Which term describes words that occur most frequently in written material?

Which term describes words that occur most frequently in written material?

• A. High frequency words
• B. Prefixes
• C. Onset
• D. CVC

Answer: (A)

High frequency words are the words that occur most often in written material. They show up so frequently that recognizing them by sight helps readers read smoothly without stopping to decode each one. These words are not about spelling patterns or word parts; rather, they’re the common, everyday words that knit sentences together, like the, and, to, of, a, in, and often common pronouns and verbs. Because they appear so often, teaching these words for quick recognition supports fluency and overall reading comprehension. The other terms describe parts of words or phonics concepts rather than how often a word appears. Prefixes are beginnings of words that add meaning, the onset is the initial sound of a syllable, and CVC refers to a consonant-vowel-consonant word pattern. Those ideas focus on word structure and decoding, not how frequently a word appears in text.

High frequency words are the words that occur most often in written material. They show up so frequently that recognizing them by sight helps readers read smoothly without stopping to decode each one. These words are not about spelling patterns or word parts; rather, they’re the common, everyday words that knit sentences together, like the, and, to, of, a, in, and often common pronouns and verbs. Because they appear so often, teaching these words for quick recognition supports fluency and overall reading comprehension.

The other terms describe parts of words or phonics concepts rather than how often a word appears. Prefixes are beginnings of words that add meaning, the onset is the initial sound of a syllable, and CVC refers to a consonant-vowel-consonant word pattern. Those ideas focus on word structure and decoding, not how frequently a word appears in text.