Why do people complain about English being hard?
<<Can't they speak like the British and just have ONE word for 'the' and one word for adjectives such as 'red' or 'big' or 'brown'?" >>
Why should we speak like the British? It is the same thing as saying "can't they eat the same food as the British? No ,thanks.
By the way , many colors in Spanish don't agree in gender. There is not "verda "for example, only verde and verdes (green) Is it so difficult for English speakers' minds to add an s to an adjective when it modifies a plural noun?
English comprises more words than any other tongue and has a difficult spelling system with many exceptional words. It has for learners the advantage of lacking a complex inflection system, but it remains perhaps one of the most difficult languages to master because its abundance of near synonyms makes numerous the possibilies of expression for even the simplest statements.
Spanish and French are romance languages. Of course English would be hard for them; it's Germanic. Not only does this make English very different to those languages in terms of sentence structure (for example, how relatively unwieldy english can be with direct objects and prepositions), but also, how English words will not be derived straight from latin, etc., as much, and many words that are, are either more elitist, or have specific definitions in English.
Understand and Comprehend both mean same thing, the latter which is closer to spanish and french, comprender and comprendre. Yet in english, "comprehend" sounds more like a bigger, elitist word.
"to bother" is "molestar" in spanish, yet.. "molest" has a very specific definition in english. There are many other words like this, but I keep forgetting them.
Then there's false cognates. What in english is a "reading," is a "lecture" in French or "lectura" in spanish; a "conference" in french is what in english is a lecture, and what we call a conference is a "congres," but what does English call a congress? :D
Spanish and related languages are phonetic languages when written (excuse me if that's not the right term). You know EXACTLY how to pronounce a word just be seeing it written down. Every letter has its distinct sounds. English? um... well, for one thing, just consider how ALL VOWELS, INCLUDING the letter Y, can have the "schwa" sound, which is the upside-down e in your dictionary pronunciation guides.
I wish French was more like Spanish in that regard. Although there are trends and the spellings have a reason, spellings are only there for distinction when written down - primarily word endings. Orally however, they don't make a difference!
Parler - to speak:
Je parle, tu parles, il/elle parle, ils parlent.
Guess what? They're all pronounced "parl"!
Now some of those would be expected and are simply the differences between Romance and Germanic, or simply how English has developed. However, there's lots of other things too. My french teacher, 70+ year old woman, was born and raised here, learned French cause she liked it, got interested in French culture more, went to move over there, etc. so, even though French is her second language, based on here knowledge of that as well as her excellent background and education in English, she can see how English is hard to learn. The average speaker may not know... we just grew up with it, and it's hard for us to think about example, but she tells us knowing and then. For example, the past compound form, it has its structure, one way, one structure, for a specific meaning/application for referring to the past. YET, it translates to "I have spoken," "I spoke," or "I did speak." There are many example where English has too many ways to say the exact same darn thing! :P
Don't the French still use the preterite verb form in writting?
<<English comprises more words than any other tongue>>
Do you have a source or something to back that up? Because I really doubt English is comprised of more words than any romance language o__O
<<YET, it translates to "I have spoken," "I spoke," or "I did speak." There are many example where English has too many ways to say the exact same darn thing! :P>>
And guess what? Those aren't exactly the same thing =O
Aren't you seeing everything backwards? Usually it's in other languages you have many especific words and different ways of saying the same thing, not in English.
I'm not saying English isn't a rich language, but please, richer than French and even Spanish??
I meant that in the perspective of the Frensh/Spanish. Yes, they are not really the same thing, they have slightly different usages, but they fall under the same tense and structure in French/Spanish; they don't need differnet ways to say it, it's always understood properly, either because that specificity is unecessary, or it's understood by context. So they come learn English, and it looks like English has three different ways of saying something they think should be said in only one way.
I have to say though, at least in Spanish, you can make the enphasis if you want to say "I did speak"; "Yo si hable."
But yes, you can't focus on just the general idea of "more ways to say something," because one language will be that way in some things, but other languages may be that way in different things.
It's like how some people can say there are lots of irregularities in English... well, I'm seeing a lot in French, not to mention exceptions... and then exceptions for some of those exceptions. O.o
<<For example, the past compound form, it has its structure, one way, one structure, for a specific meaning/application for referring to the past. YET, it translates to "I have spoken," "I spoke," or "I did speak." There are many example where English has too many ways to say the exact same darn thing! :P >>
"I have spoken" and "I spoke", *DO NOT* mean the same thing at all. Its just because of the simplicity of the french language, that both statements mean the same thing when translated into french.
The french language has completely lost the distinction between statements like "i have gone" and "i went" and cannot express that nuance.
<<haha:Do you have a source or something to back that up? Because I really doubt English is comprised of more words than any romance language>>
This is a widely known fact. English has more than twice the vocabulary of any romance language.
<<haha:Usually it's in other languages you have many especific words and different ways of saying the same thing, not in English.>>
No. English usually has this reputation since it has the largest vocabulary and the most synonyms ( "especific words to say the same thing"); in addition to lots of words with similar meaning but slightly different connotations.
"I have spoken" and "I spoke", *DO NOT* mean the same thing at all.
-I just have spoken (to her)- and -I just spoke (to her)-
mean the same thing
In US English, many times present perfect and past simple uses overlap,
just like will and going to. It does not mean present perfect and will future will disappear, but their shared usage (shared with past simple and going to future respectively) is on a decline. More and more people are saying ''I never knew that'' instead of ''I've never known that'' and ''Tomorrow it's gonna be sunny, with high of 90F'' instead of ''Tomorrow it will be sunny...[[
in 50 years' time will future will only survive in
1. distant future: In 2090, everyone will be happy and
2. immediate non planned action: I'll get the door
and present perfect only with
1. since and for
(Present perfect progressive and will progressive are still strong tho': Have you been drinking? ;) I will be watching you ;) 0)
Mukeka
No one in the English speaking world would say 'I have never known that'.
"Why should we speak like the British? It is the same thing as saying "can't they eat the same food as the British? No ,thanks. "
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Put it this way, British food is more appetizing than Continental European food.
I would rather eat British food such
The British have Shepherd's Pie, fish & chips, chicken tikka masala, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, a Full English, a chip butty, steak and ale pie.
What do Continental Europeans have? Frogs' leg, snails (what are you thinking?!?!), horse meat, goose livers, raw mince, disgusting, smelly cheeses that makes your breath stink for a week. The Italians never eat anything that hasn't got tomatoes in.
The only reason why Continental Europeans don't like British food is because it tastes no nice and.....normal....that they aren't used to it. So they stick to their snails in garlic horse meat served with pate or a green smelly cheese.
Give me by Shepherd's Pie or my roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding smothered in real gravy anyday.
mmm....shepherd's pie.... :)
I like British cuisine, but most of it very high in fat/cholesterol. Good for giving you an early heart attack. Continental food in general seems to be healthier.
People in UK don't eat fruits because they are too much expensive for the average British . I wouldn't live in a country where apricots, nectarines, peaches, tomatoes etc are not abundant and of good quality.