基本英語850（はっぴゃく・ごじゅう）って、受験英語の単語帳のことではない。850語の基本語と、文法に関する11項目を押さえて、英語を まず簡便に、そして自分の言いたいことを実践しちゃおうという野心的なプログラムのことである。これをマスターする意義は、洗練された英語を学ぶこと自体 に目的があるのではなく、自分の表現したいことを英語でてっとり早く表現し、自分自身の提示をとおして、英語の話者たちに、その存在を位置づけ、自分の権 利と存在感を示すこと、すなわち、英語圏においてその人を【自由にする】ということ、に理念づけられているのである。

ベーシック・イングリッシュは、英国の言語学者・哲学者のチャールズ・ケイ・オグデン：Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957)によって考案された、英単語の基本語彙集。オグデンは奇行で有名だったが、アイヴァー・アームストロング・ リチャーズ：Ivor Armstrong Richards, 1893-1979とともに意味論（semantics）の研究で有名であり、これもまたリチャーズと共に、英文批評のニュー・クリティシズムというジャ ンルをつくりあげた。

では、その文法ルールは（ウィキ日本語による）下記のとおり

1. 単語の終わりに s をつけることで、複数になる。複数にするために特別の方法があるとしたら、es や ies を使うこと。
2. 150の形容詞のそれぞれを変えるには、2つの語尾がある。er と est だ
3. 動詞の語尾を変えるには、2つの語尾がある。ing と ed だ
4. ly をつけることで、形容詞が副詞になる
5. 量について言いたいときは、more と most を使えばいい。er と est のことも憶えて使うこと
6. 形容詞に un をつけると、反対の意味になる。
7. Do をつけて、単語の順番を逆にすると、質問になる
8. 演算語（動詞）と代名詞は、ふつうの英語のように活用する
9. 2つの名詞（例えば milkman）、あるいは、名詞と指示語（ sundown ）を組み合わせて、複合語をつくる
10. 寸法や数字、お金、年月日、時計の時間、国際語は英語の形式を使う。例えば、日時 : 20 May 1972 at 21:00
11. 産業や科学の単語を使用すること。例えば、この文法においては、教授のためにいくつかの特別な単語が使われる が、これはベーシック英語の一部ではない
    

動作語　100

come, get, give, go, keep, let, make, put, seem, take, be, do, have, say, see, send, may, will,

about, across, after, against, among, at, before, between, by, down, from, in, off, on, over, through, to, under, up, with, as, for, of, till, than,
a, the, all, any, every, no, other, some, such, that, this, I, he, you, who, and, because, but, or, if, though, while, how, when, where, why,
again, ever, far, forward, here, near, now, out, still, then, there, together, well,
almost, enough, even, little, much, not, only, quite, so, very, tomorrow, yesterday,

