25 shares

B. Keith Schewanick This problem is so MINUTE, it only took me a MINUTE. Like Reply 308 29 December 2012 at 13:36

66 Replies

Oliver Long Dove? Or Dived?? Like Reply 109 29 December 2012 at 00:50

260 Replies

Andrea Fisher de Cuba (i.e. dived not dove) Like Reply 5 30 December 2012 at 01:53 viamobile

27 Replies

Nick Vasey Pity I also don't like the title - it includes a redundancy. It should just say, "Twenty-one reasons English is hard to learn." "reason" = "reason why" Like Reply 99 28 December 2012 at 23:15

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55 Replies

Paula Gremour lol Like 1 30 December 2012 at 01:52

Chuck Dodge This is very insightful--and true. Like 1 30 December 2012 at 02:00

Chuck Dodge I was looking at it here, then my friend said to hear. Like 2 30 December 2012 at 02:02

Nigel Auckland It is still a beautiful language if used correctly Like 3 30 December 2012 at 07:01

Rebecca Scott Gonzales homographs (even homo and homo are part of the adventure). Like 2 30 December 2012 at 07:53

Charlotte Krenzer Heteronyms! Like 1 30 December 2012 at 09:03

Fran Dieter Love it. We have a Dr. Seuss book titled The Tough Coughs As He Ploughs the Dough. Like 2 30 December 2012 at 09:46

Muriah Albin It is amazing how we understand our own language. Like 5 30 December 2012 at 10:38

Tina Bostanic lol

Like 30 December 2012 at 10:41

Kris Spicer Marbaugh I feel really smart after reading this. Like 1 30 December 2012 at 12:12

Erik Habitual Linestepper Overn They spelled Anglo-ish all wrong Like 30 December 2012 at 18:18

Jim Stefanchik Axe him about the axe (Ebonics). Like 2 30 December 2012 at 21:24

Gary Gillilan that is why i was c+english student.no,i should know better than that. Like 30 December 2012 at 23:49

Tan Ya Exactly! Like 30 December 2012 at 23:59

Diana Gilliland Wright Difficult, not hard which refers more properly to density. Like 1 31 December 2012 at 00:00

Lou Gigliotti I see said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw. Like 6 31 December 2012 at 01:56

Kishore Katara Sometimes the same spelling has two different pronunciations referring to two different things.Sometimes the same word is a noun as well as a verb.Depends on the context in which one uses it. Like 1 31 December 2012 at 02:10

Catherine Kavuma I still say English is the easiest language to learn - guess it's because I've been speaking it all my life... Like 1 31 December 2012 at 03:11

Karrie Bos But some things just sound better with "why"! Like 1 31 December 2012 at 03:50

Margaret Casey Love Like 31 December 2012 at 04:17

Albert Lewis Awesome and Shared lol Like 31 December 2012 at 18:52

Dallas Nash tautological Like 31 December 2012 at 21:35

Peter Roger Butler Great!!! Like 1 January at 01:23

Carl Frankel Happy New Year. Hoping for a healthy one. Like 1 January at 02:17

Tim Lewis I think we have to learn this well when we are young so our learning is well learned.. :o) Like 1 January at 02:18

Adria Emilia Aragon Chavez Happy New Year to the entire family.!!!! Like 1 January at 03:20

Petra Ommen cool, I might do this with my seniors at my english class :D:D:D Like 1 January at 03:24

Gordon Hopkins I just removed the blown fuse, and put in a new fuse. I guess I refused!! Like 4 1 January at 05:02 Edited

Sue Ladr Context is all. Like 1 January at 07:50

Marian Lumsden great piece.... you can sow seeds or it seems to me you can sew seams

Like 2 1 January at 08:05

Eddie Lopez Make Spanish the universal language. Easiest to learn. Say PHONATIC, as in foe gnat ick. Like 1 January at 10:57

Nampueng Kanarit OMG!!! Like 1 January at 13:47

Roberta K. Hill-Clark If I wasn't born gere, I would never be able to learn the language. Like 1 January at 14:25

Melanie Johnston Average years to learn English as 2nd language-5 years, 4 hours per day, 5 days a week...but it can be done! Like 1 1 January at 18:20

Willy Richardson Roberta: "If I WEREN'T born here"...Don't forget to use the subjunctive correctly. Like 1 January at 22:35

Lynn M. Chiodo Hah! It is enough to drive a former English teacher crazy!!! Like 2 January at 00:50

Faith Chalifour LOL !! Indeed Like 2 January at 04:29

Rebecca Freeman That'll work as an excuse for me, if you'll excuse the expression. Like 2 2 January at 06:41

