A Frequency Dictionary of Contemporary American English is an invaluable tool for all learners of American English, providing a list of the 5,000 most frequently used words in the language.
This dictionary by Davies and Gardner (both, Brigham Young Univ.) is based on the 400-million-word Corpus of Contemporary American English, which incorporates spoken language, fiction, magazines, newspapers, and academic discourse. The 5,000 most frequently used words (from "the" to "trim") are listed in order of occurrence, with information on part of speech, raw frequency, and dispersion. Because "you can tell a lot about a word by the other words that it hangs out with," a generous list of collocations follows each entry. Thematic vocabulary lists (on topics such as animals, the body, clothing, colors, and emotions) and comparisons (such as American versus British English) are an attractive feature. - Choice Review November 2010
Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries with collections in linguistics or ESL; upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers
"It deserves attention and acclamation for its distinctive and illuminating offering."--Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America 31 (2010)
