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Fry sight words, 1 to 300

Edward Fry ranked the thousand commonest words in English by how often they appear in print. These are the first three hundred, in the hundreds he grouped them into.

One word per line, or paste a comma-separated list. Numbering and bullets are stripped. A sentence after a pipe is read out with the word.

Your list, the answers and any name you type stay in this browser — nothing is uploaded. The built-in lists are compiled by spelling pattern, not issued by a curriculum authority. Check this before you rely on it. This spelling test maker is provided free and without warranty, and its results are not professional advice.

Fry sight words, 1 to 300 — Words 1–100

Name ____________________ Date ____________

Listen to each word and write it on the line. Put your name at the top first.

Fry sight words, 1 to 300 — Words 1–100

Name ____________________ Date ____________

Look at the word, cover it, write it, then check. Repeat any you get wrong.

  1. thePut the milk in the fridge.
  2. ofA glass of water, please.
  3. andBread and butter for breakfast.
  4. aI ate a pear at lunch.
  5. toWe walked to the shop together.
  6. inThe pencils are in the drawer.
  7. isThe soup is too hot.
  8. youYou can borrow my ruler.
  9. thatThat book is mine.
  10. itOpen the box and look inside it.
  11. heHe runs faster than me.
  12. wasThe film was very long.
  13. forThis card is for my grandmother.
  14. onThe cup is on the shelf.
  15. areThese shoes are too small.
  16. asHe is as tall as his sister.
  17. withCome with me to the office.
  18. hisHis bike has a flat tire.
  19. theyThey are waiting outside.
  20. II am ready to start.
  21. atMeet me at the gate.
  22. beTry to be quiet in the library.
  23. thisThis pencil needs sharpening.
  24. haveI have a new library book.
  25. fromThis letter is from my cousin.
  26. orWould you like milk or juice?
  27. oneOnly one apple is left.
  28. hadWe had pancakes for breakfast.
  29. byThe chair by the window is free.
  30. wordsCircle the words you cannot read.
  31. butI like carrots but not peas.
  32. notThis pen is not working.
  33. whatWhat is the answer to question five?
  34. allWe all sang the same song.
  35. wereThey were late for the bus.
  36. weWe are going swimming.
  37. whenWhen does the show start?
  38. yourIs this your jacket?
  39. canI can tie my own shoes.
  40. saidThe teacher said to line up.
  41. thereYour bag is over there by the door.
  42. useUse a ruler for straight lines.
  43. anShe picked an orange from the bowl.
  44. eachEach child gets one worksheet.
  45. whichWhich door leads to the hall?
  46. sheShe plays the violin.
  47. doPlease do your best work.
  48. howHow do you spell your last name?
  49. theirThe children hung up their coats.
  50. ifBring a coat if it is cold.
  51. willI will call you tomorrow.
  52. upClimb up the ladder slowly.
  53. otherThe other team scored first.
  54. aboutThe film is about a lost dog.
  55. outThe cat wants to go out.
  56. manyHow many chairs do we need?
  57. thenWash your hands, then sit down.
  58. themGive the pencils back to them.
  59. theseThese apples are sour.
  60. soIt was so cold we stayed in.
  61. someTake some paper from the pile.
  62. herHer drawing won the prize.
  63. wouldI would like another turn.
  64. makeWe will make a card for Dad.
  65. likeI like painting best.
  66. himGive the message to him.
  67. intoThe rabbit went into its burrow.
  68. timeWhat time does the bus leave?
  69. hasHe has a loose tooth.
  70. lookLook at the picture on page four.
  71. twoI have two brothers.
  72. moreI need more glue.
  73. writeWrite your name at the top.
  74. goWe go to the park after school.
  75. seeI can see the moon tonight.
  76. numberWrite the number on the line.
  77. noThere is no milk left.
  78. wayShow me the way to the hall.
  79. couldI could hear the rain on the roof.
  80. peopleTwelve people came to the meeting.
  81. myMy coat is hanging by the door.
  82. thanMy bag is heavier than yours.
  83. firstShe was first in the line.
  84. waterFill the bottle with water.
  85. beenI have been to that museum before.
  86. callCall me when you get home.
  87. whoWho left this jacket behind?
  88. oilOlive oil is used for cooking.
  89. itsThe dog wagged its tail hard.
  90. nowWe are leaving now.
  91. findCan you find my missing glove?
  92. longThe line at the door was very long.
  93. downSlide down the hill on the sled.
  94. daySports day is on Friday.
  95. didDid you finish your homework?
  96. getGet your coat from the peg.
  97. comePlease come to the front of the class.
  98. madeWe made cookies on Saturday.
  99. mayYou may leave when you finish.
  100. partThis part of the story is sad.

