English Letter Frequency for Puzzle Solvers

By Word Tools Editor • 7 min read

When you're stuck on a word puzzle, frequency is one of the fastest ways to cut the search space. English doesn't use letters evenly, so better guesses come from testing the letters and chunks that appear most often in real words.

Most Common Letters Overall

Across large English corpora, the same core letters show up repeatedly: E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R (often followed closely by D and L). In practical solving terms, these are your high-value probes.

That doesn't mean every answer is packed with common letters. But when you have little information, begin by checking frequent letters before rare ones such as J, Q, X, and Z. In word games, this improves your expected hit rate over many puzzles.

Common First-Letter and End-Letter Patterns

Letter frequency changes by position. Some letters are especially common at the start of words: S, C, P, B, T, A. Endings are also patterned, with many words finishing in E, S, D, T, N, R, Y.

Starts to watch: ST-, CH-, SH-, BR-, TR-, CL-, PR-
Common endings: -ED, -ER, -ES, -LY, -ING, -TION
Crossword clue help: if a clue implies past tense or plural, prioritize -ED or -S/-ES endings early.

Useful Digraphs and Trigraphs

Puzzle answers are built from recurring letter chunks. Knowing these chunks helps you move from random letter testing to pattern testing.

Digraphs (2 letters): TH, HE, IN, ER, AN, RE, ON, AT, EN, ND, CH, SH, PH, WH
Trigraphs (3 letters): THE, ING, AND, ION, TIO, ENT, ATI, FOR
Wordle note: if you already have one anchor letter, trying a high-frequency chunk can reveal multiple positions at once.

Applying Frequency in Real Puzzle Solving

Frequency is most powerful when combined with known constraints (length, letter positions, clue meaning, or known included/excluded letters).

Wordle

Use opening guesses that cover common vowels and consonants. On turn two, test fresh high-frequency letters or likely chunks based on your feedback. If your pattern suggests a family like -IGHT or -OUND, use a separator guess to test differentiating consonants before committing.

Crossword fills

When crossing letters are sparse, lean on position-aware frequency. In many grids, an unknown 5-letter entry with pattern _ _ E _ S is more likely to use common internal letters before rare ones. This is where a helper can speed up candidate scanning: try the Crossword Helper with known letters and blanks.

Unscrambling and anagrams

For jumbled letters, first check whether they can form common chunks such as TH, CH, SH, ER, or ING. Grouping letters into probable chunks reduces brute-force trial and often surfaces the answer quickly. For faster filtering, use our Anagram Finder or Word Unscrambler.

The takeaway: treat frequency as a guide, not a rule. In competitive solving, the best move is usually the one that tests the most probable letters and patterns given the constraints you already have.