The 130 most common English nouns

These are the 130 nouns 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
58	time	Nouns	The inevitable progression into the future with the
59	year	Nouns	A period of time akin to the time taken for the Earth
61	people	Nouns	Persons forming or belonging to a particular group
91	way	Nouns	way, method; road
98	thing	Nouns	That which is considered to exist as a separate entity
107	man	Nouns	man
111	state	Nouns	A condition
113	life	Nouns	The state of organisms preceding their death
115	day	Nouns	The time when the Sun is above the horizon and it
123	love	Nouns	A deep caring for the existence of another
129	game	Nouns	A playful activity that may be unstructured
134	world	Nouns	The subjective human experience, regarded collectively
154	school	Nouns	An institution dedicated to teaching and learning
156	end	Nouns	The terminal point of something in space or time
164	woman	Nouns	An adult female human
166	name	Nouns	Any nounal word or phrase which indicates a particular
176	company	Nouns	A team
178	family	Nouns	A group of people who are closely related to one
185	service	Nouns	An act of being of assistance to someone
186	week	Nouns	Any period of seven consecutive days
188	guy	Nouns	An effigy of a man burned on a bonfire on the
189	group	Nouns	A number of things or persons being in some relation to
190	friend	Nouns	A person, typically someone other than a family member
194	child	Nouns	A person who has not yet reached adulthood
199	system	Nouns	A group or set of related things that operate together
203	city	Nouns	A large settlement, bigger than a town
208	case	Nouns	An actual event, situation, or fact
214	thought	Nouns	A representation created in the mind without the use of
217	money	Nouns	A generally accepted means of exchange
218	country	Nouns	The territory of a nation
219	area	Nouns	A measure of the extent of a surface
226	order	Nouns	Arrangement, disposition, or sequence
228	care	Nouns	Close attention; concern; responsibility
230	government	Nouns	The body with the power to make and/or enforce laws to
232	job	Nouns	A task
233	lot	Nouns	A large quantity or number; a great deal
234	business	Nouns	A specific commercial enterprise or establishment
235	night	Nouns	The time when the Sun is below the horizon when the sky
237	hand	Nouns	The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in
240	problem	Nouns	A difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with
241	hour	Nouns	A unit of time of one twenty-fourth of a day
242	month	Nouns	A period into which a year is divided
243	power	Nouns	The ability to do or undergo something
248	god	Nouns	A deity or supreme being
252	having	Nouns	The act of possessing; ownership
255	side	Nouns	A bounding straight edge of a two-dimensional shape
256	person	Nouns	An individual who has been granted personhood
260	cause	Nouns	The source of, or reason for, an event or action
262	question	Nouns	A worded or expressed sentence, phrase
263	member	Nouns	One who belongs to a group
264	result	Nouns	That which results
265	story	Nouns	An account of real or fictional events
278	car	Nouns	A wheeled vehicle that moves independently
284	player	Nouns	One who plays any game or sport
286	making	Nouns	The act of forming, causing, or constituting
290	plan	Nouns	A drawing showing technical details of a building
295	season	Nouns	Each of the divisions of a year based on the prevailing
297	study	Nouns	Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning
298	video	Nouns	Transient visual content or media
301	national	Nouns	A subject of a nation
302	music	Nouns	A series of sounds organized in time
303	war	Nouns	Organized, large-scale
306	minute	Nouns	A unit of time which is one sixtieth of an hour
314	kind	Nouns	A type, race or category
320	fact	Nouns	Something actual as opposed to invented
329	health	Nouns	The state of being free from physical or psychological
330	course	Nouns	A sequence of events
331	kid	Nouns	A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult
333	body	Nouns	The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one
337	general	Nouns	The holder of a senior military title
338	term	Nouns	That which limits the extent of anything
340	idea	Nouns	An abstract archetype of a given thing
342	matter	Nouns	Anything with mass and volume
344	president	Nouns	The head of state of a republic
347	control	Nouns	An influence or authority over something
349	class	Nouns	A group, collection
351	law	Nouns	The body of binding rules and regulations, customs
355	court	Nouns	An enclosed space; a courtyard
357	death	Nouns	The cessation of life and all associated processes
360	student	Nouns	A person who studies or learns about a particular
365	office	Nouns	A ceremonial duty or service, particularly
371	food	Nouns	Any solid substance that can be consumed by living
375	news	Nouns	New information of interest
377	experience	Nouns	The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by
378	university	Nouns	An institution of higher education that provides
380	event	Nouns	An occurrence; something that happens
381	design	Nouns	A specification of an object or process
382	program	Nouns	A set of structured activities; a plan of action
384	community	Nouns	A group sharing common characteristics
387	eye	Nouns	An organ through which animals see
388	information	Nouns	Something that provides a definitive characterization
395	human	Nouns	A highly intelligent ape with fine and short body hair
396	social	Nouns	A festive gathering to foster introductions
399	third	Nouns	The person or thing in the third position
405	type	Nouns	A grouping based on shared characteristics; a class
408	boy	Nouns	A male child
409	vote	Nouns	A formalized choice on legally relevant measures such
411	view	Nouns	The act of seeing or looking at something
416	history	Nouns	The aggregate of past events
417	song	Nouns	A musical composition with lyrics for voice or voices
418	bit	Nouns	A small amount of something
421	air	Nouns	The substance constituting Earth's atmosphere: a
423	john	Nouns	A prostitute's client
424	taking	Nouns	The act by which something is taken
428	building	Nouns	The act or process by which something is built
430	action	Nouns	The effort of performing or doing something
432	rule	Nouns	A regulation, law, guideline
435	market	Nouns	A gathering of people for the purchase and sale of
443	note	Nouns	A mark or token by which a thing may be known
445	heart	Nouns	A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body
446	street	Nouns	A paved part of road, usually in a village or a town
451	star	Nouns	Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky
455	film	Nouns	A thin layer of some substance; a pellicle
457	example	Nouns	Something that is representative of all such things in
463	picture	Nouns	A representation of anything
467	series	Nouns	A number of things that follow on one after the other
474	son	Nouns	One's male offspring
475	site	Nouns	The place where anything is fixed; situation
477	saw	Nouns	Such a tool with a toothed blade
478	development	Nouns	The process of developing; growth, directed change
479	future	Nouns	The time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced
481	data	Nouns	A representation of information in a computer
482	process	Nouns	A series of events leading to a result or product
488	feature	Nouns	A component that draws attention or interest
489	field	Nouns	A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns
490	source	Nouns	The person, place
492	position	Nouns	A place or location
494	moment	Nouns	A particular point of space; a spot
495	police	Nouns	A constituted body of officers representing the civil
498	morning	Nouns	The early part of the day

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.