Karen Lockert The people who speak the language are the ultimate judge of correctness. Like 2 January at 08:38

Adam Thomas I noticed people commented on teh dove:dove or dived spelling... that is the reason English is problematic to learn since it sounds right most of us will say "dove" instead of "dived"... most of the American population do not speak correctly and I think this was written as "most" speak... incorrectly but sounding very correct, you ahev to admit, it does sound like a word that could be used "I dove head first under the water"... Just saying Like 2 2 January at 10:27

Robert Wilson The wright on the right tried to write the right rite right on the white paper...right? Like 8 2 January at 13:56 Edited

Tnde Czellecz "Queen Elizabeth I didn't succeed in succeeding her father on the throne." from our English Phrasal Syntax course a few years ago. Like 4 2 January at 22:12

Tamara Johnson You are a redundancy. Like 3 January at 20:44

John Ferrell Ha ha good observation Like 4 January at 18:39

John Ferrell Nick Hood Like 4 January at 18:40

John Ferrell damn auto complete Like 4 January at 18:40

John Ferrell Nick Vasey Like 4 January at 18:41

Kathy Stansbery Potts Pang ...from the Department of Redundancy Department Like 2 5 January at 23:14

Thomas Higgerson You are correct! Another phraseology that bothers me is "the reason is because. . ." The word "because" is unnecessary. "The reason is. . " stands on its own. Like 3 6 January at 02:47

Nick Vasey Precisely Thomas! Like 6 January at 03:04

Dave Stone Well, I'm neither an English Scholar, nor a Scholar of English, Nick, but I could read the title as if it were a monologue written by some chap named "Twenty-one" (why not? if some football player can call himself Eighty-five...) who 'reasons ' ie. works out logically, why English is hard to learn. Like 1 6 January at 08:28

Dave Stone In fact, wouldn't it be just as valid (construction wise) to say "One reasons English is hard to learn"? After all, should one refer to oneself in this manner? And, in this case, one wonders if including 'why' might actually make the construction clearer. Like 9 6 January at 08:32

like I say if you have one, its a mouse ... if you have more then one its mice... BUT... I do not own a blouse... but my friend has several blice to go with her skirts!!! And then again, a moose or meese in the field??? row could be an argument Like Reply 21 29 December 2012 at 05:13

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101 Replies

For Reading Addicts Row is an argument, I'm certain of it. Like 4 29 December 2012 at 05:17

Helen Curran Row is an argument but it is also to row a boat with oars Like 1 30 December 2012 at 01:15

Paula Gremour yes....that's the point ! Like 30 December 2012 at 01:52

Joy Lynn Lewis Did you not memorize "The gingham dog and the calico cat?" Like 30 December 2012 at 04:06

James Eckert yes, "row" is a word for argument in this case, the first time it is used. Like 2 30 December 2012 at 04:51

Anne Zoutsos That's right, and they could have taken the oarsmen and lined them all up in a row. Like 31 December 2012 at 05:00

Jonathan Baker I will use this with my English students next year. Thanks Like 3 31 December 2012 at 07:17

Candi Soreal So true and I enjoyed the read so now it is read. Like 1 31 December 2012 at 08:31

Gena Limalima Reece diff. diction diff meaning... and they said English language is easy!!! Like 31 December 2012 at 08:38

Tony Piper Could have said"There was a row among the first row of oarsmen on how to row". Like 2 31 December 2012 at 10:26

Tony Piper Could have said"There was a row among the row of oarsmen on how to row". Like 3 31 December 2012 at 10:27

Lazarus Chernik Let's not trying to teach someone how "Hot" and "Cool" can sometimes mean the same thing. "That sweater is so hot!" "Really cool sweater!" Like 31 December 2012 at 12:18

Pamela Southerland WOW how true!!!!!

Like 31 December 2012 at 13:42

Twitch Sasser I will go drive on the parkway then park my car in the driveway while finishing a bomb for my tomb if i can find my comb Like 4 31 December 2012 at 14:07

Catherine Williams And WHERE WERE you when considering this conversation??? I wish this one was much easier to understand!! Like 1 31 December 2012 at 15:23

Robert J Sodaro You need Iron to Iron with an Iron Iron. Like 1 31 December 2012 at 15:35

David E. Johnson BOO-YOW! Like 1 31 December 2012 at 15:52

George Kingswood I like this, though 9 is dodgy, "... the dove dived into the bushes." Like 2 31 December 2012 at 16:09

