Words that make English Such a Difficult Language

[Alpo]

>All spanish vowels; have ONLY one sound and are NEVER silent. You see a vowel, you say it. ah, eh, ee, o, ooh.<

My name is Ron. When I was working in Puertorico, everyone - EVERYONE - I met called me something between Rune and Ruin. Obviously the O, in Spanish, is pronounced OO, like "boo", or "good".

But then we have JOSE and GATO, where the O is pronounced O, like "go" or "blow".

Looks like vowels have more than just one sound.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

your - shows ownership (it's your hat)

yore - yesteryear, the past

you're - contraction of "you are" and pronunciation should be a bit different than the other two

Then there are...

its - shows possession (the cat cleans its paw)

it's - contraction of "it is"

 

[steelslaver]

Back

I had to back up to get the back of my truck close enough after going back for the 2nd load on the back end of the trailer.

Once my brother and I were trying to position something just right using a fork lift. He was telling the driver, up, down, back up, back down, repeatedly. Finally, we got it shimmed just right and he told the forklift driver "back up" meaning back away. LOL back up in the air it went causing us to lose our careful adjustment. My brother yelled what are you doing at the fork lift driver, I started laughing and told him "exactly what you told him" Then, we went back to working on it.

The there is a back up wrench used when both the head of the bolt and the nut turn when trying to tighten or loosen. I once held out my hand and asked for a back up saying "back up" when tightening some bolts. At first I was puzzled when the helper backed away from me.

Or when confronted with his mistake he got his back up.

Or some guys carry a back up gun.

Its not just the words but, the context in which we use then that can get confusing.

 

[soFlaNative]

Its not just the words but, the context in which we use then that can get confusing.

My right or you're right? Right?
Right there! No, back right! Which right?
Been there....

 

[mtgianni]

Like the old country song pronunciation is a lot as well.
"You wooden read my ladder if I rode you,
You axed me not to cull you on the phone,
Butt there's won thing I'm wanting to tale you
So I rode it in the words of this song".
[My apologies to Kitty Wells]

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

And if the h is silent, why wasn't the president called erbert oover?

E probably was, in certain parts of England.

 

[Gamecock]

And why isn't it the Kansas City Chieves?

 

[soFlaNative]

And why isn't it the Kansas City Chieves?

Great Googly Mooglie!

 

[Rustyt1953]

I am bi-lingual. I speak both english and hillbilly.

Both have served me well.

 

[MOONDAWG]

I'm surprised no ones mentioned...

SAIL
SALE and
SELL

 

[SailDesign]

I'm surprised no ones mentioned...

SAIL
SALE and
SELL

What the heck kind of accent do you have where "Sell" would sound like "Sail?"

I obviously need to get out of New England more often.

 

[SailDesign]

I am bi-lingual. I speak both english and hillbilly.

Both have served me well.

Hah! English and American here...

 

[kaaskop49]

While on vacations in the 80s, I met many young Europeans who spoke fluent, colloquial English. When I asked how this was possible, they said that American TV shows such as "Dallas" were broadcast in their countries.

It can be difficult for new immigrants to our country to learn correct English, since their only models are other immigrants who arrived just before they did. Many ESL courses for adults are not designed to teach them English, rather to keep them in the ESL program interminably. My gal's English was rudimentary until she began to base her speech patterns on my example. Fortunately, she has managed to filter out the words which can't be repeated here and which I use to excess, I am told. She does find them entertaining and amusing.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[Gamecock]

It can be difficult for new immigrants to our country to learn correct English, since their only models are other immigrants who arrived just before they did.

It pisses me off when I hear immigrant laborers speaking Spanish. They need to speak English all they can, and help those around them learn English as best they can.

I want scream at them, "If you don't learn English, you will ALWAYS BE LABORERS!"

 

[SailDesign]

It pisses me off when I hear immigrant laborers speaking Spanish. They need to speak English all they can, and help those around them learn English as best they can.

I want scream at them, "If you don't learn English, you will ALWAYS BE LABORERS!"

On the other hand, I get pissed off at Americans (and Brits) who go overseas to places like Nepal or Scandinavia, and complain that there isn't a MacDonald's on every corner.

It is the same issue.

 

[Jack Flash]

it's - contraction of "it is"

it's - also a contraction for "it has" as in "it's been a long night." Not surprisingly, contractions are frowned on in formal writing.

Pity the non-English speaker who encounters
'tis ...... it is ('Tis the season to be jolly)
'twas ... it was ('Twas the night before Christmas)

 

[Stevens]

these are simple but so often misused
to
too
Steve W

 

[oneounceload]

It's is also a contradiction to the general rule where the apostrophe like that is used to show possession, but in this case "its" is not plural but possessive...........

All of the rules I taught first graders had "exceptions" that made no sense. English has so many influences:

American English - Wikipedia

 

[Abbynormal]

A perfect example is to, too, two. tew & tue.
I'm going to..............
He did it too..............
I bought two.............
Tew did what?
Tuesday

 

[kaaskop49]

Those of us older folks have much less difficulty with the peculiarities of English because we read (past tense) more and were thereby exposed to the formal language to a much greater extent. During summers in high school, for example, we received reading lists of history titles and novels. We were to choose 6 or 7 from the 2 lists and type reports to be turned in at the start of the school year. Have a nice summer, kids!

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103