Word frequency measures how often a word appears in a large sample of everyday English text. It is expressed as occurrences per million words (per million). A score of 100/M means the word appears about 100 times in every million words of text.

Frequency data is useful for writers choosing precise vocabulary, language learners prioritising which words to learn first, and linguists studying how language is used in practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does words per million mean?

Words per million (per million) is the number of times a word appears in a corpus of one million words of text. A score of 500/M means the word appears 500 times per million — roughly once every 2,000 words.

What is the most common English word?

The word "the" is by far the most common English word, appearing around 56,000 times per million words — roughly once every 18 words in normal text.

How is this useful for language learners?

Studies show that knowing the 1,000 most frequent English words covers about 85% of everyday conversation. Focusing on high-frequency words first is the most efficient way to build vocabulary.

Why do some words have very low frequency?

Specialised, technical, archaic, or very specific words appear rarely in general text. A word like 'zymurgy' (the study of fermentation) is perfectly valid but seldom used outside specialist contexts.

Is this tool free?

Yes, completely free with no account needed.