Rachelle Silver I had a student yesterday who said world and whirled sounded the same to her ! Like 1 31 December 2012 at 16:39

Kate Whitefield I met a Frenchman years ago, who was having a terrible time remembering how to pronounce: through-throff-thrau; bough-bpff-bow; cough-cow; draught-drought. We were rolling on the floor laUGHing as he read his English assignment. Like 2 31 December 2012 at 18:52

Adam Schotz "Visualize whirled peas" was a bumper sticker I saw once. Like 4 31 December 2012 at 19:35

Derrick M Muwina Think English is hard? Try German or simply ask Mark Twain! Like 3 January at 00:02

Jennifer Maher i know a little german, and it just doesn't seem as hard as english Like 3 January at 00:10

Francis D Russell This is my kind of humor, love it Like 3 January at 02:56

Vaughn Snyder This is the reason I liked math best when I was in school !!! Like 1 3 January at 03:16

Liz MacLennan Dove if you are American. Like 3 January at 05:46

Duncan Mitchell "Maths" if you aren't. Like 2 3 January at 06:59

Katie Robinson Dove is actually more commonly used in Canada then in the US. Dove is also less common in "American English" writing then it is in "British English", if that makes any sense at all. Like 3 January at 07:08

Stephen Gonzalez Like 3 January at 07:20

Audanell Lester Yes, and don't forget...to, too, and two...there and their...your and you're...affect and effect...whether and weather...course and coarse, etc. Like 4 3 January at 08:36

Mnica Senna Salerno but at least the above mentioned ones are spelt differently (kkk) Like 3 January at 09:46

Lynda Holm spelt or spelled... Like 3 January at 12:13

Andrea Atencio wow Like 3 January at 13:00

Robert Burrell Most Hispanics say English is harder than Spanish. Like 3 January at 18:35

Karen Daniels I totally disagree, I think French is much harder.....At least wth all of these, there are rules and if you follow them you will be ok. In french many things happen "just because" Like 1 3 January at 20:15

Tim Frederes great!!! Like 3 January at 22:12

Tammy Vrba And?? Like 4 January at 00:47

Jeff Dickson Reckon some people would try to correct GOD !!! Like 4 January at 01:22

Carolyn Maybray ooh I like that, have to share!

Like 4 January at 03:57

Yvonne Laura Davies Interesting Alex; I tell my students of French that English possibly poses even more problems for language learners! Like 4 January at 04:07

Yvonne Laura Davies Rupert moved to the Hague for 3 years today! Like 4 January at 04:07

LeeAnn Salva Russeau they are homonyms Like 1 4 January at 05:50

Timothy Dykes good for life of material Like 4 January at 08:22

Aquila Branham I am going right now and write this down. Like 1 4 January at 09:39

Peter Smith Every rule in the English language is broken at least once. Like 2 4 January at 11:50

Hilary Goulden Try teaching it! Like 4 January at 17:19

John Ferrell American Engish is not an official language! Like 4 4 January at 18:43

Roger Baggaley American isn't English. Like 4 4 January at 21:35

Robby Killian We call all three English here, in other countries they leave off the word English. American English, British English and Australian English. Like 5 January at 02:49

Jeanene Pratt But British English also includes a lot of these same words, that can mean different things and be pronounced differently. Like 5 January at 02:49

Peter H-Bomb There is no "American" language, there is a North Amercian dialect of English with several accents. Since these accents are intelligible to other Anglophone dialects (e.g. British English dialects) they are not considered seperate languages. The only two exceptions I can think of are Jamiacan Patois and Newfoundland English. These two have very varied word stock and phonemes from trends the common dialects. Like 4 5 January at 02:55

Edward Anderson Peter, you spelled "separate" incorrectly. Sorry. Like 1 5 January at 03:16

Shari A. Hellyer Cool, love this Like 1 5 January at 03:33

Andrew M Bark or as the bus driver said 'come on get off!' Like 9 5 January at 04:11

Ervin Lee Burchfield Now thats funny! Like 5 January at 06:18

Jodie Tadhunter Andrew M Bark that was brilliant! love it! Like 5 January at 06:24

Melanie Eckerson HAha Like 5 January at 08:30

Kevin Thurber thAn in the US. one can use dove or dived. I like dove. Like 1 5 January at 08:44

Mary Dever OY Vay Like 5 January at 11:59

Micheline Logan -so true.