物事に関するもの（400の一般的な語）

account, act, addition, adjustment, advertisement, agreement, air, amount, amusement, animal, answer, apparatus, approval, argument, art, attack, attempt, attention, attraction, authority, back, balance, base, behaviour, belief, birth, bit, bite, blood, blow, body, brass, bread, breath, brother, building, burn, burst, business, butter, canvas, care, cause, chalk, chance, change, cloth, coal, colour, comfort, committee, company, comparison, competition, condition, connection, control, cook, copper, copy, cork, cotton, cough, country, cover, crack, credit, crime, crush, cry, current, curve, damage, danger, daughter, day, death, debt, decision, degree, design, desire, destruction, detail, development, digestion, direction, discovery, discussion, disease, disgust, distance, distribution, division, doubt, drink, driving, dust, earth, edge, education, effect, end, error, event, example, exchange, existence, expansion, experience, expert, fact, fall, family, father, fear, feeling, fiction, field, fight, fire, flame, flight, flower, fold, food, force, form, friend, front, fruit, glass, gold, government, grain, grass, grip, group, growth, guide, harbour, harmony, hate, hearing, heat, help, history, hole, hope, hour, humour, ice, idea, impulse, increase, industry, ink, insect, instrument, insurance, interest, invention, iron, jelly, join, journey, judge, jump, kick, kiss, knowledge, land, language, laugh, law, lead, learning, leather, letter, level, lift, light, limit, linen, liquid, list, look, loss, love, machine, man, manager, mark, market, mass, meal, measure, meat, meeting, memory, metal, middle, milk, mind, mine, minute, mist, money, month, morning, mother, motion, mountain, move, music, name, nation, need, news, night, noise, note, number, observation, offer, oil, operation, opinion, order, organization, ornament, owner, page, pain, paint, paper, part, paste, payment, peace, person, place, plant, play, pleasure, point, poison, polish, porter, position, powder, power, price, print, process, produce, profit, property, prose, protest, pull, punishment, purpose, push, quality, question, rain, range, rate, ray, reaction, reading, reason, record, regret, relation, religion, representative, request, respect, rest, reward, rhythm, rice, river, road, roll, room, rub, rule, run, salt, sand, scale, science, sea, seat, secretary, selection, self, sense, servant, sex, shade, shake, shame, shock, side, sign, silk, silver, sister, size, sky, sleep, slip, slope, smash, smell, smile, smoke, sneeze, snow, soap, society, son, song, sort, sound, soup, space, stage, start, statement, steam, steel, step, stitch, stone, stop, story, stretch, structure, substance, sugar, suggestion, summer, support, surprise, swim, system, talk, taste, tax, teaching, tendency, test, theory, thing, thought, thunder, time, tin, top, touch, trade, transport, trick, trouble, turn, twist, unit, use, value, verse, vessel, view, voice, walk, war, wash, waste, water, wave, wax, way, weather, week, weight, wind, wine, winter, woman, wood, wool, word, work, wound, writing, year.

物事に関するもの（200の視覚に訴える語）

angle, ant, apple, arch, arm, army, baby, bag, ball, band, basin, basket, bath, bed, bee, bell, berry, bird, blade, board, boat, bone, book, boot, bottle, box, boy, brain, brake, branch, brick, bridge, brush, bucket, bulb, button, cake, camera, card, cart, carriage, cat, chain, cheese, chest, chin, church, circle, clock, cloud, coat, collar, comb, cord, cow, cup, curtain, cushion, dog, door, drain, drawer, dress, drop, ear, egg, engine, eye, face, farm, feather, finger, fish, flag, floor, fly, foot, fork, fowl, frame, garden, girl, glove, goat, gun, hair, hammer, hand, hat, head, heart, hook, horn, horse, hospital, house, island, jewel, kettle, key, knee, knife, knot, leaf, leg, library, line, lip, lock, map, match, monkey, moon, mouth, muscle, nail, neck, needle, nerve, net, nose, nut, office, orange, oven, parcel, pen, pencil, picture, pig, pin, pipe, plane, plate, plough, pocket, pot, potato, prison, pump, rail, rat, receipt, ring, rod, roof, root, sail, school, scissors, screw, seed, sheep, shelf, ship, shirt, shoe, skin, skirt, snake, sock, spade, sponge, spoon, spring, square, stamp, star, station, stem, stick, stocking, stomach, store, street, sun, table, tail, thread, throat, thumb, ticket, toe, tongue, tooth, town, train, tray, tree, trousers, umbrella, wall, watch, wheel, whip, whistle, window, wing, wire, worm.

状態に関するもの（100の一般的な語）

able, acid, angry, automatic, beautiful, black, boiling, bright, broken, brown, cheap, chemical, chief, clean, clear, common, complex, conscious, cut, deep, dependent, early, elastic, electric, equal, fat, fertile, first, fixed, flat, free, frequent, full, general, good, great, grey, hanging, happy, hard, healthy, high, hollow, important, kind, like, living, long, male, married, material, medical, military, natural, necessary, new, normal, open, parallel, past, physical, political, poor, possible, present, private, probable, quick, quiet, ready, red, regular, responsible, right, round, same, second, separate, serious, sharp, smooth, sticky, stiff, straight, strong, sudden, sweet, tall, thick, tight, tired, true, violent, waiting, warm, wet, wide, wise, yellow, young.

状態に関するもの（50の相対する語）

awake, bad, bent, bitter, blue, certain, cold, complete, cruel, dark, dead, dear, delicate, different, dirty, dry, false, feeble, female, foolish, future, green, ill, last, late, left, loose, loud, low, mixed, narrow, old, opposite, public, rough, sad, safe, secret, short, shut, simple, slow, small, soft, solid, special, strange, thin, white, wrong.

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