |
1 be 2 have 3 do 4 say 5 get 6 make 7 go 8 know 9 take 10 see 11 come 12 think 13 look 14 want 15 give 16 use 17 find 18 tell 19 ask 20 work 21 seem 22 feel 23 try 24 leave 25 calls |
1 good 2 new 3 first 4 last 5 long 6 great 7 little 8 own 9 others 10 old 11 right 12 big 13 high 14 different 15 small 16 large 17 next 18 early 19 young 20 important 21 few 22 public 23 bad 24 same 25 able |
You can add a little imagination and combine words from different columns, connecting them into sentences. For example, we take the noun “government” from the first column, the verb “work” from the second in the Present Simple and the adjective “great” (which has the same form as the adverb) and we get a fantastic sentence The government works great! And this is not election campaigning at all. To make sure that knowing 75 popular words is a very useful burden on your shoulders that does not burden you, you can try experimenting with other words and get sentences like Woman thinks different or Problem seems small.
This fact is important, do you agree?
Alina Yesenina, especially for the site