Spelling certificate

Awarded to

 

Fry sight words, 1 to 300 — Words 1–100

Score ______ out of ______

Date ____________

Every word in Fry sight words, 1 to 300

300 words in 3 groups, grouped by pattern.

Words 1–100

Roughly half of everything a child will ever read, in a hundred words.

  1. the
  2. of
  3. and
  4. a
  5. to
  6. in
  7. is
  8. you
  9. that
  10. it
  11. he
  12. was
  13. for
  14. on
  15. are
  16. as
  17. with
  18. his
  19. they
  20. I
  21. at
  22. be
  23. this
  24. have
  25. from
  26. or
  27. one
  28. had
  29. by
  30. words
  31. but
  32. not
  33. what
  34. all
  35. were
  36. we
  37. when
  38. your
  39. can
  40. said
  41. there
  42. use
  43. an
  44. each
  45. which
  46. she
  47. do
  48. how
  49. their
  50. if
  51. will
  52. up
  53. other
  54. about
  55. out
  56. many
  57. then
  58. them
  59. these
  60. so
  61. some
  62. her
  63. would
  64. make
  65. like
  66. him
  67. into
  68. time
  69. has
  70. look
  71. two
  72. more
  73. write
  74. go
  75. see
  76. number
  77. no
  78. way
  79. could
  80. people
  81. my
  82. than
  83. first
  84. water
  85. been
  86. call
  87. who
  88. oil
  89. its
  90. now
  91. find
  92. long
  93. down
  94. day
  95. did
  96. get
  97. come
  98. made
  99. may
  100. part

Words 101–200

The connectives that let a sentence turn a corner: through, because, another.

  1. over
  2. new
  3. sound
  4. take
  5. only
  6. little
  7. work
  8. know
  9. place
  10. year
  11. live
  12. me
  13. back
  14. give
  15. most
  16. very
  17. after
  18. thing
  19. our
  20. just
  21. name
  22. good
  23. sentence
  24. man
  25. think
  26. say
  27. great
  28. where
  29. help
  30. through
  31. much
  32. before
  33. line
  34. right
  35. too
  36. mean
  37. old
  38. any
  39. same
  40. tell
  41. boy
  42. follow
  43. came
  44. want
  45. show
  46. also
  47. around
  48. form
  49. three
  50. small
  51. set
  52. put
  53. end
  54. does
  55. another
  56. well
  57. large
  58. must
  59. big
  60. even
  61. such
  62. because
  63. turn
  64. here
  65. why
  66. ask
  67. went
  68. men
  69. read
  70. need
  71. land
  72. different
  73. home
  74. us
  75. move
  76. try
  77. kind
  78. hand
  79. picture
  80. again
  81. change
  82. off
  83. play
  84. spell
  85. air
  86. away
  87. animal
  88. house
  89. point
  90. page
  91. letter
  92. mother
  93. answer
  94. found
  95. study
  96. still
  97. learn
  98. should
  99. America
  100. world

Words 201–300

Where sight words start carrying real content: mountain, important, example.

