Learn about high-frequency words and the high-frequency definition. Discover the most common high-frequency words, the word frequency effect, and the difference between sight words and high-frequency words.
Updated: 11/21/2023
High Frequency Words | Definition, Types & Examples
Table of Contents
- Types of High-Frequency Words & Examples
- The Word Frequency Effect
- Teaching High-Frequency Words
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common high frequency word?
The most common high frequency word is 'the,' which is an article and found more than any other word in written texts.
What words are high frequency words?
High-frequency words are words that appear most commonly in the English language, particularly in reference to print. These words may or may not have phonetic patterns. Examples include 'has', 'it', 'to', and 'the'.
What is the difference between a sight word and a high frequency word?
Sight words and high frequency words overlap and may be taught together. The main difference is that when learning sight words, one must rely on memorization due to the irregular spellings.
Table of Contents
- Types of High-Frequency Words & Examples
- The Word Frequency Effect
- Teaching High-Frequency Words
- Lesson Summary
High-frequency words are the most commonly appearing words found in print. Believe it or not, most adults typically have a base of 30,000-60,000 high-frequency words in their repertoire.
When it comes to teaching literacy, a focus on high-frequency words will help an emerging reader become more fluent and develop stronger reading skills. High-frequency words are an essential part of English literacy development. Benefits of learning high-frequency words include:
- Learning just 13 of the most common high-frequency words will allow a child to read 25% of most text.
- Learning the top 100 most common high-frequency words gives a student access to 50% of most text.
- Acquisition of high-frequency words improves reading fluency, speed, and accuracy.
- High-frequency words support comprehension of text.
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Difference Between High-Frequency Words and Sight Words
There are several high-frequency words that are also sight words; therefore, confusion can arise regarding the differences in their definitions. While high-frequency words are the most commonly used words, sight words are words that cannot be sounded out using phonics and instead must be visually recognized and memorized.
Because both high-frequency and sight words are critical to learning literacy, they may be taught simultaneously in elementary school. As a student progresses, high-frequency words that are beyond the reading level of the child may be integrated into sight word lists. Note that there are many high-frequency words that can be phonetically decoded. This is not the case with sight words. Regardless, students should develop the ability to read both high-frequency and sight words.
Types of High-Frequency Words & Examples
There are several lists that teachers can use for high-frequency word instruction. These include Fry Instant Words and the Dolch list. Kindergarten students should master 50 or more of these words by the end of the year and have at least 15 in their toolbox before beginning phonics instruction. Keep in mind that high-frequency words are not easy to learn due to their irregular phonetic patterns, lack of concrete meanings, and abstract nature. Students must repetitively work on memorizing these words.
Examples of high-frequency words include:
- would
- go
- walk
- buy
- some
Now let's examine the ten most common types of high-frequency words and explore examples of each.
Ten Most Common High-Frequency Words
The ten most common high-frequency words on the Fry's First 100 list, created in 1980, include the following:
- the (most commonly used word)
- of
- and
- a
- to
- in
- is
- you
- that
- it
High-Frequency Words: Articles
Articles are words that come before a noun and mark it as general or specific. Examples of high-frequency articles include:
- the
- a
- an
Note that the word 'the' is both an article and the most common high-frequency word in English.
High-Frequency Words: Prepositions
A preposition in the English language is a word that demonstrates direction (to the park), location (at the school), time (in the morning), and place (beneath the bed).
Examples of high-frequency prepositions include the following:
- in
- at
- on
- of
- to
- between
- beneath
- above
High-Frequency Auxiliary Words
In the English language, auxiliary words are verbs, often referred to as helping verbs, that support the main verb. For example, the words 'would,' 'do,' and 'can' are not frequently employed in their infinitive forms, but they can be quite useful when expressed as helping verbs.
High-frequency auxiliary verbs take the following forms:
- 'to be' expressed using the words 'are,' 'being,' and 'been'
- 'to have' expressed using the words 'has,' 'have,' and 'having'
- 'to do' expressed using the words 'does,' 'did,' and 'done'
High-Frequency Words: Nouns & Proper Nouns
A noun in the English language is a person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun refers to the specific names of people, places, things, or ideas, in which the first letter of the word is capitalized.
High-frequency nouns include:
- mother (in the top 1,000 high-frequency words)
- father
- children
- people
High-frequency proper nouns include:
- United States (in the top 1,000 high-frequency words)
- Christmas
- English
- American
High-Frequency Words: Conjunctions
A conjunction in the English language is a word that connects words, phrases, and clauses.
Examples of high-frequency conjunctions include:
- and
- but
- or
- nor
- yet
- so
High-Frequency Words: Homonyms
Homonyms are words that can have several meanings but are spelled and pronounced the same.
Examples of high-frequency homonyms include:
- general
- spring
- fly
- saw
- watch
- can
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The word frequency effect refers to findings that claim the more frequently a word appears, the more quickly the brain processes it. In other words, the more exposure one has to a word, the easier it is for a person to process it and respond with ease. The opposite may be true for low-frequency words that an individual rarely encounters. Low-frequency words will elicit a slower response time when reading. Ultimately, the word frequency effect affects reading fluency, speed, and accuracy.
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High Frequency Words | Definition, Types & Examples
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