The 75 most common English adverbs

These are the 75 adverbs among the 500 most common English words, in the order a corpus of everyday writing says you will meet them.

Meanings are given in English on this page. In the app they appear in your own language, translated on your device.

#	Word	Type	Meaning
20	not	Adverbs	not
32	so	Adverbs	so, thus; therefore
40	just	Adverbs	Only, simply, merely
43	up	Adverbs	up, upwards
46	out	Adverbs	out, outside
47	there	Adverbs	there; there is, there are
64	how	Adverbs	how
69	also	Adverbs	also, too
72	now	Adverbs	now
81	only	Adverbs	only, just
89	then	Adverbs	then, at that time; next
92	back	Adverbs	back, backwards
95	well	Adverbs	Accurately, competently, satisfactorily
101	here	Adverbs	here
102	where	Adverbs	where
106	very	Adverbs	very
109	even	Adverbs	In reality
112	really	Adverbs	In a way or manner that is real, not unreal
116	too	Adverbs	Likewise
122	why	Adverbs	why
124	still	Adverbs	Without motion
125	great	Adverbs	Very well (in a very satisfactory manner)
126	never	Adverbs	At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance
131	high	Adverbs	In or to an elevated position
143	home	Adverbs	To one's place of residence or one's customary or
145	best	Adverbs	To the most advantage
159	big	Adverbs	In a loud manner
161	part	Adverbs	Partly; partially; fractionally
169	always	Adverbs	At all times; throughout all time; since the beginning
192	again	Adverbs	Another time: indicating a repeat of an action
193	please	Adverbs	Used to make a polite request
197	second	Adverbs	After the first; at the second rank
205	sure	Adverbs	Without doubt, certainly
207	ever	Adverbs	Continuously, constantly
215	free	Adverbs	Without needing to pay
221	live	Adverbs	Of an event, as it happens; in real time; direct
227	left	Adverbs	On the left side
229	away	Adverbs	From a place, hence
236	post	Adverbs	With the post, on post-horses
238	days	Adverbs	During the day
245	real	Adverbs	Really; very
247	small	Adverbs	In a small fashion
249	hard	Adverbs	With much force or effort
250	large	Adverbs	Before the wind
251	different	Adverbs	Differently
258	top	Adverbs	Best, highest
271	today	Adverbs	On the current day or date
281	already	Adverbs	Prior to some specified time, either past, present
291	bad	Adverbs	Badly; poorly
308	far	Adverbs	To, from or over a great distance in space
312	face	Adverbs	Intensely
324	actually	Adverbs	In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively
325	later	Adverbs	Afterward in time
334	die	Adverbs	per day
352	together	Adverbs	At the same time, in the same place
353	whole	Adverbs	In entirety; entirely; wholly
361	room	Adverbs	Off from the wind
363	maybe	Adverbs	Perhaps, possibly
364	early	Adverbs	At a time before expected; sooner than usual
366	local	Adverbs	In the local area; within a city, state, country, etc
379	light	Adverbs	Carrying little
402	low	Adverbs	Close to the ground
404	often	Adverbs	Frequently; many times on different occasions
412	close	Adverbs	So as to leave or create little distance or space
413	true	Adverbs	Accurately; in alignment
414	south	Adverbs	Toward the south; southward
419	wrong	Adverbs	In a way that isn't right; incorrectly, wrongly
420	sound	Adverbs	Soundly
425	almost	Adverbs	Very close to, but not quite
429	pretty	Adverbs	Somewhat, fairly, quite
431	nice	Adverbs	Nicely
444	probably	Adverbs	In all likelihood
461	due	Adverbs	Directly; exactly
484	late	Adverbs	After a deadline has passed, past a designated time
485	north	Adverbs	Toward the north; northward; northerly

All 500 A1 words are on this page, free, with no sign-up.

The rest of the list

A2A2 Beginner: 500 more wordscontinue · age · baby · road · decide
B1B1 Intermediate: 750 more wordswanna · launch · interview · tomorrow · lack
B2B2 Upper intermediate: 750 more wordsviolence · yours · solid · frame · grab

A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, in the app, where you can also send any word straight into spaced review and meet it again on the day you are about to forget it.

Where this comes from

The order is measured: it comes from how often each word appears in a large corpus, counted across all the forms of a word rather than each form separately, so a verb is ranked where you really meet it. The band edges are a convention rather than a measurement. Nothing says word 501 is harder than word 500; the levels are cut where established graded reader series cut theirs.

wordfreq 3.1 (frequency order) + en.wiktionary via kaikki.org (part of speech, gender, gloss). Corpus read on 2026-09-16.

Questions

Where does the order come from?

From how often each word appears in a large corpus of everyday writing. Frequency is counted across all the forms of a word and attributed to the dictionary form, so a verb is ranked where a reader really meets it rather than being spread thinly over a dozen endings.

Why are these lists shorter than the ones with 5,000 or 10,000 words?

Because past about 2,500 a frequency rank stops meaning much. Rank 6,000 in a web corpus is not a harder word, it is a word that happens to be common in journalism. Established graded reader series top out near 2,500 headwords for the same reason.

Is every word in the list a real dictionary word?

Yes. Every headword is checked against the language's own Wiktionary entry, which is where the part of speech, the gender and the meaning come from. That check is what removes the proper nouns, single letters and corpus noise that raw frequency lists are full of.

Do I need the app?

Not for this page. The A1 list is free here and free in the app. A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, and the app is also where a word can go from a list into a review queue, which is the part a page cannot do.

Has a native speaker checked these?

Not yet. The frequency order and the part of speech are mechanical, and the meanings come from a dictionary rather than being written by hand, but nothing here has been through native review. If you spot a meaning that is technically right and practically useless, we would like to hear about it.