Determining the most common letters in English isn’t just about guesswork. By counting the frequency of letters in actual text, researches have created detailed tables that show how often each letter appears.
Some researchers even analyze specific settings like novels, news articles or scientific papers to see if letter frequencies change based on context. For example, fiction might use more “descriptive” letters like A or O, while academic writing might rely on T and N. Analyzing dictionaries is another common approach.
Interestingly, the rankings for most common letters can vary by language. In Spanish, for instance, vowels like A and E still dominate, but consonants like L and R play bigger roles. This highlights how the structure and usage of language influence letter frequencies.
