Word Frequency
Tim Ferriss recommends efficiency in learning a new language. He suggests that you be skeptical in the traditional language education plan. One of his methods for learning a new language is to focus on the most common words which you will encounter.
I started to search for lists of the most common words in some languages, but I could not find many. I decided to find out for myself. I downloaded almost two thousand news articles on Google News (all English) over a period of a couple of weeks. Of course, I can get a better view of word frequency if I take a larger sample over a longer, more varied period of time from sources other than online newspapers. Nevertheless, I think this sample is good enough to get the broad-stroke view of the written language. Just ignore only recently common words like “iraqi.” Also note that this is going to be biased by the lexicon of newspapers today. Speech and even written fiction have different lexicons which will yield different word distributions.
Here is the list of a hundred or so most common English words with at least 4 letters in order along with the number of times I counted them among the hundreds of articles. I put this hack together very quickly, so there are some minor editing mistakes which aren’t a big enough problem to go back and correct.
English:
about: 4975
hours: 3860
business: 3531
health: 3480
after: 3386
their: 3070
people: 3009
world: 2754
august: 2722
would: 2693
sports: 2603
search: 2599
google: 2548
other: 2407
which: 2191
times: 2042
first: 2035
report: 2009
contact: 1762
video: 1728
states: 1696
state: 1682
privacy: 1675
online: 1642
president: 1622
national: 1608
article: 1604
entertainment: 1602
insurance: 1585
could: 1540
services: 1535
e-mail: 1525
service: 1522
united: 1519
there: 1511
local: 1459
washington: 1450
terms: 1443
policy: 1427
print: 1421
company: 1407
»: 1398
years: 1359
press: 1347
estate: 1343
travel: 1338
government: 1334
mortgage: 1329
copyright: 1321
before: 1299
technology: 1275
related: 1269
today: 1266
email: 1262
rights: 1252
agoby: 1247
stories: 1240
politics: 1226
media: 1209
million: 1199
comments: 1194
south: 1172
wednesday: 1164
story: 1164
against: 1147
international: 1146
money: 1144
comment: 1131
three: 1126
military: 1114
house: 1100
canada: 1092
reuters: 1076
should: 1073
reports: 1068
while: 1057
still: 1053
subscribe: 1041
blogs: 1037
those: 1034
center: 1032
tuesday: 1030
political: 1027
loans: 1022
because: 1019
information: 1018
since: 1014
during: 1004
police: 999
american: 997
being: 983
percent: 976
group: 973
mobile: 967
special: 962
children: 961
version: 957
popular: 957
weather: 956
former: 952
security: 945
iraqi: 938
general: 937
music: 935
articles: 935
where: 929
officials: 925
according: 917
white: 911
through: 891
opinion: 888
content: 882
newsletters: 876
federal: 869
public: 865
posted: 863
found: 847
court: 846
killed: 845
daily: 844
games: 843
think: 841
going: 833
friday: 828
latest: 827
craig: 826
between: 826
education: 825
classifieds: 817
place: 809
another: 801
reserved: 794
under: 788
death: 771
second: 767
science: 766
guide: 752
support: 751
attorney: 751
statement: 750
space: 749
nation: 748
events: 742
finance: 738
troops: 732
share: 726
market: 722
without: 720
network: 719
markets: 708
chief: 707
photos: 702
companies: 702
thursday: 701
right: 700
america: 699
advertise: 695
global: 687
party: 683
credit: 680
edition: 678
marketing: 675
least: 674
these: 673
advertising: 671
sales: 669
don’t: 668
including: 665
country: 665
features: 664
michael: 663
headlines: 661
financial: 660
number: 655
released: 654
associated: 654
county: 652
india: 651
I also did this for the two other languages I know. The Spanish is taken from Spain and Peru’s Google News sites.
Spanish:
noticias: 7620
google: 4092
madrid: 3909
agosto: 3785
sobre: 3622
gobierno: 3608
entre: 3399
deportes: 3380
internacional: 3280
presidente: 3077
desde: 2755
portada: 2651
todos: 2631
servicios: 2527
nacional: 2499
contra: 2483
salud: 2418
tiempo: 2227
millones: 2104
publicidad: 2103
foros: 2103
otros: 2089
ayuda: 2082
hasta: 2057
derechos: 1991
espana: 1984
mundo: 1923
diario: 1888
mas: 1873
nueva: 1871
resultados: 1852
cultura: 1846
españa: 1837
partido: 1835
sociedad: 1819
parte: 1804
personas: 1795
estado: 1792
durante: 1729
todas: 1728
tiene: 1725
nuevo: 1721
prensa: 1714
enviar: 1689
barcelona: 1669
cuando: 1654
primera: 1594
segun: 1571
cerrar: 1567
grupo: 1566
digital: 1566
ministro: 1563
ciudad: 1469
pasado: 1463
primer: 1428
radio: 1414
especiales: 1407
sevilla: 1406
hoteles: 1404
horas: 1404
perú: 1391
