The 127 Two-Letter Collins Scrabble Words Ranked by Usefulness

The two-letter word list is among the highest-leverage memorisation projects in Scrabble. Per Collins' official two-letter word list, the current Collins Scrabble Words lexicon (CSW) contains 127 valid two-letter words. Between them they turn many turns from a search into an autopilot play. This guide groups them by real-world usefulness and shows how each family earns its place on the board.

Scope note: this article uses the current Collins list (CSW, 127 entries). Our finder ships the free open ENABLE English word list, which contains 96 two-letter entries — the two lists overlap heavily but are not identical. Words below that are Collins-only will be flagged as CSW-only. The North American tournament dictionary (NWL2023) is closer to ENABLE than to CSW; if you play NASPA-rules Scrabble in North America, check NWL2023 before assuming a word here is legal at your table.

What changed between the old 124 and today's 127

The prior editions of Collins Scrabble Words listed 124 two-letter words. CSW19 (July 2019) added exactly three:

• OK — the common English interjection, finally admitted.
• EW — an interjection expressing disgust.
• ZE — a gender-neutral pronoun.

Nothing was removed. If you learned the old 124, you only need to add these three to be current with CSW.

Why two-letter words are worth more than they score

A two-letter word rarely scores well by itself. QI is worth 11 points on a bare square, ZA is 11, but most sit at 2 or 3. Their value comes from parallel plays: laying a longer word alongside an existing word so that every tile you play also spells a new two-letter word going the other way. Every parallel play scores its own points plus the two-letter cross-word points. A modestly-scoring five-letter play stacked next to a word can turn a 12-point turn into a 30-plus-point turn.

The rankings

Rankings below are grouped by how often each family fires in typical club play, not by point value or alphabet. Treat "high-value" language as "among the most useful", not as an absolute ordering — real value depends on your rack, the board, and the dictionary in force.

Tier S — learn these first

The single most reliable scoring plays on the whole list. Every entry here is in both Collins and ENABLE.

• QI (11 pts base). Among the most-cited plays for a stranded Q; regularly reaches 30+ points on a triple-letter square.
• ZA (11 pts base). Same trick with a Z. Informal for pizza.
• XI (9 pts base). Greek letter; very productive in parallel plays.
• XU (9 pts base). Vietnamese monetary unit.
• JO (9 pts base). Scots term of endearment; hooks to JOB, JOE, JOG, JOT, JOY.
• AA, AE, AI, OE, OI — vowel-clump rescuers. Cheap points, huge board flexibility.

Tier A — high-frequency parallel plays

The E-family is the densest in the whole list — every one of these is valid:

EA, ED, EE, EF, EH, EL, EM, EN, ER, ES, ET, EW, EX

Also very frequent:

• A-family: AA, AB, AD, AE, AG, AH, AI, AL, AM, AN, AR, AS, AT, AW, AX, AY.
• O-family: OB, OD, OE, OF, OH, OI, OK, OM, ON, OO, OP, OR, OS, OU, OW, OX, OY.
• B/D/F/G-family: BA, BE, BI, BO, BY; DA, DE, DI, DO; FA, FE, FY; GI, GO, GU.
• H/I/K/L/M-family: HA, HE, HI, HM, HO; ID, IF, IN, IO, IS, IT; KA, KI, KO, KY; LA, LI, LO; MA, ME, MI, MM, MO, MU, MY.
• N/P/S/T-family: NA, NE, NO, NU, NY; PA, PE, PI, PO; SH, SI, SO, ST; TA, TE, TI, TO.

Tier B — situational but worth knowing

• U/W/Y-family: UG, UH, UM, UN, UP, UR, US, UT; WE, WO; YA, YE, YO, YU.
• Rarer starters: CH, JA, MM.

Tier C — Collins-only entries to memorise last

These sit in CSW but are outside ENABLE and NWL2023, so they'll be marked invalid by our finder and by many North American clubs. Play them only where CSW is in force.

