TOP 100 Verbs in English Challenge your memory
Hi.
I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Are you ready to talk about 100 verbs?
Let’s do it.
Do you ever forget something?
Of course.
We all have.
For me, I keep a really detailed calendar.
Because if I don’t write it down, I’ll probably
forget it.
So today, we’re going to be talking about
100 verbs that you have probably already learned,
but maybe you forgot some of them.
So today’s lesson is a reminder lesson.
We’re going to review the top 100 verbs in
English.
I found a lot of lists online with top 50
verbs, top 100, top 1,000 verbs in English,
but almost all of these lists were A to Z,
in alphabetical order, and I wanted something
that was in order of importance.
So in my list, the first word is the most
important verb, the most commonly used verb.
And the 100th verb is the 100th most used
verb.
It’s not a completely scientific list, as
I’m sure all of these orders are changing
in daily life, but I hope it will help to
serve as a good reminder.
For each of these verbs, I’m going to be telling
you the verb and then one or two sample sentences
so that you can be reminded about how they’re
used in a sentence.
Let’s get started.
Be.
I am teaching English.
You are being reminded of these verbs.
Have.
He has five dogs.
They haven’t decided where to move yet.
Do I didn’t know that this was the third most
used verb.
Did you?
Say.
What did you say?
Oh, I didn’t say that.
I said that I like the beach.
Go.
Let’s go to New York.
Oh, we already went there last year.
Can.
I can’t believe it’s September.
Can you?
Get.
Getting a new job is stressful, but getting
laid off is worse.
There are a lot of ways to use the word get.
So if you’d like to see the top five expressions
using the word get, you can check out this
video that I made up here.
Would.
Would you like to go skydiving?
If I were you, I wouldn’t do it.
Make.
She always makes mistakes on her homework,
but it doesn’t make her upset.
She doesn’t care.
For the top 17 phrases with make and do, you
can check out this video that I made up here.
Know.
I knew this would be a long lesson, but hopefully
you’ll know these verbs soon.
Will.
Tomorrow I’ll be on a plane to Canada.
I wish.
It’s not true.
Will you be coming too?
Think.
Do you think it’s going to rain?
Oh, I haven’t thought about that yet.
Take.
Little kids often take toys from each other.
It takes time to learn about sharing.
See.
Did you see that article about the political
scandal?
Yeah, I saw it.
Come.
I’m sorry.
I can’t come to your birthday party.
Something came up.
For seven common expressions using the word
come, you can check out this lesson that I
made up here.
Could.
The little boy thought he couldn’t hike to
the top of the mountain, but in fact he could.
Want.
What do you want for dinner?
I thought I wanted fish, but now I’m not so
sure.
Look.
Look at that man.
He’s balancing on a board juggling and he
has a dog on his shoulders.
I saw this guy downtown in my city, and I
had to take a picture.
It’s a pretty good street show, don’t you
think?
Use.
I try to use English a little bit every day.
He isn’t used to the cold weather.
Find.
Have you found your wallet?
She’s trying to find time to study before
the exam.
Give.
He gave me a birthday present.
When you give to others, you also feel pretty
good yourself.
Tell.
The teacher told me that I needed to study
more.
Don’t tell anyone this secret, okay?
Work.
I have to work late tonight.
My cat bit the cord so my headphones don’t
work anymore.
Notice the two ways that we’re using work
here.
One is for your job, I have to work late,
and the other is for function.
My headphones don’t function anymore.
But in daily conversation, it’s much more
natural to say they don’t work anymore.
Unfortunately, this is a true story.
Dan, my husband, got some really nice headphones,
set them on the counter, and in less than
five minutes our cat had bitten a hole straight
through the cord and they didn’t work anymore.
It was really sad.
May.
May I ask you a quick question?
It may rain tomorrow, but I’m not sure.
Should.
I should try to go to bed earlier.
He should probably try to get to the airport
by 7:00 AM.
Call.
Call me when you get home.
Nowadays, it’s more common to text someone
than to call them.
Try.
I’ve tried to talk with her, but she just
won’t listen.
Come on, try the fish.
Maybe you’ll like it.
Ask.
Don’t ask me any more questions.
I’m so tired.
My boss asked me to stay late, so I have to
work more.
Need.
Why do you need to take that huge suitcase
for just one night?
Oh, I don’t need this anymore.
Feel.
When he said he loved me, I felt over the
moon.
