"I want scream at them." Do you mean "I want to scream at them"?
Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
Words that make English Such a Difficult Language
- Thread starter Jack Flash
- Start date
"I want scream at them." Do you mean "I want to scream at them"?
Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
Ice cream for their heads! (Not original to me. Walt Kelly. Maybe Porky. On second thought, a perplexed Pogo musing on Porky's statement.)
Last edited:
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Homophones are the best. Like driving a steak through the heart of a vampire. Only effective on vegetarian vampires.
When I first came to this country as a student, I had eight years of formal English under my belt, and had read Macbeth, but was woefully short on practical everyday vocabulary.
I kept a journal back then. I still have it. On the first day with my host family, I noted that I had serial for breakfast.
As opposed to a cereal killer, I presume, who chokes his victims to death with raisin bran.
dave holl
Absent Comrade
Anyone know why "COLONEL" is pronounced "KERNEL"?
OP
Jack Flash
Member
Here are a few more
air
err
ere
e'er
heir
Admittedly, some of them are a little archaic, but reading has been mentioned ... so if you read some older poetry ...
About "his, hers, its ..."violating the "apostrophe s" rule. These are possessive pronouns. By definition, they indicate possession, therefore an apostrophe + s would be redundant. Nobody said English is easy!
When I taught in the Detroit Public School system, students would write "The book is mine's." I would explain that "mine" indicates possession by definition, you don't need to make it even more possessive. Unfortunately, this usually just elicited a blank look.
air
err
ere
e'er
heir
Admittedly, some of them are a little archaic, but reading has been mentioned ... so if you read some older poetry ...
About "his, hers, its ..."violating the "apostrophe s" rule. These are possessive pronouns. By definition, they indicate possession, therefore an apostrophe + s would be redundant. Nobody said English is easy!
When I taught in the Detroit Public School system, students would write "The book is mine's." I would explain that "mine" indicates possession by definition, you don't need to make it even more possessive. Unfortunately, this usually just elicited a blank look.
Interestingly, to me anyway, is that Japanese speakers have great Spanish pronunciation. (I speak Japanese fluently.)
I was in Guatemala in 1985, learned a couple of phrases, and the locals, thinking I was fluent, would come back at me with a barrage that was, of course, totally incomprehensible to me.
I do think Spanish a useful language to know. So many places, countries, use it, especially Central and South America, of course. (Read recently that in the US we have more Spanaish speakers than in Spain. I ain't losing any sleep over it, frankly.)
I was in Guatemala in 1985, learned a couple of phrases, and the locals, thinking I was fluent, would come back at me with a barrage that was, of course, totally incomprehensible to me.
I do think Spanish a useful language to know. So many places, countries, use it, especially Central and South America, of course. (Read recently that in the US we have more Spanaish speakers than in Spain. I ain't losing any sleep over it, frankly.)
Alpo
Member
The possessive form of pronouns is just a simple S. Not just "its", but all of them.
Hers, ours, yours, his (hes, with a slight spelling change), theirs. Once you realize that, you never have problems with it's/its again.
Or you could go with "him fella belonga to".
SailDesign
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Bkreutz
US Veteran
I'm first generation American, both my parents are/were German so I grew up bi-lingual (working in Germany for 6 years didn't hurt either). Since English is a combination of German and French (Vikings and Normans intermingling in England) I always say... "The parts of English that make sense and the words sound like they are spelled is the German part, the nonsense part is all French" There are still a lot of words that still don't make sense to me (after speaking English for 65 years!) I know what the correct words are, but I still find myself shaking my head.
There are still a lot of words that still don't make sense to me (after speaking English for 65 years!) I know what the correct words are, but I still find myself shaking my head.
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
I used to know the detailed explanation, something about a consonant shift from old French, but basically our spelling is French (le colonel), but our pronounciation parallels Spanish (el coronel).
Bkreutz
US Veteran
Stumbled upon a few more.
You can use the "s".
sent
Or you can use the "c".
cent
Or you can use both
scent
You can use the "s".
sent
Or you can use the "c".
cent
Or you can use both
scent
Have you tried learning Chinese?
ExcitableBoy
US Veteran
Knew a native Japanese in Argentina who had a different experience. They all complained about his accent.
OP
Jack Flash
Member
What about subtle distinctions in the language like
number vs. amount
farther vs. further
?
I was just listening to the oldies station and heard a singer wishing he could find the word "with the right amount of letters, just the right sound ..."
Ok, it's only a pop song, and "with the right number of letters ..." somehow sounds too clinical. But heck, make it "with all the right letters, just the right sound ..." or the like. It's not Shakespeare.
number vs. amount
farther vs. further
?
I was just listening to the oldies station and heard a singer wishing he could find the word "with the right amount of letters, just the right sound ..."
Ok, it's only a pop song, and "with the right number of letters ..." somehow sounds too clinical. But heck, make it "with all the right letters, just the right sound ..." or the like. It's not Shakespeare.
Bozz10mm
US Veteran
What do those in Poland use to shine their shoes? Polish polish.
oneounceload
Member
Deerslayer by Cooper anyone? Grrrrrrrrrr..................
Nope, however, from what I have read it is not so hard to learn to speak - just very hard to learn to read and write. But I can't say for sure, only that this is what I have read....
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