• GU (a Shetland violin).
• KY (Scots plural of cow).
• FY (an exclamation of disapproval).
• CH (dialect for "I").
• DI (a plural of "deus").
• HM and MM (hesitation sounds).
• NY, YU, ZE, ZO and other CSW-only edges.

If a word above your keyboard looks illegal to your finder here, that's expected — our tool uses ENABLE, not CSW.

Worked example: a parallel play in action

Suppose the board contains the word HORSE written horizontally. You want to play TABLE below it, letter-aligned. Five new vertical two-letter combos form: HT, OA, RB, SL, EE. Only EE is on the Collins list, but that single crossing still adds free points on top of TABLE's own score. A better alignment might produce three valid crossings — always test placements for cross-word value before committing.

How to memorise the list

• Spend one session per starting letter — 26 sessions cover the full alphabet.
• Chant them by family: "AA, AB, AD, AE, AG, AH, AI, AL, AM, AN, AR, AS, AT, AW, AX, AY" beats staring at a card.
• Use our 2-letter word list as your master reference for what our ENABLE-based finder will accept.
• After a week of drills, review by playing the anagram solver with two letters at a time to test recall.
• Print the list and stick it on the fridge. Passive exposure adds up.

High-value plays to watch for

Two-letter words alone can score 30+ when placed on the right premium squares. These are among the most productive setups, not a definitive ranking:

• QI or ZA with the Q or Z on a triple-letter square: 31 points base before any cross-words.
• XI on a double-letter with an X-hook forming a second word.
• JO on a double-word square, especially with a hook forming JOB, JOE, JOG, JOT or JOY.

Building parallel-play stacks

The real skill is combining a longer play with two- or three-letter parallel words. Use our pattern search tool to find five-letter words that, when placed under a common anchor like HORSE, produce the maximum number of valid two-letter crosses in your target dictionary.

Where two-letter words fit in the wider study plan

The two-letter list is week 1 of any serious Scrabble study plan. It's the highest-leverage list because it fires almost every turn. Learn it before the 3-letter list, before Q-without-U, before bingo stems.

Common mistakes

• Playing a "safe" three-letter word when a two-letter word plus a parallel stack would score more.
• Assuming a word legal in Collins (CSW) is also legal in the current North American list (NWL2023), or vice versa. Most overlap, but the edges differ — always check the dictionary in force at your table.
• Ignoring two-letter words containing Q, Z, X or J. These are among the biggest scoring opportunities on the whole list.

The complete Collins 127

Alphabetical, per Collins' official two-letter word list:

AA, AB, AD, AE, AG, AH, AI, AL, AM, AN, AR, AS, AT, AW, AX, AY, BA, BE, BI, BO, BY, CH, DA, DE, DI, DO, EA, ED, EE, EF, EH, EL, EM, EN, ER, ES, ET, EW, EX, FA, FE, FY, GI, GO, GU, HA, HE, HI, HM, HO, ID, IF, IN, IO, IS, IT, JA, JO, KA, KI, KO, KY, LA, LI, LO, MA, ME, MI, MM, MO, MU, MY, NA, NE, NO, NU, NY, OB, OD, OE, OF, OH, OI, OK, OM, ON, OO, OP, OR, OS, OU, OW, OX, OY, PA, PE, PI, PO, QI, RE, SH, SI, SO, ST, TA, TE, TI, TO, UG, UH, UM, UN, UP, UR, US, UT, WE, WO, XI, XU, YA, YE, YO, YU, ZA, ZE, ZO.

FAQs

How many two-letter words are legal? 127 in the current Collins Scrabble Words (CSW), used for international competitive Scrabble. The current North American tournament list (NWL2023) is smaller. Our finder ships ENABLE, an open list with 96 two-letter entries.

What are the newest two-letter words? CSW19 (July 2019) added OK, EW and ZE. Nothing has been removed.

Which two-letter word scores the most? QI or ZA on a triple-letter square can score 31 in isolation and considerably more with cross-words — but the "best" word always depends on the rack, the anchor and the dictionary in force.

Are two-letter words allowed in casual home games? Yes, if you play by tournament rules. Some house rules ban them; every official Scrabble tournament accepts the full list for the dictionary in force.