List of two-letter English words

Encyclopedia : L : LI : LIS : List of two-letter English words

The English language contains various two-letter words. The number is reduced somewhat by the three letter rule. Here is a list of such words. Some of these words are debatable, because they are archaic, slang, proper names, or words borrowed from other languages.

The common two-letter words are: am, an, as, at, (ax), be, by, do, go, he, if, in, is, it, me, my, no, of, on, or, ox, so, to, up, us, we.

Contents

1 English words
2 English use in a foreign phrase
3 Abbreviations
4 Words acceptable in Scrabble

4.1 OSPD - Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary, 4th edition (US)
4.2 OSW - Official Scrabble Words - Chambers (historically, UK, Australia etc.)
4.3 SOWPODS/OSWI: a combination of OSPD and OSW (UK, Australia, etc.; international competition standard)

5 See also

English words

aa – a type of lava having a rough surface (pronounced "ah - ah" and properly spelled "`a`a")
Ab (month) – alternative Romanization of Av
ae – one adj. (chiefly Scots)
ah – an interjection used to express various emotions such as surprise, delight, disgust, or pain
ai – a three-toed South American sloth
al – East Indian tree; also a hirsute creature said in Persian mythology to devour the souls of unborn children
am – first person singular present indicative of the verb "to be"
an – the indefinite article used before vowel sounds
Ao – the god of the clouds in Polynesian mythology
ar – the letter "R"
as – a preposition meaning "to the same extent or degree"
at – a preposition meaning "in the area occupied by"
Av – a month of the Hebrew calendar (see Ab above)
aw – an interjection used variously to express sympathy, tenderness, disapproval, or disbelief by means of slight differences in pronunciation
ax – axe
ay – alternative spelling of aye
ba – part of the Egyptian soul; also to kiss (archaic); in some dialects, father
be – to exist
bo – friend; also a weapon used in martial arts; also a sacred Indian fig tree
by – preposition meaning "near to"
ch – I (obsolete)
da – a heavy Burmese knife; in some dialects, father
de – preposition meaning of or from in names and in phrases recently borrowed from the Latin or French (de jure, de facto, coup de grace)
do – to execute; also first tone of the diatonic scale
ea – a river (obsolete); also (with initial capital) the god of water in Babylonian mythology
'e'e – an extinct Hawaiian bird
ef – the letter "F"
eh – an interjection used to indicate lack of understanding
el – the letter "L"; also the god of rain in Canaanite mythology; also short for "elevated train"
em – a type of dash used in typesetting; the letter "M"
en – a type of dash used in typesetting; the letter "N"
er – an interjection expressing hesitation
es – the letter "S"
et – a past tense form of "to eat"
ew – an interjection expressing disgust
ex – the letter "X"; also one's former spouse or love interest; also used to mean "out of" in such phrases as ex cathedra or ex libris.
fa – fourth tone of the diatonic scale
fy – an interjection expressing disgust (fie)
Ga – a language spoken in Ghana
ge – alternative spelling of Gaia
gi – a judo or karate costume
go – to move; also an oriental board game
gu – a simple violin used in Shetland (gju, gue)
ha – an interjection expressing triumph or laughter; also (with initial capital) the god of the deserts in Egyptian mythology
he – third person singular masculine nominative pronoun; also an onomatopoeia of laughter
hi – hello
hm – an interjection expressing thought (hmm); also (as HM) used as an abbreviation of "His (or Her) Majesty"
ho – interjection used to attract attention; also a contraction of hoe (high ground) as in Aynho; also a contraction of whore (slang)
Hu – the god of the creation word in Egyptian mythology
id – one of the three components of the psyche, also I'd contraction of I would or I had.
if – a conjunction meaning "in the event that"
I'm – contraction of "I am"
in – a preposition meaning "inside"
io – an interjection; (all the following are with initial capital) the daughter of Inachus in Greek mythology; also a moon of Jupiter; also an alternative spelling of Kiho; also a Hawaiian species of hawk
is – third person singular present indicative of "to be"
it – third person singular neutral pronoun
Ix – one of the Bacabs in Maya mythology
