2 Letter Words
All 96 English words with 2 letters, grouped alphabetically.
Two-letter words are the one group in English small enough to learn completely. This page lists all 96 of them in alphabetical order, and that is the entire set our word list holds. Most you already use without thinking: AN, AT, IN, IT, ON, OR, TO and UP hold ordinary sentences together. The ones worth memorizing are the strange ones, because they are what rescues a stuck grid. AA, AE, AI and OE read like typing accidents and are genuine dictionary entries. XI and XU give an X somewhere to go, AX, EX and OX do the same job from the other end, and JO is the only entry here that carries a J. Q and Z sit this length out entirely, so their shortest plays begin at three letters. In crosswords and tile games these words do the joining work, turning a blocked corner into two crossings at once.
A
B
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
W
X
Y
Common questions
How many two-letter words are there in English?
That depends on which dictionary you ask, since every published list draws its own line. This page works from a public-domain American word list and finds 96 two-letter entries, running from AA to YO. The word lists used in organized competitive play run somewhat longer, because they admit later additions such as short interjections and borrowings from other languages. For crosswords and casual word games, the 96 listed here cover what you will actually meet.
Which two-letter words use the rare letters?
X has the most company at this length: AX, EX, OX, XI and XU all work, which makes X far easier to place in two squares than its scoring reputation suggests. J appears exactly once, in JO, an old word for a sweetheart. Q and Z have no two-letter entries in this list, so the shortest option for Q is QUA, QAT or SUQ, and for Z it is ZOO, ZIP, ZAP or FEZ.
How do two-letter words help in a puzzle?
They are the joints. In a crossword, a two-letter crossing lets the compiler fit two long answers around a black square, so knowing the odd ones opens corners that longer vocabulary can never reach. In tile games they let you lay a single tile alongside a word already on the board and score in both directions at once, which often beats a longer play somewhere emptier. Because the whole set is small, this is the one length where memorizing wins over searching.