Two-Letter Scrabble Words: The Complete List With Tips

If you learn only one word list for Scrabble, make it the two-letter words. They're the glue of every strong game: they let you squeeze plays alongside existing words, rack up points on two premium squares at once, and dump awkward tiles like Q, X and Z. Top players know every one of them by heart, and with a little structure, so can you.

How many two-letter words are there?

Our dictionary, which follows the international Collins word list used in most countries outside North America, contains 128 two-letter words. The North American list (NWL), used in US and Canadian tournaments, is shorter; it doesn't accept several Collins words such as CH, EE, ZO, KY and NY. If you play in North America or use the Words With Friends dictionary, check a contested word before relying on it.

The full list, grouped by letter

Starts with	Words
A	AA, AB, AD, AE, AG, AH, AI, AL, AM, AN, AO, AR, AS, AT, AW, AX, AY
B	BA, BE, BI, BO, BY
C	CH
D	DA, DE, DI, DO
E	EA, ED, EE, EF, EH, EL, EM, EN, ER, ES, ET, EX
F	FA, FE, FY
G	GI, GO, GU
H	HA, HE, HI, HM, HO
I	ID, IF, IN, IO, IS, IT
J	JA, JO
K	KA, KI, KO, KY
L	LA, LI, LO
M	MA, ME, MI, MM, MO, MU, MY
N	NA, NE, NO, NU, NY
O	OB, OD, OE, OF, OH, OI, OM, ON, OO, OP, OR, OS, OU, OW, OX, OY
P	PA, PE, PI, PO
Q	QI
R	RE
S	SH, SI, SJ, SO, ST
T	TA, TE, TI, TO
U	UA, UG, UH, UK, UM, UN, UP, UR, US, UT
W	WE, WO
X	XI, XU
Y	YA, YE, YO, YU
Z	ZA, ZO

No two-letter words start with V. Words starting with C, Q and R are rare; there's just one each.

The high-value two-letter words

These are the ones that score. Memorize them first:

QI: the most important word in the game. It lets you play the Q (10 points) without a U.
ZA and ZO: Z for 10 points with a common vowel.
XI, XU, AX, EX, OX: five ways to play the X (8 points).
JA and JO: two ways to play the J (8 points).
KA, KI, KO, KY: easy homes for the K (5 points).

Placed well, a two-letter word with a high-value tile can score in both directions. Put the X on a triple-letter square where it forms two words (such as AX across and XI down) and the X counts twice: 8 × 3 × 2 = 48 points from a single tile.

A memory trick: learn them by vowel

Instead of memorizing the list alphabetically, learn which consonants go with each vowel. For example, with A first: AB, AD, AG, AH, AL, AM, AN, AR, AS, AT, AW, AX, AY. With A second: BA, DA, FA, HA, JA, KA, LA, MA, NA, PA, TA, YA, ZA. Most players find two short groups easier than one long alphabet.

The "vowel dump" words

Some two-letter words use only vowels. They're handy when your rack is overloaded with vowels:

AA (a type of lava)
AE (Scots for "one")
AI (a three-toed sloth)
AO, EA, EE, IO, OE, OI, OO, OU, UA

Playing two vowels at once is a simple way to rebalance your rack without exchanging tiles.

The "no vowel" words

A few two-letter words have no vowels at all: CH, HM, MM, SH, SJ, ST. Words like HM and SH are useful when you're short of vowels, and they're often overlooked by opponents.

How to use two-letter words: parallel plays

A parallel play places a word directly alongside another word, forming several two-letter words at once. Suppose BE is on the board, running across. You play OX directly underneath it, with O under B and X under E. You've now made three words:

OX across (your new word)
BO down
EX down

The X counts in both OX and EX, so you score it twice. If the X lands on a premium square, the payoff is even bigger.

The hard part is knowing which pairs are valid. Placing OX under AT instead would make AO (valid) and TX (not a word), so the play fails. Players who know the list instantly can spot these plays; everyone else misses them. When it works, a parallel play often outscores a longer word placed elsewhere, because every tile counts in two words.

Practice routine

Learn the high-value words (QI, ZA, ZO, XI, XU, AX, EX, OX, JA, JO) this week.
Next week, learn all A-words and words ending in A.
Then work through one vowel per week.
Test yourself: cover the table and list every word starting with O.

You can also use our word finder with a length filter of 2 and a "starts with" letter to quiz yourself, or the Scrabble word finder to see which two-letter plays your rack allows.

Next steps

Once two-letter words are second nature, move on to three-letter Scrabble words, which open up even more parallel plays and hooks, and our list of Q words without U.