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2-Letter Scrabble Words

Every valid two-letter word and strategies for high-scoring parallel plays

Why 2-Letter Words Matter

In Scrabble and Words with Friends, the player who knows the most two-letter words wins. They let you play parallel to existing words on the board, scoring points for multiple words in a single turn. For example, placing a word like CAT directly above AN can score for CA, AT, and TA simultaneously.

High-Scoring Two-Letter Words to Memorize

These short words contain high-value letters like Q, Z, X, and J. Memorize them to dump hard letters easily:

  • QI: Life energy (11 points). The most important word in Scrabble.
  • ZA: Slang abbreviation for pizza (11 points).
  • JO: A sweetheart or dear friend (9 points).
  • XU: A unit of currency in Vietnam (9 points).
  • AX: A tool used for chopping wood (9 points).
  • EX: The letter X, or a former spouse (9 points).
  • OX: A large bovine animal (9 points).
  • BY: Near or next to (7 points).
  • MY: Belonging to me (7 points).

Complete List of Standard 2-Letter Words

Here is a list of common valid two-letter words in Scrabble dictionary systems:

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY DE DO ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX FA FE GI GO HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IS IT JO KA KI LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OP OR OS OU OW OX OY PA PE PI PO QI RE SH SI SO TA TE TI TO UH UM UN UP US UT WE WO XI XU YA YE YO ZA

Parallel Play Strategy

Parallel plays involve laying a word right next to another word. Let's look at an example. If REST is already on the board, and you lay down SIT parallel to it:

R E S T
S I T _

You score points for SIT plus the vertical two-letter cross-words created: RS, EI, and ST. This strategy can easily turn a simple 3-letter, 5-point word into a 25-point play!