Top 100 Most Frequent Words
for Each Language

Learn the core words that unlock real language understanding

If you're looking for the top 100 most frequent words for a language, you're starting in the right place. Large-scale linguistic research shows that the most common words carry a disproportionate amount of meaning. Learning just the top 100 words already gives learners around 45–50% understanding of everyday language. Reaching the top 500 words increases comprehension to about 65%, and 1000 words often exceeds 70% real-world understanding.

These are not random vocabulary lists. The top 100 most frequent words form the structural and grammatical core of a language and appear constantly in conversations, texts, films, and media. Mastering them first is the fastest and most efficient way to begin understanding how a language is actually used.

Below you'll find the top 100 most frequent words for each language, ordered by real usage frequency.

→ Top 100 Most Frequent Words by Language
→ What to Do Next

Top 100 Most Frequent Words by Language

Choose a language below:

→ English → Spanish → Portuguese → French → German → Chinese → Russian → Turkish → Italian → Japanese → Korean → Polish → Dutch → Ukrainian → Swedish → Norwegian → Lithuanian

What to Do Next

Tip:

After the top 100, the biggest gains in understanding come from expanding to the top 300–500 words.

If you want the data and methodology behind these thresholds, see our research page:
→ How Many Words Do You Really Need to Understand a Language?