If you attempted to write down all the two letter words you could think of in your working vocabulary, you would probably struggle to get much more than 20. Go on - try it! I'll wait for you ;-)
In fact, there are over 100 two letter words allowed in Scrabble, and I'm going to teach you ALL of them!
Although the list might look a bit daunting when you're just starting out, with repetition you'll soon get to know them. Especially when you start using them to beat up your friends and family! Besides, I'm going to throw in a couple of neat Memorization Tips at the end.
But let's start with three very good reasons why learning these words definitely will get you winning more games right away...
A perfect knowledge of the two letter words can make it very easy to score well with the middle-to-high-scoring tiles (F, H, Y, J, X, etc.). By double-crossing an F on a triple letter square to form EF and FA, for example, you can score an easy 26 points with a single tile. Doing the same with an X to form XI and XU can score 50 points in a single stroke! To do this though, you have to know that EF, FA, XI, and XU are valid Scrabble words!
The two letter words are critical for making parallel plays. After all, there is no point being able to form a lovely bingo on your rack, if you can't place it on the board because you don't know that AL is allowed. Not to mention all those extra points you'll get for each word formed in the overlap. Here's a great example from a real Scrabble tournament...
If you make the extra effort to learn the meanings, inflections, and variant spellings of the two letter words, you learn several hundred more words at the same time!
Convinced? Good. Let's get on with it.
All 2 Letter Words Allowed in Scrabble
Here is a list of all the two letter words allowed in Scrabble. Along with each word, I've included the word's part of speech (in italics) followed by its meaning, inflections, and variant spellings (if it has any, of course).
Since it's always important to know which two letter words take an S, each word is also followed by a lower case s if the word does take an S, or a dash (-) if it doesn't take an S.
NOTE — In the list below, all the two letter words allowed in North American Scrabble are colored BLACK. The additional BLUE words are also allowed if you are using the international Scrabble dictionary, which is used in most countries outside of North America.
AA snoun type of Hawaiian lava... AB snounshort ABDOMINAL muscle AD snounshort ADVERTISEMENT AE - adjScot one alsoYAE AG snounshort AGRICULTURE AH sverb express surprise or joy AHING AHED AI snounTupi three-toed sloth AL snoun E. Indian shrub alsoAAL AM - inflBEverb exist AN - adj indefinite article AR snoun letter ‘R’ AS snoun Norse god AESIRnoun gravel ridge ASAR AT - prep denoting place or time AW - intj expressing sympathy AX - verb chop or cut down AXED AXES AXINGalsoAXE AY snoun affirmative vote alsoAYE BA snounAncEgypt soul BE sverb exist BESnoun Hebrew letter BI snounshort BISEXUAL BO snoun pal or buddy BY snoun pass to the next round alsoBYE CH - prnobsdial ‘I’ DA snoun heavy Burmese knife DE - prep from, as used in names DI splDEUSnounL god alsoDEIDISverb dismiss or put down DO snoun musical note DOSverb act DOES DOING DID DIDST DONE EA snoundial river ED snounshort EDUCATION EE - nounScot eye EEN EF snoun letter ‘F’ EH sverb say 'eh' EHING EHED EL snoun letter ‘L’ EM snoun letter ‘M’ EN snoun letter ‘N’ ER sintj expressing hesitation ERSnoun bitter vetch ES snoun letter ‘S’ ESESalsoESS ET - inflEATverb consume food EX - verb cross out EXING EXED EXES FA snoun musical note alsoFAH FE snoun Hebrew letter alsoFEH FY - intj expressing reproach GI snoun judo or karate costume GO snoun turn verb move GOES GOING WENT GONE GU snoun old Shetland violin alsoGUE GJU HA sintj expressing surprise HE snoun male HI sintj calling attention HM - intj expressing hesitation alsoHMM HO sverb halt HOING HOEDalsoHOH HOA ID snoun self IF snoun condition IN sverb gather in harvest INNING INNED IO snoun cry expressing triumph IS - inflBEverb exist IT sprn neuter of he, she, him, or her JA - intjGer yes JO - nounScot loved one JOES KA sverb serve KAING KAEDalsoKAE KI snounJap spirit of martial art KO snounMaori digging-stick KY - noun cattle LA snoun musical note alsoLAH LI snounChin unit of distance LO sintj see or look LOSintjarch expressing praise MA snouncoll mother ME snoun musical note alsoMI MI snoun musical note alsoME MM - intj expressing agreement MO snounshort MOMENT MU snoun Greek letter MY - adj of or belonging to me NA sintjScot no, not at all NASadvobs has not, or was not NE - adjmasc born with the name of NO snoun negative response NOES NU snoun Greek letter NY sverb approach NYES NYING NYEDalsoNYE NIE OB snounshort OBJECTION OD snoun mystical force OE snounScot grandchild alsoOY OYE OF - prep belonging to OH sverb express surprise OHING OHED OI - intj attracting attention OM snoun intoned Hindu symbol ON sverb go on with ONNING ONNED OO snounScot wool OP snounshort OPERATION OR snoun heraldic colour, gold OS - nounL bone OSSAnoun mouth-like opening ORA OU snounSAf bloke OW - intj expressing pain OX - noun bovine animal OXENnoun clumsy person OXES OY snounScot grandchild alsoOE OYE PA snoun father PE snoun Hebrew letter alsoPEH PI snoun Greek letter verb confuse PIED PIINGalsoPIE PYE PO snounshort CHAMBERPOT QI snounChin physical life-force RE snoun musical note SH - intj requesting silence alsoSHA SHH SI snoun musical note SO snoun musical note alsoSOH SOL ST - intj requesting silence TA snoun expression of thanks TE snoun musical note alsoTI TI snoun musical note alsoTE TO - prep in the direction of UG sverb dread or loathe UGGING UGGED UH - intj expressing surprise UM - intj expressing doubt or hesitation alsoUMM UN snoundial one UP sverb move up UPPING UPPED UR - intj expressing hesitation US - prn we UT snoun musical note WE - prn group that includes me WO snoun misery alsoWOE XI snoun Greek letter XU - nounmoney Vietnam YA - prn you YE sprnarch you YO snoun call for attention YU snounChin precious jade ZA snounshort PIZZA ZO snoun Tibetan yak alsoDZO ZHO DZHO DSO
By reviewing this list over and over again, and playing lots of Scrabble games, you'll be amazed how quickly the two letter words start to stick in your brain. To help your memory along, try weaving the words into a memorable story. Or even a song...
But if you're really serious about learning long lists of crazy Scrabble words (and pretty much anything else for that matter), it might even be worth checking out a clever memorization system created by USA memory champion, Ron White.