Like 5 January at 13:59

Gayle Whitehead Barrett so true! Like 6 January at 05:59

Sue Kolar Ughh! Like 6 January at 07:20

Chris Usher and cause tears because we were sat in tiers Like 6 January at 08:24

Mary Ellen Lyon Wow! I can use this with my Literacy student! It'll be a challenge for him. Thanks. Like 1 6 January at 09:39

Tom Snaden not really, to have a row is a spat Like 6 January at 10:26

Emily Park I gave a speech about this in high school, and it was a "humorous" speech. The teacher was the only who understood it and laughed. Everyone else looked like "duh". Like 1 6 January at 10:46

Juan Ponce Alcazar hi saw the man saw the board with a dull saw and the sow eat what I sow. Like 2 6 January at 10:47

Pip Castillo 'and saw the sow eat what I had sown or ate what I had sawn. Like 1 6 January at 11:37 Edited

Steve Worth Try this: Although it was winter, the blossoms on the bough were enough to make me thoroughly cough and hiccough all through the night but not enough to make me ploughing forward to knead the slough-like dough to make bread Like 2 6 January at 15:00

Jackie Neill Brilliant! x Like 6 January at 18:16

Alex SmilyLex der. it is pronounced raow Like 6 January at 20:47

Stargazer Lily I tried reading this out loud to hubby and I had to read it before I said it by the end because even I was stumbling over things. Like 2 6 January at 23:22

Sandy A. Depew So cool... Like 6 January at 23:25

Garry Roberts love this!!.. Like Monday at 00:06

Warren Oxford-Huggett Absolutely classic Like Monday at 00:34

Nina Louise Booth I am English I was born in England. The language I speak is English (NOT British English). I find it strange that people don't use weird appellations for other languages - I don't say "French" French or "Spanish" Spanish etc. I don't mind if people from other countries who speak variants and derivatives of the English language want to call themselves "English speakers", however I do feel quite frustrated that I, being a native English speaker have to see my own language misrepresented in this way. Like 2 Monday at 01:28

Michael Breen There is no "number" as an elevated sense of no feeling...the term is "more numb"! Like 3 Monday at 01:35

Anne Arnott The traditional past-tense form of dive is dived. Like 1 Monday at 01:53

Jason Allan Cortright Dived is considered the standard past-tense and past-participle form of the verb dive. But the newer form dove, which probably came about by analogy with similar words like drove, has been around for at least a century and a half, and it is well established, especially in American and Canadian English. So despite what some careful English users from outside North America may say, dove is not incorrect. Like 1 Monday at 02:58

Julie Suzanne Polus OMG this puts it more in prospective, no wonder I have a hard time with the English language Like Monday at 03:11

LeAnn Quillin Napoleone I'm going to take this to school tomorrow and show my students. See how much they can figure out! Like 3 Monday at 03:34

Juan Luis Saucedo Figueredo Now I know why I'll never will be able to speak properly, jijiji Like Monday at 04:37

Erlinda B Marcano I agree learning the English language is enough get someone mad. Like Monday at 05:57

Emily Coughlin I will use this one! Like Monday at 06:05

Michael B. Pearson mad, or angry? Like 2 Monday at 10:27

Salem Ofa fuck ya Like Monday at 13:03

Andrea Barborikova PRAVDA. Like 1 Monday at 23:31

Patrick Murphy Wow now i am in deep shit lol Like Tuesday at 08:21

Graham Robert Chambers Dived, not dove! Like 3 Tuesday at 15:28

Julie Allan its a confusing language to many words that look the same, pronounced differently and mean completely different things.. let alone the tenses and grama.... Like 1 Tuesday at 15:33

Silva Papazyan-Mendes Tell me about it. ..I struggled to learn English half my life, 30 years later I am still struggling.

Like Yesterday at 00:33

Al Catasus Yes, English has issues. However, it is very rich because of the myriad languages that have contributed to the language. That is part of what contributes to its difficulties. And in some ways, it is actually much easier that many languages. Conjugation is minimal and the subjunctive is almost non-existent. There is no future tense, no conditional. These are expressed with phrases rather than a whole set of conjugations. The big problem of English to new speakers is pronunciation. There are letter combinations from all different languages following all different rules. But I love it. I have to admit to loving languages in general, but English has a subtlety and complexity that offers nuances of meaning unavailable in other languages. Like 2 Yesterday at 01:19

Graham Denison whats up with the dude with the tattoos Like Yesterday at 04:37 Edited

Laurie Singletary I dont understand why its so hard, Ameriican children learn the language in elementary school, why would it take 30 years?? I see Hispanic kiddos interpreting to thier elders all the time, so they too have learned it in a few years, its a beautiful language Like Yesterday at 05:04

