4 Letter Words

Four letter words are the bricks in the "wall of Scrabble." In the beginning and midgame, you will play more 4 letter words than any other, often using an S to make both the word you're playing and another word into plurals. Four letter words can also help you get rid of less-than-optimal letters and then restore rack balance.

Most Popular Four-Letter Words

These are HAVE, THAT, and WITH. Vs are problematic in many situations, particularly if duplicated in your rack.

HAVE vs. WITH and THAT

HAVE can get rid of one of them for you, although you should keep the word VAY in mind, too, because it lets you get rid of both Vs at once.

WITH and THAT, although common, should not be played all that often. Ts are exceptionally useful at making bingos. You can even have three Ts in your hand and make TITTERS and TATTERS. You can make eight-letter bingos with two Ts, such as TENORIST and TRITONES. Therefore, it's desirable to keep Ts in your hand because there are lots of bingos that use them. WITH and THAT are good for the end game when you have to get rid of letters quickly, and you either have fewer than seven tiles or no space to play a bingo even if you had one.

Four-Letter Strategy

Whether you're playing Words With Friends, Scrabble, or any other word games, you have to know your four-letter word strategy. The trick is to play the letters with which it is difficult to make bingos so that you can get better letters for your next play. Most 4 letter words starting with Z are perfect for this, and they include ZANY, ZOON, ZYME, and ZOUK. You can also use 4 letter words starting with E to get rid of excess vowels. Examples include ECRU, EELS, EERY, and ECHO.

When it comes to 4 letter words starting with A, the same "get rid of excess vowels" trick applies. Some of the good words that will fulfill this include AGUE, AAHS, AERO, and ALAE. While having too many vowels is easier to deal with than having too many consonants, knowing these 4 letter words starting with A and 4 letter words starting with E are a terrific tool in maintaining rack balance. The same holds true of 4 letter words starting with Z, which is how you can get rid of troublesome consonants.

By judiciously playing four-letter words, you can become a stronger word games player after building your vocabulary.