The largest English dictionary (The Oxford English Dictionary) contains more than 600.000 words. The average college graduate (native speaker) knows around 22.000 words. However, by focusing on the most important words, you can speed up your learning.

The 2818 Most Common English Words

According to research by Browne, Culligan and Phillips, you only need to know 2818 words to understand over 92% of all everyday English. These are the most common words of English, and together they make up almost everything you read or hear.

If you practice these words, you know that the words you learn are also words you will need to know.

Practice in Quizlet 

The hardest 70 words (pdf or Quizlet)

Practicing the hardest common words is a good strategy for most high school students, since you probably know most of the the words in the complete list.

Game: What’s the word

Rules for What’s the word

Printable words:

• What’s the word NGSL 1-250
• What’s the word NGSL 251-500
• What’s the word NGSL 501-750
• What’s the word NGSL 751-1000
• What’s the word NGSL 1001-1250
• What’s the word NGSL 1251-1500
• What’s the word NGSL 1501-1750
• What’s the word NGSL 1751-2000
• What’s the word NGSL 2001-2250
• What’s the word NGSL 2251-2500
• What’s the word NGSL 2501-2818