Question 1

Dale-Chall Words List

Accepted Answer

The Dale-Chall readability formula developed by Edgar Dale and Jeanne Chall is calculated by counting difficult words in a piece of text, where those words are simply those not found on a list of common words - much like the Spache Readability Formula.

Those common words are a list of words with which 80% or more of fourth-grade students are familiar.

That word list has been modified over time, and the current version of the formula - the New Dale-Chall Readability Formula - uses about 3,000 words in its list. For your reference, here they are! Texts written using just these words are likely to be easy to read for fourth-grade students and higher.

a
able
aboard
about
above
absent
accept
accident
account
ache
aching
acorn
acre
across
act
acts
add
address
admire
adventure
afar
afraid
after
afternoon
afterward
afterwards
again
against
age
aged
ago
agree
ah
ahead
aid
aim
air
airfield
airplane
airport
airship
airyalarm
alike
alive
all
alley
alligator
allow
almost
alone
along
aloud
already
also
always
am
America
American
among
amount
an
and
angel
anger
angry
animal
another
answer
ant
any
anybody
anyhow
anyone
anything
anyway
anywhere
apart
apartment
ape
apiece
appear
apple
Aprilapron
are
aren't
arise
arithmetic
arm
armful
army
arose
around
arrange
arrive
arrived
arrow
art
artist
as

Question 2

What is the Spache Words List?

Accepted Answer

The Spache readability formula uses a set of familiar words. The text is then scored against this, with unfamiliar words decreasing readability.

Spache scores are most useful for children up to grade four. Above this, the New Dale Chall formula is best for older children.

The Spache word list is as follows:

a
able
about
above
across
act
add
afraid
after
afternoon
again
against
ago
air
airplane
alarm
all
almost
alone
along
already
also
always
am
among
an
and
angry
animal
another
answer
any
anyone
appear
apple
are
arm
around
arrow
as
ask
asleep
at
ate
attention
aunt
awake
away
b
baby
back
bad
bag
ball
balloon
bang
bank
bark
barn
basket
be
bean
bear
beat
beautiful
became
because
become
bed
bee
been
before
began
begin
behind
believe
bell
belong
bend
bent
beside
best
better
between
big
bird
birthday
bit
bite
black
blanket
blew
block
blow
blue
board
boat
book
boot
born
borrow
both
bother
bottle
bottom
bought
bow
box
boy
branch
brave
bread
break
breakfast
breath
brick
bridge
bright
bring
broke
broken
brother
brought
brown
brush
build
bump
burn
bus
busy
but
butter
button
buy
by
c
cabin
cage
cake
call
came
camp
can
candle
candy
can't
cap
captain
car
card
care
careful
carrot *

Question 3

What's a good readability score?

Accepted Answer

We always recommend aiming for a Readable grade A. This ensures that your writing will reach the general public.

If you're measuring your text with the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, we recommend aiming for a FK Grade 8. This corresponds to 8th Grade in the USA education system. It is recommended for the general public.

It doesn't mean you're writing for an eighth-grader. Certainly, an eighth-grader can understand your content if it's written to that level. But writers and marketers from a wide variety of fields can benefit from this. Adults enjoy reading several grades below their actual reading level. Further, a lower Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level makes your content skimmable. This saves your reader's time. It also saves your time by reducing queries.

Question 4

Ogden Basic English Words List

Accepted Answer

The Ogden Basic English Word List is a valuable asset to those teaching or learning English. The 850 Ogden words are intended to be a starting point for anyone learning English.

The list is as follows:

a
able
about
account
acid
acros
across
act
addition
adjustment
advertisement
after
again
against
agreement
air
all
almost
am
among
amount
amusement
an
and
angle
angry
animal
answer
ant
any
apparatu
apparatus
apple
approval
are
argument
arm
army
art
as
at
attack
attempt
attention
attraction
authority
automatic
awake
away
baby
back
bad
bag
balance
ball
band
base
basin
basket
bath
be
beautiful
because
bed
bee
been
before
behavior
being
belief
bell
bent
berry
best
better
between
bird
birth
bit
bite
bitter
black
blade
blood
blow
blue
board
boat
body
boiling
bone
book
boot
bottle
box
boy
brain
brake
branch
bras
brass
bread
breath
brick
bridge
bright
broken
brother
brown
brush
bucket
building
bulb
burn
burst
busines
business
but
butter
button
by
cake
came
camera
canva
canvas
card
care
carriage
cart
cat
cause
certain
chain
chalk
chance
change
cheap
cheese
chemical
chest
chief
chin
church
circle
clean
clear
clock
cloth
cloud
coal
coat
cold
collar
color
comb
come
comfort
co

Question 5

What is the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level?

Accepted Answer

The Flesch Kincaid Grade Level is a widely used readability formula. It assesses the approximate reading grade level of a text.

The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level is equivalent to the US grade level of education. It shows the required education to be able to understand a text.

The formula is as follows:

Flesch Kincaid Grade Level formula

For information, please read our article on the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level.

Question 6

What are Lazy Words?

Accepted Answer

Lazy Words is a list of words exclusive to Readable. Our tool will highlight words people commonly fall back on.

For example, instead of "they ran very fast", you could say, "they sprinted". This is both simpler and more evocative.

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