Format 20 — The Basic English Format

EASY

This is a formatNot in Ogden's 850. "Form" is. A format is a form for putting things in. for writing with only simple words. 850 words. 18 operatorsOgden's word for the 18 things that do the work of all other verbs.. No hard words. If a word is not in the list, it is in red.
RULE: Every word in red is a word that is NOT in Basic English. Hover over it to see why it is here.
Ogden's Basic English 850 words 18 operators 0 verbs

I — What is this

This is a way of writing that uses only the 850 words of Basic English. Basic English was made by Charles Kay OgdenEnglish writer, 1889–1957. Made Basic English in 1930. in 1930. He had the idea that if you take away most words from English, what is still there is enough for almost everything.

Simple WikipediaThe free book of knowledge on the internet. Simple Wikipedia uses about 1,500 words — more than Basic English. does something like this. But Simple Wikipedia lets you use 1,500 words. Basic English uses only 850. And it has a rule that is harder than any other rule: there are no verbs.

There are 18 operators. They do the work of all other verbs. Every other word for an act — "walk," "eat," "build," "destroy" — has to be said with one of the 18 operators and a thing-word. "Walk" becomes "go on foot." "Destroy" becomes "put an end to." "Build" becomes "put up."

BNF — The 18 Operators

operator ::= come | get | give | go | keep | let | make | put | seem | take | be | do | have | say | see | send | may | will

BNF — Sentence Structure

sentence ::= subject operator object?
subject ::= thing-word | name
object ::= quality-word? thing-word (direction-word thing-word)?
thing-word ::= one of 400 general things | one of 200 picture-things
quality-word ::= one of 100 qualities | one of 50 opposites
direction-word ::= one of the direction/position words

II — The word list

Ogden's 850 words come in groups:

Group Count What they are
Operators 18 The only words that do the work of verbs
Things (general) 400 account, act, air, amount, angle, animal, answer, art, attack, attempt...
Things (picture) 200 apple, baby, bag, ball, band, basin, basket, bath, bed, bell...
Qualities (general) 100 able, acid, angry, automatic, beautiful, black, boiling, bright, broken...
Qualities (opposite) 50 awake/sleeping, bad/good, bent/straight, bitter/sweet, cheap/dear...
Direction / Position ~80 about, across, after, against, among, at, before, between, by, down...
Rule

If a word is not in the 850, you may not use it. You have to say what you have in mind with the words you have. This is the constraintNot Basic. "Limit" is Basic. A constraint is a limit on what you may do. — it is also the point. The limit is the formatNot Basic. "Form" is Basic..

III — How to say things

Every thought that needs a verb has to go through one of the 18 operators. This makes you say things in a different way. Sometimes the new way is longer. Sometimes it is more clear. Sometimes it is accidentallyNot Basic. "By chance" or "without design" would be Basic. beautiful.

Example — How to say "destroy"
"The army destroyed the bridge."
↓
"The army put an end to the bridge."
Example — How to say "explain"
"Let me explain the railgun."
↓
"Let me make the railgunNot Basic. A gun that sends metal at a great rate by the power of magnetsNot Basic. A thing with the property of pulling iron to it.. See: 1.foo/rail clear to you."
Example — How to say "I don't understand"
"I don't understand what Mikael is talking about."
↓
"The sense of what Mikael is saying is not clear to me."
Example — How to say "self-embodying"
"The format is self-embodying."
↓
"This formatNot Basic. is an example of itself."

IV — This is an example of itself

This paper is in the easy formatNot Basic.. It is writing about the easy formatNot Basic. in the easy formatNot Basic.. The word "formatNot Basic. The word keeps coming up because there is no Basic word for it. "Form" is the nearest, but a format is a form with rules. This is the one word the document lets itself have." is in red every time because it is not one of the 850. There is no Basic word for it. "Form" is near but not right. So it is marked, every time, and the reader sees: this is the one word we do not have and still need.

The other formatsNot Basic. in the family are:

# Name What it is, in Basic English
0nullNothing. The paper with no words on it.
6deckDark. Full of small notes that come up when you put your cursorNot Basic. The small arrow on your screen. over them. Like a control room at night.
8pipeA problemNot Basic. "Question" or "trouble" would be Basic. goes in one end. An answer may or may not come out the other end.
13suckGreen. For the dead. There is no way out.
17buttA paper about nothing, in a form for nothing.
18beckLight. The opposite of deck. Like being outside at the middle of the day.
19liveA red line at the top that keeps moving. The paper is a broadcastNot Basic. "Sending out" would be Basic. When a thing is sent out to all..
20easyThis. 850 words. 18 operators. No hard words. Words in red are not in the list. You are reading it.

V — When to use this

Use easy when:

— The thing you have to say is hard and you are not certain the reader will get it in normal English. The 850-word limit makes you say it more simply. If you are not able to say it simply, you do not have a good enough idea of it.

— You are writing for someone whose first language is not English. Basic English was made for this.

— You have the desire to see what a thought looks like when all the jargonNot Basic. Special words used by a small group that others do not have knowledge of. is taken away. The operators do not let you be unclear. "Put an end to" is more clear than "destroy" because you can see every part of the act.

— It would make you happy.

The point

The limit is the formatNot Basic.. If you take away 99% of the words, what is still there is the thought. If the thought does not make it through 850 words, it was not a thought. It was jargonNot Basic..

Form: easy (20) — System: 1.foo/system

850 words. 18 operators. Red words are not in the list.

C. K. Ogden, 1930. "What the World needs most is about 1,000 more dead languages — and one more alive."

GNU Bash 1.0 — March 2026.