Is English (the language) spoiled?

[tzone92]

I have no idea how to use semi-colons, and I rarely use colons because I forgot. I usually go comma happy; I use way to many commas.

 

 

 

^There, did I use a semicolon right?

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure that you did, but that doesn't mean you didn't make a grammar mistake. You said

There, did I use a semicolon right?

which is not correct grammar. You should have said

 

There, did I use a semicolon correctly.

 

 

 

Remember, right is an adjective, at least the way you are using it, and correctly is an adverb. :P

[Rebdragon]

I have no idea how to use semi-colons, and I rarely use colons because I forgot. I usually go comma happy; I use way to many commas.

 

 

 

^There, did I use a semicolon right?

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure that you did, but that doesn't mean you didn't make a grammar mistake. You said

There, did I use a semicolon right?

which is not correct grammar. You should have said

 

There, did I use a semicolon correctly.

 

 

 

Remember, right is an adjective, at least the way you are using it, and correctly is an adverb. :P

 

Right can be an adverb :wink: .

[____]

This is always the fun thing about English - context determines whether or not a word is in the right place :P

 

 

 

 

 

And I'll agree with tzone on this one. While 'right' could work, and technically isn't incorrect, it's out of place :P Correctly is more suitable for the situation :

[Astralinre]

I like English despite, or perhaps because of, it's lack of a formal structure like Latin has. English has such a rich history - starting out as the Germanic Anglo-Saxon, being influenced by Nordic languages and Norman French (as well as Latin and Greek), then you have the Great Vowel Shift. Plus there's such a great variety of accents and dialects which have been influenced by even more languages, such as Spanish and African tongues.

 

 

 

It's no wonder English is a mess!

 

 

 

I <3 the English language.

[unknownmasterofnothing]

I think english is pretty easy, even if you don't know a lot of words, people will understand what you mean.

[darkforaster]

There, did I use a semicolon correctly.

 

 

 

Remember, right is an adjective, at least the way you are using it, and correctly is an adverb. :P

 

 

 

You got it wrong again. :roll:

 

 

 

There, did I use a semicolon correctly?

 

 

 

It's a queston. So add a question mark.

 

 

 

English is easy in all aspects:

 

 

 

-Easy to learn

 

-Easy to teach

 

-Easy to make silly mistakes in, such as forgetting the use of a queston mark.

[Viktorkrum77]

Darkforaster fix your quotes, I didn't say that.

[ThurinEthir]

English is fine. There are parts of it harder than the Romance languages, there are parts easier.

 

 

 

The lack of accents and easier conjugation is easier, while the plurals is harder.

 

 

 

But now...Take a look at Mandarin. You think the homonyms in English are hard, think again. You think the multiple ways of saying one in German or whatever is hard, think again.

 

 

 

If there's one language that's the opposite of spoiled (Whatever the word is), it's Mandarin.

 

 

 

But spoiled languages...I'd say that the fact that English is a Romance language makes it as easy as French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian, and maybe German. They all had the same origin (Except German?) so they're pretty similar.

[Viktorkrum77]

English is fine. There are parts of it harder than the Romance languages, there are parts easier.

 

 

 

The lack of accents and easier conjugation is easier, while the plurals is harder.

 

 

 

But now...Take a look at Mandarin. You think the homonyms in English are hard, think again. You think the multiple ways of saying one in German or whatever is hard, think again.

 

 

 

If there's one language that's the opposite of spoiled (Whatever the word is), it's Mandarin.

 

 

 

But spoiled languages...I'd say that the fact that English is a Romance language makes it as easy as French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian, and maybe German. They all had the same origin (Except German?) so they're pretty similar.

 

 

 

Romanian is not a Romance language. Romanian is a Slavic language, based off of Russian.

[Satenza]

I don't mind English. It's not the prettiest language, it's inbetween really. Latin, Italian, French and so on are all a lot easier to grasp and a lot nicer to hear, but then i don't beleive they have the complex nature that English has, and thats what makes it interesting.

[ThurinEthir]

English is fine. There are parts of it harder than the Romance languages, there are parts easier.

 

 

 

The lack of accents and easier conjugation is easier, while the plurals is harder.

 

 

 

But now...Take a look at Mandarin. You think the homonyms in English are hard, think again. You think the multiple ways of saying one in German or whatever is hard, think again.

