The complexities of learning English

The English language is said to be a difficult language to learn, particularly its rules, contradictions to the rules, and exceptions to the rules. English learners note the following top 10 complexities of learning English:

1. Asking questions

Asking questions in the negative, expecting a positive response: Are you sure you don’t want to go to the concert? The response is, Yes, I am sure that I don’t want to go to the concert. This is not the rule, and you can ask the question in the positive and expect a negative response: I’m asking you again, do you want to go to the concert? The response is, No, I still don’t want to go to the concert.

2. Same spelling, different pronunciation

a. Table (long a sound – taybull) and comfortable (short a sound – cumfortabull)

b. Daughter (long au sound – dorter) and laughter (long au sound – larfta)

c. Cough (short ou sound – coff) and tough (short ou sound – tuff) and though (long ou sound – thow)

d. Thought (long ou sound – thort) and through (long ou sound – threw)

e. Though, although, dough and go rhyme

f. Cough, Gough and doff rhyme

g. Tough, enough, rough, and fluff rhyme

h. Bough, bow and go rhyme

i. Bow (bow tie) and bow (bow down) don’t rhyme

j. Red (colour) and read (past tense) and lead (metal) rhyme

k. Read (present tense) and lead (be in front) and feed (eat) rhyme

l. And there are thousands more examples.

3. Same pronunciation, different meaning

a. There, their, and they’re

b. Where and wear

c. What and watt

d. Hi and high

e. Tea and tee

4. Silent letters

a. Plumber (pronounced plummer) and dumber (pronounced dummer)

b. Afghanistan (pronounced Afganistan)

5. Non-phonetic pronounciations

a. Photo (foto)

b. Waugh (war)

6. Plurals

a. One dog, two dogs

b. One lady, two ladies

c. One woman, two women

d. One foot, two feet

e. One mouse, two mice

f. One tomato, two tomatoes

g. One larva, two larvae

h. One stimulus, two stimuli

i. One sheep, two sheep

j. One fish, two fish

k. One million, two million

7. In and on

a. You can be in the train or on the train (both inside the train)

b. You cannot be in the car or on the car (the first is inside the car and the second is on the outside of the car)

8. Come and go

a. Come with me and Go with me have the same meanings

b. Come away with me and Go away have different meanings

c. Come to me means to travel towards the person making the request (me)

d. Go to the shops means to travel away from the person making the request

9. Ordering of adjectives: opinion-size-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose noun

a. The great big boxy red Mercedes car

b. The Georgian silk riding jacket

c. The small red-bricked house

10. Apostrophe for possession or contraction/omission of letters

a. It’s = it is

b. Its feet = the feet that belong to it; its feet are yellow

c. Can’t = can not

d. Won’t = will not

e. Wouldn’t = would not

f. Don’t = do not

g. I’m = I am

h. I’ve = I have

i. I’ll = I will

j. Igor’s hat = the hat belongs to Igor

k. Horse’s food = the food belongs to the horse

l. Horses’ food = the food belongs to the horses

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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