Daniel Sulyk Local Foreigner or a Foreign Local? Like Yesterday at 05:14

Jaci Guyer Thornburg @ Laurie. American children don't learn English in Elementary school....American children learn English from birth throughout adulthood. It is the difference between learning a native language and learning a second language. Plus, if they did learn English only in Elementary school....we wouldn't have so many "ain't", "ain't got none" and "I seen you" issues!! Uck! Like 1 Yesterday at 07:24 Edited

Rita Medina This is brilliant! English is NOT EASY! Like Yesterday at 07:16

Rhonda K. Hageman Here's a lovely poem for you --http://grammar.about.com/od/alightersideofwriting/a/chaosverbpoem.htm

The Chaos, by Charivarius (Gerard Nolst Trenit) grammar.about.com Composed by Dr. Gerard Nolst Trenit (1870-1946), Like 1 4 hours ago

Rhonda K. Hageman It's all full of this kind of thing, and is very famous. Like 4 hours ago He tied a bow on the bow of the boat. That 'tradition' is one of bad grammar. Look it up in a dictionary: dived isn't in there. The reason why English is so hard to learn is that its roots are in Germanic and Nordic languages that developed into Old English when people from Mainland Europe moved to the Angle Isles. Then, the Roman Empire invaded and indroduced romantic and Latin aspects to a heretofore Germanic language, creating Middle English. Since then, English has picked up new words and new grammar aspects from many other languages as English speaking people traveled and explored more and more, creating Modern English.

The blend of both Germanic and Romantic language aspects means that there are almost as many exceptions to the rules of English grammar as there are rules . Today, it seems like the language has reached its peak of development and is now degrading and falling apart.

well."

"Well, they lived in a treacle well and they lived well in it." Ah Well." All's well that ends

Like Monday at 03:01

Gary Philip the word dived is not recognized as a proper word Like Monday at 03:01

Hilary Hutson Betty bought a bit of butter. Betty said the butters' bitter. So Betty bought a bit of better butter to make the bit of bitter butter better!!! Like 2 Monday at 03:12

Bill Bartlett Sue sells seashells by the seashore

Dove is correct, when in present tense. ?.. Like Tuesday at 13:54

Sandra Morris Dove is correct in present tense. Sorry that i needed to use two, now three, more ambiguous words. Ah! ENGLISH? Like Tuesday at 13:55

Julie Gill Query No. 9 - in English it is dived.!! Like 2 Tuesday at 23:45

Luke Dorman dove Like Yesterday at 04:24

Jerry Morrow don't know, does it fly or swim...which ? Like Yesterday at 07:03

Karin Harvey Depends if you are a brit or a yank. Like Yesterday at 09:15

Rob Raincock Diven...ded. Like Yesterday at 14:53

Michael Blowes Dive and dived !! Like 16 hours ago

Aaron Lockhart Have diven Like 13 hours ago

Aaron Lockhart Or the future participle: will have diven. Like 13 hours ago

Rhonda K. Hageman In fact, the old Germanic strong verbs--what we call irregular verbs in Eng.--are the original forms. Write -wrote, sing=sang, etc. Regular verbs (...ed) rarely change over time into irregular verbs. However, over centuries a number of verbs which were irregular to start with have become regular past verbs ending in --ed. Dive is one of those except in the US where the older form was retained in past tense. However, now the past participle of both forms is 'has dived'. <<Strike that: IF 'dive' were a strong verb, what I said would be true -- but I'm wrong. 'Dive' is a Germanic weak verb instead>>.Oops! Mea culpa. Like 4 hours ago Edited English is *nothing* compared to older languages like Chinese, Arabic and Sanskrit. Consider this: There are only six or seven possible ways to pronounce "dived". Even if you've never seen it before, you'll get very close. In those ancient, monosyllabic, symbol-based languages, if you've never seen a word, you can't even ask about it because you won't know how to pronounce it. To type one word in Chinese, I have to press about five keys for one symbol, and those keys have no actual relation to the word -- they are codes that were arbitrarily assigned to the word's components. In English, you type the same 26 alphabets which represent the parts of the word. That's vocabulary. As for grammar, English grammar is nothing compared to German or Latin grammar.

There's a reason English is used as *the* international language. Has anyone thought enough about the plough's tough job, or the burning bough in the rough trough and the dough rising over its embers?

Like 9 Tuesday at 20:16

Clive Adgie Thought you were a French teacher.... Like Yesterday at 00:50

Harold Lepidus A buck will buck trends, for a couple bucks ... Like 1 Yesterday at 01:00

Yvonne Haar-de Bruijn And Martin lost his key on the key...