There a lots of poems about the English language and this one is a little different. It's amazing how we take our language for granted and think it's simple until we really begin to think about it and are glad we are not having to learn it.
WHY ENGLISH IS HARD TO LEARN by Anonymous
We'll begin with box; the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, and two are called geese.
Yet the plural of moose is never called meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a house full of mice,
But the plural of house is houses, not hice.
The plural of man is always men,
But the plural of pan is never pen.
If I speak of a foot, and you show me your feet.
And I give you a book, would a pair be a beek?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't two booths be called beeth?
If the singular's this and the plural are these,
Should the plural of kiss be ever called keese?
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he his and him;
But imagine the feminine....she, shis and shim!!
It really isn't surprising that English is a notoriously difficult language to learn is it? And the pronunciation adds to the complexity.
ReplyDeleteI always take my hat off to so many people in other countries have mastered our English language so well.
DeletePronunciation too makes for more difficulty of course.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteHehehe... yup... and I once thought myself a fair grammarian, until English was pillaged and became libertarian! YAM xx
Oh, well done Yamini. I love it. xx
DeleteHow did we ever figure it out? I do know some who, as yet, haven't.
ReplyDeleteSo true...many still to master our language.
DeleteHaha! True.
ReplyDeletei love this!
ReplyDeleteEnglish is strange.
I remember a grade four teacher who had a classmate in tears over G and J and their sounds. The girl's name was Gillian, but pronounced Jillian and the fact that G could be a hard G or a soft J but a J could never be a G was very confusing for poor Gillian.
It is of course a composite language which possibly makes it more complicated.
DeleteLove the story of Gillian and the G and J sounds. I'd never before thought about J not ever being sounded as G but vice versa does work.