The Most Spoken Words in American English

If you want to learn the American English accent, start with learning how native English speakers produce the most spoken words in the English language. Before we get into that, I need you to remember the most commonly produced vowel sound, which is the ‘uh’ sound.

Native English speakers reduce most vowels to the ‘uh’ sound. This is formally called the schwa sound. Native English speakers substitute this sound in words as much as possible. Nonnative speakers tend to say each vowel in its true form.

So, back to the 5 most common words in American English. In four out of five words, the vowel is reduced to a schwa (uh sound). In the other word, the true vowel sound is said but it’s usually very short. Below are the top 5 most commonly used words in American English in order!

1. The

This is the most used word in American English! Native English speakers say this word as ‘thuh.’ For example:
I went to thuh store
I want thuh coffee

2. Be

This is the only word in the top five that doesn’t have a schwa, or ‘uh,’ substitution. Native English speakers do say this vowel in its true form but it’s short (produced quickly). For example:

I will be there soon
She will be here at 9:00

 3. To

Native English speakers say this as ‘tuh.’ For example:

I went tuh thuh store
I will send it tuh ya soon

4. Of

Native English speakers say this as ‘uv.’ However, it is even reduced to ‘uh’ often. For example:

I want one uv those or I want one uh those
He’s one uv three boys or He’s one uh three boys

5. And

The fifth most used word in American English is and, which is also reduced to ‘und,’ ‘nd,’ or just ‘n.’ For example:

I have a cat und dog or I have a cat n dog
I want toast und jam or I want toast n jam

Practice using these words and their reductions in sentences this week! Let us know how it goes in the comments below.