Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Notices

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 11-Sep-2003, 00:58
Anonymous
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Native words

My daughter's homework assignment has a question that reads, "...there are ten little words in our English language that make up about one fifth of every one hundred word paragraph. These words are called native English words. List these ten little words:"

So far, she has: is, the, it, a, you, in

Which ones are we missing?
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 11-Sep-2003, 01:29
lucyarliwu
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Native words

Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelwilliams2
My daughter's homework assignment has a question that reads, "...there are ten little words in our English language that make up about one fifth of every one hundred word paragraph. These words are called native English words. List these ten little words:"

So far, she has: is, the, it, a, you, in

Which ones are we missing?
what about : no, he,or,to,us?
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 11-Sep-2003, 06:38
RonBee's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Country: USA
Posts: 12,660
Current Location: North Carolina
First Language: English
Thanks: 46
Thanked 540 Times in 492 Posts
RonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of light
Default Re: Native words

Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelwilliams2
My daughter's homework assignment has a question that reads, "...there are ten little words in our English language that make up about one fifth of every one hundred word paragraph. These words are called native English words. List these ten little words:"

So far, she has: is, the, it, a, you, in

Which ones are we missing?
Probably the most dependable list is from the Brown Corpus (which contains 1,015,945 words). Here is the top ten: the, of, and, to, a, in, that, is, was, he. The second ten: for, it, with, as, his, on, be, at, by, I. For some word lists, go here: http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/vi...+english+words

:)
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 11-Sep-2003, 07:00
RonBee's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Country: USA
Posts: 12,660
Current Location: North Carolina
First Language: English
Thanks: 46
Thanked 540 Times in 492 Posts
RonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of lightRonBee is a glorious beacon of light
Default Re: Native words

Quote:
Originally Posted by lucyarliwu
Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelwilliams2
My daughter's homework assignment has a question that reads, "...there are ten little words in our English language that make up about one fifth of every one hundred word paragraph. These words are called native English words. List these ten little words:"

So far, she has: is, the, it, a, you, in

Which ones are we missing?
what about : no, he,or,to,us?
Very good! Both he and to are in the top ten. Only us (at #128) is not in the top hundred.

:)
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 11-Sep-2003, 10:11
lucyarliwu
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Native words

Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee
Very good! Both he and to are in the top ten. Only us (at #128) is not in the top hundred.

:)
Thanks Ron for encouragment! :D hehe....
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 27-Sep-2007, 00:22
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Country: United States
Posts: 4
Current Location: Pennsylvania
First Language: English
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Sue Blank is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Native words

Quote:
Originally Posted by lucyarliwu View Post
what about : no, he,or,to,us?
that, and, an, was ... ?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
native, words

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Slang words hopechest General Language Discussions 11 31-Jan-2007 06:36
1000 most important words Joe Ask a Teacher 1 12-Sep-2004 06:23
Stingy with words + giveway xanana Ask a Teacher 1 11-Jan-2004 13:05
Confusing Words or Confused Words Piak General Language Discussions 3 07-Jun-2003 22:10


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 04:55.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0 RC5
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com