  1. high
  2. every
  3. near
  4. add
  5. food
  6. between
  7. own
  8. below
  9. country
  10. plant
  11. last
  12. school
  13. father
  14. keep
  15. tree
  16. never
  17. start
  18. city
  19. earth
  20. eyes
  21. light
  22. thought
  23. head
  24. under
  25. story
  26. saw
  27. left
  28. don't
  29. few
  30. while
  31. along
  32. might
  33. close
  34. something
  35. seem
  36. next
  37. hard
  38. open
  39. example
  40. begin
  41. life
  42. always
  43. those
  44. both
  45. paper
  46. together
  47. got
  48. group
  49. often
  50. run
  51. important
  52. until
  53. children
  54. side
  55. feet
  56. car
  57. mile
  58. night
  59. walk
  60. white
  61. sea
  62. began
  63. grow
  64. took
  65. river
  66. four
  67. carry
  68. state
  69. once
  70. book
  71. hear
  72. stop
  73. without
  74. second
  75. later
  76. miss
  77. idea
  78. enough
  79. eat
  80. face
  81. watch
  82. far
  83. Indian
  84. really
  85. almost
  86. let
  87. above
  88. girl
  89. sometimes
  90. mountain
  91. cut
  92. young
  93. talk
  94. soon
  95. list
  96. song
  97. being
  98. leave
  99. family
  100. it's

What the practice modes do

Generated by the same code the buttons run, on the first few words of this list, so what is printed here is what you will get.

Word Letter scramble Missing letters Spelled out loud
theehtth_T, H, E
offo_fO, F
andnad_ndA, N, D
aa_A

Frequency order is the whole idea

Fry’s list is ordered rather than grouped by difficulty. Word one is the because the is the commonest word in written English, and the ranking runs on to a thousand. That ordering is the reason to prefer it: a word learned early pays off more often than a word learned late, and the first hundred alone covers about half the words on a typical page of anything.

The consequence is that the hundreds get less useful as they go rather than harder. Words 201 to 300 are still common, but a child gains less from each of them than from any word in the first hundred, and by the sixth hundred the returns are small enough that ordinary reading does the job better than a list does.

Where Fry and Dolch part company

The two lists were built for different purposes and it shows in what they contain. Fry counted adult and school text, so his list carries content words like mountain, country and example that a beginning-reader count never produced. Dolch pulled the picturable nouns out into their own group; Fry left them wherever the ranking put them.

One consequence is worth knowing before you start. The first 300 Fry words include roughly two-thirds of the Dolch 220, so a child who has finished Dolch is most of the way through Fry’s first three hundred already. The efficient move is to test all 300 once as a diagnostic and then teach only what came back wrong.

These are also the hardest words to dictate

A high-frequency list is a homophone minefield: to, too, two, there, their, they’re, its, it’s, hear, here, right, write, than and then all sit inside the first three hundred. Read out on their own, several of these are literally impossible to spell correctly except by luck, and a test that dictates them bare is testing coin flips.

Every word on this page carries a sentence for that reason, and the test reads it by default. If you switch sentences off to go faster, switch them back on before you reach the homophones, or accept that the score for those particular words means nothing at all.

Common questions

How many Fry words are there altogether?

A thousand, published in ten groups of a hundred. The first 300 are the ones with a real payoff from direct teaching, which is why they are what this page carries.

What grade are the first 300 Fry words for?

Fry placed the first hundred at first grade, the second at second and the third at third, but the boundaries are soft. A frequency ranking says nothing about how hard a word is to spell, and several in the first hundred — would, could, water, people — are harder than most of the third.

Why does the same word appear in both a Fry hundred and a Dolch group?

Because both men were counting the same language. The overlap runs at around two-thirds across the early hundreds. Each list is kept here exactly as published rather than deduplicated, so what you print matches whatever your school documents call it.

Can I test all 300 at once?

You can, and as a one-off diagnostic on screen it is reasonable — about twenty minutes, and it tells you precisely which words need teaching. As a weekly test it is far too long.

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