Four-letter words often get a bad rap (we all know those four-letter words). But the truth is, the English language is built on a foundation of innocent, hardworking four-letter words.
In fact, if you analyzed any book, email, or conversation, you'd find that a staggering percentage of the text is made up of just a handful of these short words. They are the glue that holds our sentences together.
We've compiled the 100 most common four-letter words in English, based on frequency in standard written and spoken usage (such as the Oxford English Corpus and Dolch Sight Words).
The "Power Players": Top 10
These are the heavy hitters. You likely use these words hundreds of times a day without even thinking about it.
- THAT
- WITH
- HAVE
- THIS
- WILL
- YOUR
- FROM
- THEY
- KNOW
- WANT
Fun Fact: The word "THAT" is one of the most versatile words in English, functioning as a pronoun, conjunction, adjective, and adverb.
The Action Heroes: Common Verbs
Verbs drive the action in our sentences. These short, punchy four-letter verbs are essential for getting things done.
- COME, TAKE, MAKE, GIVE, LOOK
- SAYS, SAID, LIKE, WENT, BEEN
- FIND, NEED, KEEP, HELD, MADE
- LIVE, WORK, PLAY, READ, SHOW
- MEAN, MOVE, SEEM, STOP, WALK
The Stuff of Life: Common Nouns
From describing time to people, these nouns cover the basics of our existence.
- TIME (Often cited as the most common noun!)
- YEAR, WEEK, DAYS, HOUR (We talk about time a lot!)
- LIFE, BODY, HEAD, FACE, HAND
- EYES, FOOT, GIRL, BOYS, HOME
- ROOM, DOOR, BOOK, WORD, SIDE
- PART, CASE, FACT, AREA, CITY
- LAND, ROAD, TOWN, GAME, TEAM
Describing the World: Adjectives
When we need to describe something quickly, we reach for these four-letter adjectives.
- GOOD, HIGH, LONG, BEST, REAL
- FULL, LATE, HARD, OPEN, TRUE
- EASY, FREE, COLD, WARM, FINE
- BLUE, DARK, DEEP, FAST, POOR
- RICH, WIDE, DEAD, SICK, SAFE
The Connectors: Structure Words
These words define relationships between other words. They are the "syntax" of our speech.
- WHAT, WHEN, THEN, HERE, AWAY
- INTO, OVER, UPON, DOWN, BACK
- ONLY, JUST, EVEN, MUCH, MANY
- MOST, LESS, VERY, ALSO, ONCE
- SUCH, EACH, BOTH, WITH, WHOM
Why are 4-letter words so common?
Linguists call this "Zipf's Law." It states that the most frequently used words in any language tend to be short. As a language evolves, we naturally shorten the words we use most often to save energy and time. Thus, our most critical concepts—self, time, movement, basic objects—are almost always 3, 4, or 5 letters long.
Expand Your Vocabulary
While these 100 words cover the basics, there are thousands more waiting to be discovered. Whether you are playing Scrabble, writing a poem, or just love words, exploring the 4-letter dictionary can be fascinating.
- Need a word starting with a specific letter? Try our Start-With Tool.
- Want to catch up on some cool slang? Check out 101 Cool & Amazing 4-Letter Words.
- Curious about words without vowels? Stay tuned for our upcoming guide on The Vowel-Free Zone.
Ready to find more? Head over to our Word Finder and start searching!