Why English is so hard?
@riteeshpatidar9026 (504)
9 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
1 Mar 16
I agree that all these different word forms are highly confusing!
The reason is that English is really a mixture of at least five languages from completely different language families and, as the language grew, it assimilated words and constructions from each of them. In addition it has borrowed words from several dozen other languages along the way. That, I suppose, is partly what makes it such a rich and expressive language.
Let's confuse you a little more!
One sheep is called a 'sheep' but two sheep are still 'sheep'. A young sheep is called a lamb and a female sheep is called a ewe (OK, so you may have learned that 'a' before a vowel becomes 'an' but that's not true all the time! It all depends how it's pronounced.) The meat that we get from sheep is called mutton. Why? Because the ruling classes in the 11th Century spoke French and, as they were the ones who ate the meat, they called it by their name for sheep 'mouton'! It was the same with oxen (beef) and pigs (pork).
Why is the verb 'to be' so complicated? You know how it goes: 'I am', 'thou art', 'he is', 'we/you/they are' and then the past tenses 'I was', 'I have been', &c.! Well, each different form - 'be', 'is', 'am/are', 'was/were' originally either belonged to a different language or had a separate meaning ('am' in "I am English" means something different from "I am speaking English" and in some languages - Spanish, for example - you would use a completely different word!). In some parts of England it is actually still correct to say 'I be', 'du [thou] bist' &c.!
Enough!
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
1 Mar 16
@MALUSE Although modern English is certainly predominantly Anglo-Saxon and Norman French, there are definite influences from other languages - Old Norse, Anglic, and Celtic - all of which influenced the vocabulary, grammar and phonology of Anglo-Saxon in its transition to Old English and then to Middle English. It was at that point, of course, that the Normans arrived and that Norman French began to change the language of Southern Britain drastically.
@youless (112561)
• Guangzhou, China
3 Mar 16
@Rianel_Lewrej It is so impressive you learned Chinese. You really challenged a difficult language
@Rianel_Lewrej (225)
•
3 Mar 16
Learning the English Language is a little easy, but Chinese, especially Mandarin, it's really hard! I tried to learn Mandarin when I was in High School, but gave up because no one is there to teach me and it is really hard.
1 person likes this
@alchemistrx (2547)
• Philippines
1 Mar 16
English has rules too you know. You have to follow those rules to distinguish what to use
1 person likes this
@Rianel_Lewrej (225)
•
3 Mar 16
Grammar rules can be a headache but can be really useful.
1 person likes this
@abrielle28 (502)
• Philippines
1 Mar 16
Every language is unique and has its own identity. I think english is one of the easiest language,basically its our primary language in schools in our country. being able to talk in english is a huge advantage. if you find it hard but you really wanted to learn then you should be patient in studying it,and keep in mind that there's always a harder language to learn than english.
@Rianel_Lewrej (225)
•
3 Mar 16
It really is hard. Sometimes, confusing, sometimes just plain hard to understand, especially the grammar structure. The more you go deep, the more it makes you confused.
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
1 Mar 16
Every language has some rules that are confusing to us because we're not used to them.Personally I think it's quite a bit of work to remember to switch between formal and informal speech when talking to certain people and having to use gender assigned wording so people can tell if you're a boy or girl since apparently they can't figure that out by looking.
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
1 Mar 16
@riteeshpatidar9026,Lol!!
And why 'but' is not pronounced like 'put'?Every language has some grammatical rules.I don't think English is difficult.With a little practice we can learn how to write flawless English.
And why 'but' is not pronounced like 'put'?Every language has some grammatical rules.I don't think English is difficult.With a little practice we can learn how to write flawless English.