jo – dear, sweetheart (Scots)
ka – Part of the Egyptian soul
ki – alternative spelling of qi from Japanese
Ku – alternative spelling of Tu from Hawaiian
ky – cattle (Scots)
la – sixth tone of the diatonic scale
li – a unit of distance; also (with initial capital) an ethnic minority in southern China
lo – an interjection meaning "look!"
ma – mother; also used in some dialects to mean "my"
me – first-person singular objective-case pronoun; a variant of "mi"; also a concept in Sumerian mythology; also used in some dialects to mean "my"
mi – third tone of the diatonic scale
mm – an interjection expressing satisfaction
mo – more
mu – a letter in the Greek alphabet; also (with initial capital) the name of hypothetical vanished continent in the Pacific Ocean
my – first person singular possessive adjective
na – no, not (obsolete)
né – born with the name of (the male form of "née")
no – not any; also a general negative response; no. is also an abbreviation of the word "number" ; also a Classical Japanese musical drama.
nu – a letter in the Greek alphabet; also (with initial capital) the god of the ocean in Egyptian mythology; also (with initial capital) an ethnic minority in China
Ob – a river in Siberia (one of the largest rivers in the world)
od – an alleged power used to produce mesmerism; also the husband of Freya in Norse mythology
oe – one; wind (Faroe Islands)
of – derived from or belonging to
oh – an interjection indicating surprise
oi – a cry of joy (whee); also a sub-genre of punk music
om – a mystic syllable used by Hindus & Buddhists in various religious rites
on – a preposition meaning "above and in contact with"
oo – a rare Hawaiian bird (pronounced "oh-oh"); also a Scottish word for "wool"
or – a conjunction used to indicate an alternative; also a tincture in heraldry
os – narrow ridge of gravel and sand (esker); also orifice
ou – an interjection expressing concession
ow – an interjection indicating sudden pain
ox – a bovine mammal with hooves
oy – an interjection to draw someone's attention
Oz – Mythical land that Dorothy travels to in The Wizard of Oz
pa – father
pe – a letter in the Hebrew alphabet
pi – a letter in the Greek alphabet and a mathematical constant
po – a chamber pot
qi – Chinese life force (chi)
Ra – the god of the sun in Egyptian mythology; also an alternative spelling of Roua
re – second tone of the diatonic scale; also an alternative spelling of Ra
ri – a mythical creature said to be half human and half jellyfish
Ro – a constructed language of the "philosophical" type (words from similar categories begin with similar letters), invented by the Rev. Edward Powell Foster with his wife
Ru – a fertility god in Polynesian mythology
sh – an interjection urging silence
si – a note in the diatonic scale; also (with initial capital) the god of the moon in Mochican mythology
so – to the amount or degree expressed or understood; also a question asking what logically follows from a statement; also fifth tone of the diatonic scale
st – an exclamation of impatience
ta – thank you (Commonwealth)
te – seventh tone of the diatonic scale
ti – a small tree; also the seventh tone of the diatonic scale
to – towards
Tu – the god of war in Polynesian mythology
Ua – the god of rain in Polynesian mythology
ug – to cause hatred
uh – an interjection expressing hesitation
Ul – the god of the moon in Polynesian mythology
um – an interjection expressing hesitation
un – one
up – to increase; a vertical direction opposite of down
Ur – a city in ancient Mesopotamia
us – the first person plural objective-case pronoun
ut – musical tone in French solmization system
ve – a less common alternative to sie; (with initial capital) the brother of Odin in Norse mythology
Wa – an ethnic minority in southwestern China
we – the first person plural nominative-case pronoun
Wi – the god of the sun in Lakota mythology
wo – alternative spelling of woe
Wu – a dialect of the Chinese language
xe – alternative spelling of sie
xi – a letter in the Greek alphabet
xu – a Vietnamese monetary unit
ya – yes; also you
ye – you (subject or nominative); also the (archaic spelling), using y for the letter thorn)
Yi – a minority language in China
yo – interjection used to call attention (American)
yu – a precious jade
zi – a type of pseudonym used in Imperial China
zo – a Himalayan cross between a yak and a cow (also dzo or dzho)