 

 

 

If there's one language that's the opposite of spoiled (Whatever the word is), it's Mandarin.

 

 

 

But spoiled languages...I'd say that the fact that English is a Romance language makes it as easy as French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian, and maybe German. They all had the same origin (Except German?) so they're pretty similar.

 

 

 

Romanian is not a Romance language. Romanian is a Slavic language, based off of Russian.

 

I better go tell my Latin teacher then.

 

I'm looking at this piece of paper we got in our first Latin class that says that English, Spanish, Italian, French and Romanian are all Romance language.

[Viktorkrum77]

I better go tell my Latin teacher then.

 

I'm looking at this piece of paper we got in our first Latin class that says that English, Spanish, Italian, French and Romanian are all Romance language.

 

 

 

Oh wow, I guess it is, just checked with Wikipedia. It seems weird because it's so far in Eastern Europe, hmm...:-k

[ThurinEthir]

I better go tell my Latin teacher then.

 

I'm looking at this piece of paper we got in our first Latin class that says that English, Spanish, Italian, French and Romanian are all Romance language.

 

 

 

Oh wow, I guess it is, just checked with Wikipedia. It seems weird because it's so far in Eastern Europe, hmm...:-k

 

There's a reason it's called Romania. :wink:

 

And the Roman empire was also in that area, so that's probably how it reached all the way into Eastern Europe.

[ctp080188]

This is always the fun thing about English - context determines whether or not a word is in the right place :P

 

 

 

 

Same goes for chinese. Without context, the word has no real meaning.

 

 

 

Isn'r English so muddled because it is a "mongrel" language, in that it has developed from many different languages? Like it's not been around as long as the other languages, and has taken part of each language and combined them together making it very irregular. S'what my dad told me :-k

[Iamdan]

I think English will be one of the languages that lasts the longest, simply because it adapts. While we have the word 'toaster' the French equivalent is 'oven which cooks bread' There are many countries which don't adapt their language to new things, they won't last as long because they are not very versatile.

[ortiz9471]

Well I take Latin, so I definetly know about verb conjugations

 

 

 

Instead of changing the ending of the word, English adds other words around the original word.

 

 

 

For example:

 

 

 

 

 

Present Active Tense:

 

Navigo, Navigare: to sail

 

 

 

English = Latin

 

I sail = Navigo

 

You sail = Navigas

 

He/She/It sails = Navigat

 

We sail = Navigamus

 

You all sail = Navigatis

 

They sail = Navigant

 

 

 

So instead of Latin, where you have the present active conjugation displayed here, in English we just add pronouns before the verbs. It must be just as hard to memorize all the pronouns then all the linking helping verbs. For example, for the 1 helping verb we learn in English, there is a whole new conjugation for that in Latin.

 

 

 

Future Active Tense:

 

Navigo, Navigare: to sail

 

 

 

English = Latin

 

I will sail = Navigabo

 

You will sail = Navigabas

 

He/She/It will sail = Navigabat

 

We will sail = Navigabamus

 

You all will will = Navigabatis

 

They will sail = Navigabant

 

 

 

Sure, you're thinking that they are similar. All you do is add the base for the future tense, which is the -ba. But how is that harder then learning one simple word, will? And this is just for the active tense. When you get into passive the Latin conjugations get much harder then the English translations.

 

 

 

Also, this is practically the same exact thing for the Dative and Accusative cases, it's just that those go for nouns not verbs. Another you point you make is the noun gender. Big woop, you change the -o to an -a. Oh dang, that was some intense stuff.

 

 

 

Please tell me, how would having no exact way of making something plural, make a language easier. It would be so much easier if their was a definite rule on how to make things plural. Irregulars confuse people, and everyday I hear adults speak with improper grammar. I'm 14 and have trouble holding myself back from correcting people with poor use of grammar. Then there are words like good and bad, which are used sooo horribly today.

 

 

 

"Mom, how did your job interview go today?"

 

"It went good, son."

 

or

 

"It went bad, son."

 

 

 

You don't do good, you don't do bad. Sure, if you're donating to a charity, you're technically "doing good." If you shoot somebody, you're technically "doing bad." (However their are far more proper ways of saying both of those.) But if something went well, it went well, not good. If something went poorly, it went poorly, not bad.