internet: 1388
donde: 1384
menos: 1365
tambien: 1362
reservados: 1354
terremoto: 1352
centro: 1326
porque: 1316
puede: 1315
total: 1305
fecha: 1301
general: 1295
semana: 1292
economia: 1258
fotos: 1255
otras: 1244
cuatro: 1243
noticia: 1236
pregunta: 1217
quien: 1213
puerta: 1199
julio: 1193
politica: 1191
navegador: 1188
inicio: 1185
gente: 1182
texto: 1176
estados: 1175
javascript: 1173
antonio: 1173
imprimir: 1170
acerca: 1170
soporta: 1168
medio: 1160
momento: 1146
copyright: 1146
forma: 1142
votadas: 1139
acuerdo: 1132
equipo: 1125
martes: 1121
enviadas: 1117
aunque: 1097
hemeroteca: 1094
datos: 1090
actualidad: 1086
seguridad: 1079
unidos: 1076
leídas: 1066
antes: 1063
titulares: 1059
terra: 1057
francia: 1054
ahora: 1051
mientras: 1041
buscar: 1031
zapatero: 1023
economía: 1003
director: 1000
ciento: 978
mundial: 976
europa: 974
aviso: 974
mayor: 964
ordenar: 956
mejor: 956
muertos: 954
legal: 952
motor: 949
viernes: 935
popular: 931
fueron: 931
verano: 929
incendios: 927
vivienda: 925
principal: 922
empleo: 921
juegos: 915
euros: 906
despues: 906
archivo: 906
tecnologia: 905
futbol: 894
comunidad: 888
cualquier: 859
videos: 858
años: 849
ministerio: 848
politica: 845
clasificados: 840
blogs: 839
privacidad: 829
medios: 829
trabajo: 826
grupos: 825
jornada: 820
comentarios: 817
incendio: 816
economia: 815
mujer: 814
(reuters): 814
civil: 803
bolsa: 800
cinco: 799
servicio: 797
jueves: 794
pisco: 792
sitio: 787
registro: 784
alertas: 776
secciones: 775
perú: 771
expresa: 771
opinion: 770
hecho: 767
informe: 766
punto: 762
impresa: 762
final: 761
atentado: 761
horasel: 758
domingo: 749
frente: 747
hombre: 733
correo: 731
muerte: 729
meses: 726
latina: 722
mismo: 720
habia: 719
crisis: 714
segundo: 713
relacionados: 709
ademis: 709
hacer: 706
país: 705
tanto: 703
opinion: 703
tienda: 700
edicion: 699
búsqueda: 699
estos: 698
contacto: 694
barca: 693
empresas: 688
haber: 687
cursos: 687
segunda: 685
septiembre: 676
lugar: 673
futbol: 673
artículos: 673
interior: 672
enlaces: 672
mediapro: 670
tickets: 669
carlos: 667
ediciones: 664
sigue: 663
puntos: 662
europea: 657
queda: 656
French:
france: 4608
août: 3328
monde: 2825
sarkozy: 2463
cette: 2341
google: 2179
comme: 2145
votre: 1911
politique: 1909
c’est: 1887
commentaire: 1714
premier: 1679
depuis: 1652
paris: 1622
ministre: 1574
aout: 1555
aussi: 1535
figaro: 1511
contre: 1487
faire: 1476
avait: 1415
groupe: 1359
entre: 1349
avoir: 1332
selon: 1313
d’une: 1284
articles: 1281
propos: 1232
culture: 1229
trois: 1191
nicolas: 1155
sports: 1142
été: 1078
encore: 1077
nouveau: 1074
toutes: 1065
qu’il: 1055
mercredi: 1054
recherche: 1039
gouvernement: 1008
economie: 993
sport: 988
samedi: 987
mardi: 987
international: 987
toute: 967
blogs: 957
ligue: 942
presse: 940
moins: 930
droits: 930
archives: 927
services: 923
nouvelle: 921
football: 921
notre: 916
ecrit: 914
alors: 909
autres: 903
avant: 888
millions: 883
jours: 878
jeudi: 872
dimanche: 843
suite: 834
dernier: 826
toujours: 823
musique: 822
reagir: 818
article: 813
ligne: 812
passe: 811
apres: 805
immobilier: 800
après: 786
vendredi: 781
emploi: 774
journal: 770
internet: 770
accueil: 770
parti: 767
savoir: 764
l’article: 763
leurs: 734
temps: 718
infos: 715
quand: 711
gauche: 709
bourse: 707
liens: 705
conditions: 702
personnes: 697
reuters: 696
president: 696
images: 663
n’est: 658
resultats: 656
retour: 641
dossiers: 641
semaine: 628
crise: 627
président: 626
programmes: 624
service: 623
centre: 612
grand: 609
royal: 601
forums: 596
compte: 592
ainsi: 592
notamment: 591
droit: 591
quelques: 589
justice: 589
actualite: 588
societe: 586
place: 586
reste: 585
lundi: 578
sites: 577
europe: 577
s’est: 575
commentaires: 574
signaler: 567
point: 567
envoyer: 563
voyages: 559
nouvelles: 549
coupe: 548
francais: 545
vacances: 537
forum: 536
annonces: 536
plusieurs: 534
actualités: 531
résultats: 528
septembre: 523
match: 523
cours: 522
saison: 519
euros: 519
livres: 518
incendies: 516
prendre: 513
devant: 513
demande: 510
minutes: 509
pouvoir: 508
derniers: 502
contacts: 499
classement: 499
rugby: 493
français: 492
barre: 492
afrique: 490
copyright: 487
devrait: 484
être: 476
high-tech: 475
loisirs: 474
actualite: 472
nokia: 471
pourrait: 467
produits: 466
juillet: 466
trouve: 465
newsletters: 464
photo: 460
publicite: 458
photos: 457
entreprises: 455
question: 454
raymond: 453
santé: 451
autre: 449
moment: 445
contact: 445
people: 444
même: 444
matin: 442
magazine: 440
direct: 435
aurait: 434
partenaires: 430
otages: 428
hollande: 428
turquie: 427
dossier: 426
fusion: 422
index: 421
a-t-il: 421
seront: 417
rencontres: 417