At the doctor’s office, she asked him to feel
the lump behind her ear.
Become.
After 10 years in school, he finally became
a surgeon.
I quit my job because it became too stressful.
Leave.
We need to leave the house at 8:00 AM on the
dot.
Dan’s family’s cat just left and never came
back.
It was really sad.
It’s kind of an older cat.
They had a lot of friends coming and going
in their house, and the door was left open
and the cat just walked out.
Goodbye, Sam the cat.
Put.
When you’re done with that bowl, just to put
it in the sink.
When you’re having an argument, it’s good
to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.
Mean.
Oh, I’m so sorry.
I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.
What’s that mean?
Notice the two meanings of the word mean.
The first one is intention.
I didn’t intend to hurt your feeling.
I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.
And the other one is just a definition.
What’s that mean?
What’s that word mean?
It’s a great way to ask someone if you hear
a new word.
Hey.
Hey, what’s that mean?
I don’t know that word.
What’s that mean?
Keep.
Did you keep anything from your childhood?
My boss keeps asking me if I finished my project.
Notice, again, the two ways that we can use
keep.
The first one is retaining something.
Did you hold on to anything from your childhood?
Did you keep anything.
And the other one is to continue.
My boss continues.
He keeps asking me when I’m going to finish
the project.
There’s two ways that we can use keep.
Let.
My parents didn’t let me stay out late.
The teacher let the students know that the
exam was canceled.
Yay!
Begin.
When does the party begin?
I lost my invitation.
Something went wrong, so you need to begin
again.
Seem.
It seems like it’s going to be a sunny day
today.
The answer to number three doesn’t seem right.
Help.
Can you help me?
When you help others, you can’t help helping
yourself.
If you know where that song line is from,
I’ll be very impressed.
Talk.
Can we talk?
With texting available nowadays, it seems
like hardly anyone actually talks on the phone.
If you’d like to know some differences between
speak, say, and talk, you can check out this
video lesson that I made up here.
Turn.
Turn off the lights when you leave the room.
Go straight, then turn left.
Start.
When does the movie start?
Thanks to this lesson, I’m starting to remember
more of these verbs.
Might.
It might rain tomorrow, so let’s go hiking
today.
You might not want to read all of the YouTube
comments.
Sometimes they’re not so nice, except on my
channel.
You guys are always so kind.
Thank you.
Show.
Will you show me how to fix this sentence?
She showed me 500 pictures of her puppy.
Hear.
I heard a loud noise in the middle of the
night.
Did you hear what she said?
Play.
He plays baseball every Thursday.
Whenever I ask my son what he wants to do
today, he always says, “Play, play, play!”
I guess he loves playing.
Run.
Have you ever run a marathon?
She runs an English teaching business.
Oh wait, that’s me.
Notice the two ways that we can use run here.
One is for physical movement, fast walking,
running, and the other is for owning and continuing
a business.
She runs a business.
Move.
We hired movers to help us move our heavy
furniture.
They decided to move to the city.
Like.
Did you like English when you first started
studying?
I definitely don’t like cold weather.
Live.
He lives about 10 minutes outside of town.
The oldest person on record lived to 122 and
a half years old.
That’s incredible.
Believe.
A lot of little kids believe in Santa Claus
when they’re little.
I can’t believe that I believed your story.
It was so ridiculous!
Hold.
Can you hold this please?
The mom held her child’s hand tightly as they
crossed the street.
Bring.
I’ll bring a bottle of wine to the party.
Looking at those pictures brought up a lot
of feelings inside of me.
This is a wonderful phrasal verb, to bring
up some feelings inside of you.
Happen.
How did I wake up here?
I have no idea what happened yesterday.
They happened to see each other at the park.
For some more in-depth ways to use this really
common but slightly complex verb happen and
happened to, check out this lesson that I
made up here completely about the word happen.
Must.
It must be really hard to be a single mom.
You must never do that again.
I want to let you know that in American English
we hardly ever use the word must to mean need,
so that second sentence.
You must never do that again.
This is really uncommon.
You might hear this, but the most common way
to use must is that first sentence.
It’s showing empathy, showing caring.
Oh, it must be really hard.
That must be really annoying.
When someone’s telling you about something
that happened during their day, you could
say, “Oh, that must’ve been really tough.”
You’re showing caring and empathy.
That’s the most common way to use must.
Write.
I like to write notes by hand.
Write a comment below this video using some
of these top verbs.
Provide.
