The 20/80 Rule. PARTE I & PARTE II
Imagine that with only 20% of vocabulary you could be able to handle 80% of normal conversations. Imagine that instead of trying to memorize 1000 words; 200 would be enough. Imagine that instead of learning and conjugating 100 verbs; 20 would be sufficient.
Well, that’s what the experts call the 20/80 Rule.
Today, I am going to present a longer list of some of the most common words in Spanish.
This list has been generated from subtitles of movies and television series with a total of about 27.4 million words. So, take it seriously 😉
| Rank | Word | Translation |
| 1. | que | that, which |
| 2. | de | from, of |
| 3. | no | no |
| 4. | a | to |
| 5. | la | the |
| 6. | el | the |
| 7. | es | you are #1, s/he-it #1 |
| 8. | y | and |
| 9. | en | in, at, on |
| 10. | lo | it |
| 11. | un | a |
| 12. | por | for #1 |
| 13. | ¿qué? | what? |
| 14. | me | me, myself |
| 15. | una | a |
| 16. | te | you, yourself |
| 17. | los | the |
| 18. | se | yourself, herself, himself, itself |
| 19. | con | with |
| 20. | para | for #2 |
| 21. | mi | my |
| 22. | está | you are #2, s/he-it is #2 |
| 23. | si | if |
| 24. | bien | fine, well |
| 25. | pero | but |
| 26. | yo | I |
| 27. | eso | that |
| 28. | las | the |
| 29. | sí | yes |
| 30. | su | your, her, his, its |
| 31. | tu | your |
| 32. | aquí | here |
| 33. | del | from the, of the |
| 34. | al | to the |
| 35. | como | as, like |
| 36. | le | you, her, him, it |
| 37. | más | more |
| 38. | esto | this |
| 39. | ya | already, now |
| 40. | todo | all, everything |
| 41. | esta | this |
| 42. | vamos | we go, come on |
| 43. | muy | very |
| 44. | hay | there is, there are |
| 45. | ahora | now |
| 46. | algo | something |
| 47. | estoy | I am #2 |
| 48. | tengo | I have #1 |
| 49. | nos | us |
| 50. | tú | you |
| 51. | nada | nothing |
| 52. | cuando | when |
| 53. | ha | you have #2, s/he-it has #2 |
| 54. | este | this |
| 55. | sé | I know |
| 56. | estás | you are#2 |
| 57. | así | like this |
| 58. | puedo | I can |
| 59. | ¿cómo? | how? |
| 60. | quiero | I want |
| 61. | sólo | just, only |
| 62. | soy | I am |
| 63. | tiene | you have #1, s/he-it has #1 |
| 64. | gracias | thanks |
| 65. | o | or |
| 66. | él | He |
| 67. | bueno | good |
| 68. | fue | you, s/he-it were #1 & went |
| 69. | ser | to be #1 |
| 70. | hacer | to make, to do |
| 71. | son | y’all are #1, they are #1 |
| 72. | todos | all, everything, everybody |
| 73. | era | I, s/he-it used to be #1 |
| 74. | eres | you are #1 |
| 75. | vez | Time |
| 76. | tienes | you have #1 |
| 77. | creo | I believe, I think |
| 78. | ella | She |
| 79. | he | I have #2 |
| 80. | ese | That |
| 81. | voy | I go, I am going, I’m gonna |
| 82. | puede | you can, s/he-it can |
| 83. | sabes | you know #1 |
| 84. | hola | hello, hi |
| 85. | sus | your, his, her, its |
| 86. | porque | because |
| 87. | Dios | God |
| 88. | ¿quién? | who? |
| 89. | nunca | never |
| 90. | ¿dónde? | where? |
| 91. | quieres | you want |
| 92. | casa | house |
| 93. | favor | favor |
| 94. | esa | that |
| 95. | dos | two |
| 96. | tan | so |
| 97. | señor | sir, mister |
| 98. | tiempo | time, weather |
| 99. | verdad | true, truth |
| 100. | estaba | I was, you were, s/he-it was #2 |
¡I will see you until July! Take advantage of this two months and learn these 100 words…