 

 

 

I'm just bringing that up to help say that grammar is a major issue in the English language, and most people don't realize it. Not even neccessarily because the grammar is hard, but because Americans have slaughtered it with their lazyness. (I'm American, don't get mad at me for ripping them.)

 

 

 

I'm not saying Latin is easier then English. In fact, Latin is a (cabbage) load harder than English. I'm just saying that before making a point, prepare to have background evidence.

[darkforaster]

Darkforaster fix your quotes, I didn't say that.

 

 

 

read the name again. It says VictorKrum77 should have said:

 

 

 

~~~

 

 

 

Has my plural points been argued against. If not, why.

 

 

 

Those were forms of making things plural. I'll repeat then.

 

 

 

3) There are many ways to make a noun plural. All depending on the word. e.g:

 

 

 

leaf- leaves

 

street - streets

 

radius - radii

 

beef - beef

 

bus- buses.

 

 

 

Those 5 different ways of making a noun plural depends on the spelling. The things in bold are the main culprits of these changes. if there are any changes. (like beef).

 

 

 

The French have stranger nouns. they go to ent etc. There are ir verbs, er verbs and other verbs. Each type with a different plural form. very similar to English.

 

 

 

See there are ways of making a noun plural it depends on the spelling. Very similar to French actually.

[Sumpta]

I'm just bringing that up to help say that grammar is a major issue in the English language, and most people don't realize it. Not even neccessarily because the grammar is hard, but because Americans have slaughtered it with their lazyness. (I'm American, don't get mad at me for ripping them.)

 

 

 

I'm not saying Latin is easier then English. In fact, Latin is a (cabbage) load harder than English. I'm just saying that before making a point, prepare to have background evidence.

 

 

 

The thing is that Latin is a dead language. It doesn't change anymore, it's not spoken anymore. And by the way, the Roman literati cursed over the downfall of their language as much as you do over English. There's a huge difference between written Latin and the spoken "kitchen Latin".

 

 

 

Between linguists, there's the ever ongoing argument about language erosion versus language evolution. Every language undergoes a typical process of simplification over time. Exceptions eradicate themselves over time, because the users of the language tend to make things easier for themselves. Languages erode to put it negatively, they evolve in a positive sense.

[Satenza]

Latin is a hell of a lot easier than English once you have the basic grasp of it. English is a lazy language, which makes it confusing sometimes. Theres little confusion in languages that make distinct conjugations, and with Latin being a dead language as Sumpta said it does not change. However English is made interesting by it's confusing nature :)

[highlanders]

English is the international language, it's everywhere, it's easy to learn aswell.

 

 

 

Anyone saying English is hard has either no idea how hard other languages can be, or delude themselves by thinking they are 'good' because they were able to learn 'that hard language'.

 

 

 

English is very easy, you should be all getting 90%+ at your tests.

[ortiz9471]

Anybody who thinks English is hard should try learning Russian.. I went to a meeting to have an intro to Russian to see if I wanted to take it in highschool. Sooo hard.

[Iamdan]

English is only easy for you because you grew up with it. By being 'one of the hardest languages to learn' it is the hardest language to learn as a secondary language. Anybody can speak anything if they grew up with it.

[ThurinEthir]

English is only easy for you because you grew up with it. By being 'one of the hardest languages to learn' it is the hardest language to learn as a secondary language. Anybody can speak anything if they grew up with it.

 

Not always true. I was born in Taiwan. Lived there until I finished kindergarten. Moved to the USA. Learned the basics of English easily at school. Still spoke only Mandarin at home. Took Chinese school, speak nearly only Mandarin there too.

 

So I've been speaking Mandarin nearly my whole life. English 5-6 years less. Although now, I find English becoming a little harder, I still consider it easier than Mandarin, my first language.

 

My case is probably special because of how hard Mandarin is. If it was say French, I suppose you'd be right.

[warren211]

Heck, slang has evolved in English. I guess I'd prefer english because I can understand the slang.

 

 

 

"Oh, I'm sorry I bumped into you!"

 

"'Sor-ite!"<------- pronounce as is. apparently quick slang for "its all right".

 

 

 

"Wanna talk about poop?"

 

"Tha-eck?"<-----apparently slang for "what the heck?" the "what" was almost totally taken out, and the "tha" and "eck" are almost merged together.

 

 

 

 

 

These are just 2 examples. yea, we're spoiled. we can say anything and can be perfectly understood. Feel sorry for any new immigrant who has to put up with the slang.