141 of the 300 most used English words listed in Letters and Sounds have tricky spellings:
animals, dragon, have, - again, great, they, - after, are, asked, can?t, fast, last, laughed, plants, -
air, bear, their, there, there?s, where, -
any, many, said, head, ready, friends, - very, every, everyone,
were, first, girl, birds, work,
been, feet, green, keep, need, queen, sea, see, sleep, three, tree, trees, even, here, these, each, eat, please, tea, key, be, he, he?s, me, she, we, we?re, people, -
it?s, live, lived, - - eyes, find, I, I?ll, I?m, I?ve, night, right, -
gone, want, wanted, was, what, before, more, your, door, -
all, called, because, saw, small, water, thought,
don?t, most, oh, only, grow, know, snow, window, boat,
do, into, to, two, who, through, you, - school, -
could, couldn?t, would, pulled, put, -
another, coming, mother, once, other, come, one, some, something, down, town,
when, which, while, why, - eggs, giant, magic, -
across, house, horse, mouse, let?s, that?s, - of, off, - Mr, Mrs, suddenly, narrator, -
The other 159 are regular:
a, about, along, am, an, and, around, as, at, away, baby, back, bad, bed, began, best, better, big, book, box, boy, but, by, came, can, car, cat, children, clothes, cold, cried, dad, dark, day, did, didn?t, different, dog, duck, end, ever, fell, fish, floppy, fly, food, for, found, fox, from, fun, garden, gave, get, go, going, good, got, gran, grandad, had, hard, has, hat, help, her, him, his, home, hot, how, if, in, inside, is, it, its, jumped, just, king, let, like, liked, little, long, look, looked, looking, looks, lots, made, make, man, may, miss, morning, much, mum, must, my, never, new, next, no, not, now, old, on, or, our, out, over, park, place, play, rabbit, ran, red, river, room, round, run, sat, say, shouted, so, soon, still, stop, stopped, sun, take, tell, than, that, the, them, then, thing, things, think, this, time, told, too, took, top, under, up, us, use, way, well, went, will, wind, wish, with, yes.