The Oxford 3000 words

The Oxford 3000 is a list of the 3,000 core words that every learner of English needs to know. The words have been chosen based on their frequency in the Oxford English Corpus and relevance to learners of English. Every word is aligned to the CEFR, guiding learners on the words they should know at A1-B2 level.

ALL a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
  • ugly (/ˈʌɡli/)
  • ultimately (/ˈʌltɪmətli/)
  • umbrella (/ʌmˈbrelə/)
  • unable (/ʌnˈeɪbl/)
  • uncle (/ˈʌŋkl/)
  • uncomfortable (/ʌnˈkʌmftəbl/)
  • unconscious (/ʌnˈkɒnʃəs/)
  • under (/ˈʌndə(r)/)
  • underground (/ˌʌndəˈɡraʊnd/)
  • understand (/ˌʌndəˈstænd/)
  • understanding (/ˌʌndəˈstændɪŋ/)
  • underwear (/ˈʌndəweə(r)/)
  • unemployed (/ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd/)
  • unemployment (/ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪmənt/)
  • unexpected (/ˌʌnɪkˈspektɪd/)
  • unfair (/ˌʌnˈfeə(r)/)
  • unfortunately (/ʌnˈfɔːtʃənətli/)
  • unhappy (/ʌnˈhæpi/)
  • uniform (/ˈjuːnɪfɔːm/)
  • union (/ˈjuːniən/)
  • unique (/juˈniːk/)
  • unit (/ˈjuːnɪt/)
  • united (/juˈnaɪtɪd/)
  • universe (/ˈjuːnɪvɜːs/)
  • university (/ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəti/)
  • unknown (/ˌʌnˈnəʊn/)
  • unless (/ənˈles/)
  • unlike (/ˌʌnˈlaɪk/)
  • unlikely (/ʌnˈlaɪkli/)
  • unnecessary (/ʌnˈnesəsəri/)
  • unpleasant (/ʌnˈpleznt/)
  • until (/ənˈtɪl/)
  • unusual (/ʌnˈjuːʒuəl/)
  • up (/ʌp/)
  • update (/ˌʌpˈdeɪt/)
  • upon (/əˈpɒn/)
  • upper (/ˈʌpə(r)/)
  • upset (/ʌpˈset/)
  • upstairs (/ˌʌpˈsteəz/)
  • upwards (/ˈʌpwədz/)
  • urban (/ˈɜːbən/)
  • urge (/ɜːdʒ/)
  • us (/əs/)
  • use (/juːz/)
  • used (/juːst/)
  • used to (/ˈjuːst tə/)
  • useful (/ˈjuːsfl/)
  • user (/ˈjuːzə(r)/)
  • usual (/ˈjuːʒuəl/)
  • usually (/ˈjuːʒuəli/)
English Audio Level

ugly (adjective)

UK /ˈʌɡli/
US /ˈʌɡli/
B1

ultimately (adverb)

UK /ˈʌltɪmətli/
US /ˈʌltɪmətli/
B2

umbrella (noun)

UK /ʌmˈbrelə/
US /ʌmˈbrelə/
A1

unable (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈeɪbl/
US /ʌnˈeɪbl/
B1

uncle (noun)

UK /ˈʌŋkl/
US /ˈʌŋkl/
A1

uncomfortable (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈkʌmftəbl/
US /ʌnˈkʌmftəbl/
B1

unconscious (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈkɒnʃəs/
US /ʌnˈkɑːnʃəs/
B2

under (preposition)

UK /ˈʌndə(r)/
US /ˈʌndər/
A1

underground (adverb)

UK /ˌʌndəˈɡraʊnd/
US /ˌʌndərˈɡraʊnd/
A2

understand (verb)

UK /ˌʌndəˈstænd/
US /ˌʌndərˈstænd/
A1

understanding (noun)

UK /ˌʌndəˈstændɪŋ/
US /ˌʌndərˈstændɪŋ/
A2

underwear (noun)

UK /ˈʌndəweə(r)/
US /ˈʌndərwer/
B1

unemployed (adjective)

UK /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd/
US /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd/
B1

unemployment (noun)

UK /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪmənt/
US /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪmənt/
B1

unexpected (adjective)

UK /ˌʌnɪkˈspektɪd/
US /ˌʌnɪkˈspektɪd/
B2

unfair (adjective)

UK /ˌʌnˈfeə(r)/
US /ˌʌnˈfer/
B1

unfortunately (adverb)

UK /ʌnˈfɔːtʃənətli/
US /ʌnˈfɔːrtʃənətli/
A2

unhappy (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈhæpi/
US /ʌnˈhæpi/
A2

uniform (noun)

UK /ˈjuːnɪfɔːm/
US /ˈjuːnɪfɔːrm/
A2

union (noun)

UK /ˈjuːniən/
US /ˈjuːniən/
B1

unique (adjective)

UK /juˈniːk/
US /juˈniːk/
B2

unit (noun)

UK /ˈjuːnɪt/
US /ˈjuːnɪt/
A2

united (adjective)

UK /juˈnaɪtɪd/
US /juˈnaɪtɪd/
A2

universe (noun)

UK /ˈjuːnɪvɜːs/
US /ˈjuːnɪvɜːrs/
B2

university (noun)

UK /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəti/
US /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːrsəti/
A1

unknown (adjective)

UK /ˌʌnˈnəʊn/
US /ˌʌnˈnəʊn/
B2

unless (conjunction)

UK /ənˈles/
US /ənˈles/
B1

unlike (preposition)

UK /ˌʌnˈlaɪk/
US /ˌʌnˈlaɪk/
B1

unlikely (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈlaɪkli/
US /ʌnˈlaɪkli/
B1

unnecessary (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈnesəsəri/
US /ʌnˈnesəseri/
B1

unpleasant (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈpleznt/
US /ʌnˈpleznt/
B1

until (conjunction, preposition)

UK /ənˈtɪl/
US /ənˈtɪl/
A1

unusual (adjective)

UK /ʌnˈjuːʒuəl/
US /ʌnˈjuːʒuəl/
A2

up (preposition)

UK /ʌp/
US /ʌp/
A1

update (verb)

UK /ˌʌpˈdeɪt/
US /ˌʌpˈdeɪt/
B1

upon (preposition)

UK /əˈpɒn/
US /əˈpɑːn/
B1

upper (adjective)

UK /ˈʌpə(r)/
US /ˈʌpər/
B2

upset (verb)

UK /ʌpˈset/
US /ʌpˈset/
B1

upstairs (adverb)

UK /ˌʌpˈsteəz/
US /ˌʌpˈsterz/
A1

upwards (adverb)

UK /ˈʌpwədz/
US /ˈʌpwərdz/
B2

urban (adjective)

UK /ˈɜːbən/
US /ˈɜːrbən/
B2

urge (verb)

UK /ɜːdʒ/
US /ɜːrdʒ/
B2

us (pronoun)

UK /əs/
US /əs/
A1

use (verb)

UK /juːz/
US /juːz/
A1

used (adjective)

UK /juːst/
US /juːst/
B1

used to (modal verb)

UK /ˈjuːst tə/
US /ˈjuːst tə/
A2

useful (adjective)

UK /ˈjuːsfl/
US /ˈjuːsfl/
A1

user (noun)

UK /ˈjuːzə(r)/
US /ˈjuːzər/
A2

usual (adjective)

UK /ˈjuːʒuəl/
US /ˈjuːʒuəl/
A2

usually (adverb)

UK /ˈjuːʒuəli/
US /ˈjuːʒuəli/
A1