Basic English

Basic English (British American Scientific International and Commercial English) is an English-based controlled language created by linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teaching English as a second language. Basic English is, in essence, a simplified subset of regular English.

Ogden's word lists include only word roots, which in practice are extended with the defined set of affixes and the full set of forms allowed for any available word (noun, pronoun, or the limited set of verbs). The 850 core words of Basic English are found in Wiktionary's Basic English word list. This core is theoretically enough for everyday life. However, Ogden prescribed that any student should learn an additional 150-word list for everyday work in some particular field, by adding a list of 100 words particularly useful in a general field (e.g., science, verse, business, etc.), along with a 50-word list from a more specialised subset of that general field, to make a basic 1000-word vocabulary for everyday work and life.

Moreover, Ogden assumed that any student should already be familiar with (and thus may only review) a core subset of around 200 "international" words. Therefore, a first-level student should graduate with a core vocabulary of around 1200 words. A realistic general core vocabulary could contain around 2000 words (the core 850 words, plus 200 international words, and 1000 words for the general fields of trade, economics, and science). It is enough for a "standard" English level. This 2000 word vocabulary represents "what any learner should know". At this level students could start to move on their own.

## structure words

conjunctions:

and, or, but,
if, then,
because, therefore,
for, so, than, that,
determiners:

a, an, the,
each, any, every, either, neither,
none, some, many, most, all,
enough, much, such,
this, that,
next, previous,
which, what, how, why, who, when, where,
particles:

no, yes,
please,
prepositions:

about, across, against, by,
at, in, out, between, among,
as, like,
on, off, under, over,
to, from, via, through,
of,
before, until, while, after, since, till,
with,
pronouns:

I, you, he, she, it,
we, they,
## adverbs

not,
quite, very, well,
again, almost, ever, though, together,
here, there,
tomorrow, yesterday,
up, down,
## verbs

be, will, seem,
do, try,
let, make,
may, might, can, could, shall, should, will, would, must,
put, send,
get, give, take, keep, have,
come, go,
say, see, look, hear,
know, think, expect, feel,
play, sleep,
step, walk,
wash,
## adjectives

even, far, little, near, now, only, other, still,

able, acid, angry, automatic, black, blue, boiling, bitter, brown, chemical, chief, dry, early, late, electric, equal, false, female, fertile, first, fixed, flat, free, green, grey/gray, hanging, hollow, last, living, male, married, material, medical, military, natural, new, normal, open, parallel, past, physical, political, possible, present, private, red, right, rough, round, same, second, separate, serious, sharp, shut, smooth, sticky, sweet, true, violent, waiting, wet, white, wide, wrong, yellow,

beautiful, big, light, functional, expensive, clean, clear, common, complex, conscious, deep, dependent, elastic, fast, fat, frequent, full, general, good, great, happy, hard, healthy, high, important, kind, like, long, loud, necessary, old, rich, probable, public, quick, loud, ready, regular, responsible, safe, solid, special, stiff, straight, strange, strong, sudden, tall, thick, tight, energetic, warm, wide, wise,

awake, certain, complete, cruel, dead, dear, delicate, different, feeble, left, opposite, sad,
## Nouns

Color/Visual:

color, dark, light, beautiful, shade, clear,
black, grey, white, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, green, brown,
Algebra:

amount, number,
greater, less,
addition, division, power, product,
Geometry:

angle, slope,
arch,
ball, circle, square,
point,
cord, curve, line,
plane, solid,
Direction:

direction, position, distance,
forward,
north, south, east, west,
left, right, front, back,
high, low,
Time:

time,
tomorrow, yesterday,
second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year,
fall, spring, winter, summer,
night, day, morning, evening,
first, second, last,
early, late,
slow, quick,
Physics:

solid, liquid, gas
Nature:

air, cloud, mist, sky, wind, weather, thunder,
earth, field, farm, garden, land, mountain, range, natural,
sea, rain, river, stream, snow,
star, sun, moon, planet,
sand, dust, ice, water, rock,
fire, flame,
Plants:

plant, grass, herb, tree,
growth, leaf, root, stick, stem,
apple, berry, orange, citron, olive,
seed, nut, fruit,
Animals:

animal,
virus, bacteria, eukaryote, microbe,
segmented worm, snail, octopus,
insect, ant, bee, fly,
fish,
amphibian,
reptile, snake, dinosaur,
bird, fowl,
rat, monkey, cow, goat, horse, pig, sheep, cat, dog,
Body Parts:

body,
bone, joint, brain, nerve, skin, fat, heart, muscle, stomach, throat,
head, chin, ear, eye, face, lip, mouth, neck, nose, tongue, tooth,
chest, stomach, breast,
arm, elbow, wrist, hand, finger, thumb,
leg, knee, ankle, foot, toe,
tail,
feather, hair, horn, nail,
mind,
wing,
egg,
Disease:

cough, dead, death, disease, feeble, ill, pain, sneeze,
Food and Drink:

food, drink, meal, soup,
potato
bread, cake, macaroni, toast, cake,
butter, cheese,
egg, omelet,
grain, rice, tapioca,
salad,
meat, beef, sardine,
milk,
salt, sugar, water, vanila,
wine, alcohol, beer, champagne, cocktail, cognac, liqueur, rum, vodka, whisky,
tea,
chocolate, coffee,
People:

person, self,
baby, boy, girl, man, woman,
daughter, family, father, son, sister, relation, mother,
female, male, married,
chief, cook, manager, porter, secretary, servant, friend,
Household:

basket, pot, box, bottle, kettle,
bath, drain, bed, chest, clock, drawer, oven, shelf, table, curtain, cushion,
cup, fork, knife, spoon,
bell, board, book, bulb, button, camera, card, cart, carriage, flag, frame, jewel, match, parcel,
key, lock,
picture, plate, rail, sponge, stamp, ticket, tray, whip, whistle,
Clothes:

boot, shoe, glove, sock,
button, collar,
hat, coat, shirt, dress, skirt, stocking, trousers,
umbrella, watch,
Tools:

band, blade, comb, brush, bucket, cord, chain, gun, hammer, hook, instrument, knife, knot, nail, needle, thread, pin, pipe, plow, pump, ring, rod, screw, scissors, spade, wheel, wire,
Buildings:

room, door, floor, wall, window, roof, ceiling,
structure, building, church, hospital, house, library, prison, school, station, store,
town, city,
Materials:

material,
metal, brass, copper, gold, iron, silver, steel, tin,
wood, paper, cotton,
brick,
canvas, cloth, linen, silk, wool,
coal, oil,
glass,
leather,
Transport:

transport,
boat, harbor, sail, vessel,
bridge,
carriage,
flight, plane,
train, rail,
street, road,
Business/Industry:

money, credit, debt, interest, payment, price, profit, owner,
exchange, trade, market, industry,
invention, produce, process,
business, company, competition, development, distribution, division, expansion, growth, manager, office, operation, plant, system,
Education:

education, learning, teaching, school,
pen, pencil, reading, letter, ink, word, writing, say, language, talk,
reason, thought, theory, science,
art, chalk, development, encylopedia, growth, history, map, music, news, paint, paste, religion, stamp, test,
Political:

country, nation, society,
authority, control, government, power, representative,
organization, division,
office, committee,
crime, punishment, judge, law, rule,
act, agreement, decision, discussion, distribution, meeting, order, political, property, protest, record, religion, secretary, tax,
War:

war, peace,
army, general, gun, military, powder, range,
power, event, effect, light, force, push, support,
attack, crush, damage, death, destruction, fight, smash,