Parents have to provide food, shelter, and
hopefully love to their children.
I asked him to provide some more information
about the course.
This is a common expression, to provide more
information.
Sit.
We sat on the couch before we bought it.
It’s not good for your health to sit for too
long.
Stand.
If you need to sit for your job, it’s important
to stand up at least once every 30 minutes
and stretch your legs and stretch your arms.
I can’t stand that music.
Notice the two ways to use stand here.
One is to rise to your feet and the other
is to tolerate something.
Usually, I cannot tolerate that music.
I can’t stand that music’s a really common
way to you stand.
I can’t stand it.
Lose.
He thought he lost his wallet.
He almost lost his mind, and then he found
it in his car.
Pay.
Don’t forget to pay your bills every month.
I paid for her ticket because she forgot her
wallet at home.
Meet.
How did you meet each other?
This is a common question to ask couples.
It’s just a conversation starter.
If you’re sitting around a dinner party and
you want to get to know people better, you
could say, “Oh, how did you meet each other?”
Always great for conversation.
Let’s meet at the entrance of the museum for
finding a place to meet.
Include.
Yoga and Pilates classes are included in the
gym membership.
I’ll try to include all of the important information
in my speech.
Continue.
I want to trust you, but why do you continue
lying to me?
To continue learning English with me, you
can download my free ebook in the description
below this video.
We already talked about the word keep to talk
about continuing to do something.
So when do we use continue compared to keep?
Well, continue is used often in an authority,
disciplinarian situation.
Why do you continue lying to me?
This is when you’re angry or you’re disciplining
someone or in a professional situation.
It just sounds a little bit more professional.
To continue learning English with me, download
my free ebook.
Just a professional way to say it.
Set.
When you’re finished with the book, just set
it on my desk.
I need to set up for the party.
It starts in 15 minutes.
Learn.
My high school biology class was useless.
I didn’t learn anything.
I hope you’re learning a lot with this lesson.
A common mistake that I hear is a mixing up
learn and teach.
Sometimes I hear English learners say, “The
teacher learned me a lot.”
But when you went to talk about what the teacher
is doing, it’s in that word.
She’s a teacher.
She teaches.
The teacher teaches me a lot.
When you’re talking about from the student’s
perspective, you could say, “I’m learning
a lot.
The teacher teaches a lot.”
Change.
When she looked over the exam, she changed
two answers.
Do you think you’ve changed a lot since high
school?
Let me know in the description.
I’m curious.
Do you think you’ve changed a lot?
Lead.
I saw a mother duck leading her ducklings
through the park.
My sister doesn’t know how to get there, so
I’ll lead in my car and she can follow me.
Understand.
I can’t understand why some people are so
mean.
Have you understood every sentence in this
lesson?
I hope so.
Watch.
Millions of people watch the Olympics every
few years.
Watch out for crazy drivers on Friday nights.
Sometimes they’ve had too much to drink.
Watch out.
Follow.
The small child followed the older child everywhere.
Don’t follow financial advice from people
who are broke.
That means they have no money.
If someone gives you financial advice and
you want to take it, they better be very wealthy
and be successful.
Don’t take, don’t follow financial advice
from people who are broke.
Stop.
When I stopped going to bed late, I felt better.
Wow.
Surprise.
You should stop smoking, but don’t stop believing.
Create.
The hurricane created a big disaster.
After reading a good book, I’m always amazed
at how an author can create such real characters
and story just with words on the page.
Speak.
We spoke about three important topics during
the meeting.
If you don’t speak up about your problems,
no one will know.
Read.
What’s the best book that you have ever read?
When you read out loud, you test your pronunciation
skills, so it’s a great thing to do.
Notice that both of these words are spelled
R-E-A-D but the first one is in the past tense.
The best book you have ever read, read is
the pronunciation.
And when we say it in the present tense, when
you read.
Read, it’s spelled the same, but the pronunciation
is different.
Allow.
When I was a kid, I was allowed to eat dessert
after I’d eaten some vegetables.
Do you allow yourself to make some mistakes?
I hope so.
Add.
He tries to add 15% of his income to savings
every month.
When you bake bread, make sure that you add
the ingredients very carefully.
Spend.
It’s a good principle to spend less money
than you make.
She spent a lot of energy preparing for the
party.
Notice that the two most common ways to use
spend are to spend money and to spend energy.
Grow.
Ideally, as we grow up, we mature.
Ideally.