English use in a foreign phrase

Several more of our two-letter words exist as parts of set phrases imported from other languages.

ao – in ao dai (the Vietnamese garment)
et – in et cetera, et al
id – in id est (the expanded form of i.e.)
la – in sao la, a Vietnamese ox of the genus Pseudoryx, first discovered in the 1990s
mi – in mi casa, su casa
pu – repeated in pu pu platter
se – from per se
su – in mi casa, su casa
vu – as in déjà vu

Abbreviations

Many two-letter words are abbreviations, or apocopations of longer words. They are frequently slang or informal words.

ab – an abdominal muscle (slang)
ad – advertisement
ag – pertaining to agriculture
bi – bisexual (slang)
ec – economics (especially after "home")
ed – education (informal); also editor
ep – episode (slang)
eq – equalizer (for music recording)
mo – moment
np – no problem
op – operator (slang); also operation; opportunity (as in photo op); optical (as in op art); or opinion (as in op-ed)
Oz – nickname for the land of Australia
ph – pH (potential for hydrogen; power of hydrogen) a measure of acidity
'za – an abbreviation from the end of pizza

These sorts of lists are useful for some letter games, such as crossword puzzles or anagrams, or in word games, such as Scrabble.

Words acceptable in Scrabble

The following are lists of two letter words allowed in Scrabble (US, UK and International). See the Scrabble article for an explanation of the different wordlists and their applications.

OSPD - Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary, 4th edition (US)

The fourth edition added five new acceptable two-letter words: FE, KI, OI, QI, and ZA.

Only the rows and columns which have entries are listed (empty rows C and V and columns C, J, K, Q, V and Z are omitted.)

A AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY
B BA BE BI BO BY
D DE DO
E ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX
F FA FE
G GO
H HA HE HI HM HO
I ID IF IN IS IT
J JO
K KA KI
L LA LI LO
M MA ME MI MM MO MU MY
N NA NE NO NU
O OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY
P PA PE PI
Q QI
R RE
S SH SI SO
T TA TI TO
U UH UM UN UP US UT
W WE WO
X XI XU
Y YA YE YO
Z ZA
A B D E F G H I L M N O P R S T U W X Y

OSW - Official Scrabble Words - Chambers (historically, UK, Australia etc.)

The UK and Australia have now (the UK most recently in 2001) joined most other English-speaking countries outside North America, as well as the international tournament standard, in using SOWPODS/OSWI, that is, they allow all OSPD words as well as OSW ones.

AA AD AE AH AI AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY
BA BE BI BO BY
CH
DA DI DO
EA EE EF EH EL EM EN ER ES EX
FA FY
GI GO GU
HA HE HI HO
ID IF IN IO IS IT
JO
KA KO KY
LA LI LO
MA ME MI MO MU MY
NA NE NO NU NY
OB OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OO OP OR OS OU OW OX OY
PA PH PI PO
QI
RE
SH SI SO ST
TA TE TI TO
UG UM UN UP UR US UT
WE WO
XI XU
YE YO YU
ZO

SOWPODS/OSWI: a combination of OSPD and OSW (UK, Australia, etc.; international competition standard)

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY
BA BE BI BO BY
CH
DA DE DI DO
EA ED EE EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX
FA FY
GI GO GU
HA HE HI HM HO
ID IF IN IO IS IT
JO
KA KO KY
LA LI LO
MA ME MI MM MO MU MY
NA NE NO NU NY
OB OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OO OP OR OS OU OW OX OY
PA PE PH PI PO
QI
RE
SH SI SO ST
TA TE TI TO
UG UH UM UN UP UR US UT
WE WO
XI XU
YA YE YO YU
ZO

	A	B	D	E	F	G	H	I	L	M	N	O	P	R	S	T	U	W	X	Y
A	AA	AB	AD	AE		AG	AH	AI	AL	AM	AN			AR	AS	AT		AW	AX	AY
B	BA			BE				BI				BO								BY
D				DE								DO
E			ED		EF		EH		EL	EM	EN			ER	ES	ET			EX
F	FA			FE
G												GO
H	HA			HE				HI		HM		HO
I			ID		IF						IN				IS	IT
J												JO
K	KA							KI
L	LA							LI				LO
M	MA			ME				MI		MM		MO					MU			MY
N	NA			NE								NO					NU
O			OD	OE	OF		OH	OI		OM	ON		OP	OR	OS			OW	OX	OY
P	PA			PE				PI
Q								QI
R				RE
S							SH	SI				SO
T	TA							TI				TO
U							UH			UM	UN		UP		US	UT
W				WE								WO
X								XI									XU
Y	YA			YE								YO
Z	ZA

	A	B	D	E	F	G	H	I	L	M	N	O	P	R	S	T	U	W	X	Y
A	AA	AB	AD	AE		AG	AH	AI	AL	AM	AN			AR	AS	AT		AW	AX	AY
B	BA			BE				BI				BO								BY
D				DE								DO
E			ED		EF		EH		EL	EM	EN			ER	ES	ET			EX
F	FA			FE
G												GO
H	HA			HE				HI		HM		HO
I			ID		IF						IN				IS	IT
J												JO
K	KA							KI
L	LA							LI				LO
M	MA			ME				MI		MM		MO					MU			MY
N	NA			NE								NO					NU
O			OD	OE	OF		OH	OI		OM	ON		OP	OR	OS			OW	OX	OY
P	PA			PE				PI
Q								QI
R				RE
S							SH	SI				SO
T	TA							TI				TO
U							UH			UM	UN		UP		US	UT
W				WE								WO
X								XI									XU
Y	YA			YE								YO
Z	ZA