The tree is growing too close to their house,
so they have to cut it down.
This is a true tragic story of my neighbor’s
house.
They have this beautiful maple tree in their
front yard.
It’s amazing, but the roots are getting down
into the foundation of their house and breaking
it up and causing lots of water leaks and
lots of damage, so they have to cut down this
beautiful maple tree that’s just growing too
close to their house.
Open.
Don’t leave the door open because mosquitoes
will get inside.
Most people who learn new languages are open
to different cultures and ideas, like you.
Walk.
We usually walk to the park every other day.
Can you walk to the grocery store from your
house?
Win.
His son’s team won the basketball championship.
In war, nobody wins except the politicians.
Offer.
I offered to take care of her cat while she
was out of town.
The bicycle shop offers a range of bicycles
for all needs.
Remember.
She couldn’t remember the math equation for
the test.
During the holiday season, people usually
remember the less fortunate and donate some
food.
This is a polite way to say people who are
poor, people who are less fortunate.
Unfortunately, sometimes the holiday season
is the only time that people remember the
less fortunate.
Love.
I loved playing the flute in high school,
but I need to keep it up.
Have you ever loved someone who didn’t love
you back?
Consider.
Thanks for your advice.
I’ll consider it.
It’s generally polite to consider the opinion
of other people.
Appear.
The cat appeared in my yard from nowhere.
He appears to be sad, but really he’s just
tired.
In the second sentence, we can also say he
seems to be sad, but really he’s just tired.
The word appear in this situation is a little
bit more formal, but they both mean the same
thing.
Buy.
I bought some ingredients to make cookies
today.
It’s a good idea to wait 24 hours before you
buy anything expensive.
Wait.
I can’t wait until this weekend.
Children have a hard time waiting because
their sense of time hasn’t really developed
yet.
Serve.
The waiter served the head of the table first
and then everyone else.
Kindness will serve you well in life.
This is a great expression, to serve you well.
What are some character traits or values that
will serve you well in life?
Maybe respect, kindness, curiosity, the ability
to finish a task will serve you well in life.
Die.
My cat jumped out of the second story window,
but she didn’t die.
It was amazing.
This is a true story.
She was only a couple months old.
She jumped out of the window, and she didn’t
die.
I’m so glad.
I’m dying to share this lesson with you.
Even though this expression uses the word
dying, it really means I can’t wait.
I’m dying to go to France next year.
I’m dying to learn more English.
I’m dying to share this verb lesson with you.
Send.
His grandma sends him a birthday card every
year.
I love it when you send me postcards from
your country.
My address is in the description if you want
to send me a postcard.
Expect.
She was a big fan of the book, so she expected
the movie to be better, but it wasn’t great.
I can’t go out because I’m expecting the electrician
to come soon.
Build.
The dad is building a tree house for his kids.
At least seven new hotels are being built
in my city every year.
Stay.
I told my son to stay right there and I would
be right back.
We stayed at my brother-in-law’s house for
five days.
Fall.
While I was baking, two eggs fell off the
counter and cracked.
Be careful on the ice.
I don’t want you to fall.
Cut.
She cut her hand on the sharp knife.
At my son’s birthday party, all of the kids
watched so closely as I cut the cake.
Reach.
Our kitchen has some high shelves that I can
barely reach.
We try to keep valuable breakable items up
high so that our toddler can’t reach them.
Kill.
I was kind of surprised that this was on the
top 100 verb list because, personally, I don’t
use the verb kill very much, but maybe other
people do, so here’s a sample sentence.
The lion killed the antelope with precision.
After moving, my back was killing me.
This is the most common way that I use kill.
When I say, “My back is killing me.
Oh, my head is killing me,” it means it’s
an extreme pain.
And number 100, remain.
Only $1 remains in her bank account.
After the big storm, only a few buildings
remained standing.
Wow!
Great work reviewing these top 100 verbs in
English.
Now I have a challenge for you.
In the comments below this video, can you
try to make a sentence using three of these
top verbs?
For example, did you see the little boy holding
the puppy that he bought?
Great.
This is using three of these top verbs that
I’m sure you use all the time.
Thanks so much for learning English with me,
and I’ll see you again next Friday for a new
lesson here on my YouTube channel.
Bye.
The next step is to download my free ebook,
Five Steps to Becoming a Confident English
Speaker.
You’ll learn what you need to do to speak
confidently and fluently.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for more free lessons.
Thanks so much.
Bye.