English is a funny language

[MrArboc]

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

 

[texas blues]

Add more spice for the spiceenesxt.

 

[Sickmont]

English is also one of the hardest to learn as a second language, from what i've been told.

 

[imaguitargod]

I've been speaking the English language for 27 years and it still confuses the hell out of me.

 

[texas blues]

I've been speaking the English language for 27 years and it still confuses the hell out of me.

I knew it...another Canadian in disguise.

Salute', TB.

 

[Badger]

English is a crazy language - to, too and two. No bloody wonder people find it so hard to learn.

 

[MrArboc]

I believe that english is one of the languages that has the most words, and that's not even counting all the slang.

 

[Sickmont]

I believe that english is one of the languages that has the most words, and that's not even counting all the slang.

I believe it's around 400,000.....not counting technical terms of course

 

[MrArboc]

Sound about right.

 

[Badger]

Fair play to all you guys who've learned how to speak it - it's pretty humbling. I can speak a fair amount of French and a bit of Spanish, Italian and German but nowhere near as well as I'd like to.

 

[willard3]

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

Actually, to be correct:

When shot at, the dove dived into the bushes

 

[imaguitargod]

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

Actually, to be correct:

When shot at, the dove dived into the bushes

And Willard proves the point of the thread

 

[rainbowberry]

English is also one of the hardest to learn as a second language, from what i've been told.

I've heard that too. I can speak it but I wouldn't know how to write it grammatically (hope I've spelt it right at least). I have found that some people like those from Sweden, Norway, Denmark are fantastic at English, I've found the worst are the Italians to spell or speak it, no matter how sexy their voices are. Now feel free to pick my English to pieces.

 

[Thanatopsis]

Yeah, English is a bullshit language. It must really be a pain to learn as a second language, especially because of all the exceptions that have to be memorized since there's no logic whatsoever.

Even though it can be difficult in some ways coming from English(things like 5 consonants in a row), Czech is in many ways easier since once you know the basic rules of spelling, pronunciation, and grammar, everything follows the rules. There's no exceptions at all.

 

[lostmind]

English is a crazy language - to, too and two. No bloody wonder people find it so hard to learn.

Mandarin has san san and san. Stands for 3, mountain and umbrella iirc.

So yah, while english is indeed quite f*cked up, there are a number of very difficult languages out there.

 

[lostmind]

Yeah, English is a bullshit language. It must really be a pain to learn as a second language, especially because of all the exceptions that have to be memorized since there's no logic whatsoever.

Even though it can be difficult in some ways coming from English(things like 5 consonants in a row), Czech is in many ways easier since once you know the basic rules of spelling, pronunciation, and grammar, everything follows the rules. There's no exceptions at all.

BUT

and this is the GREAT thing about english as a language...

pidgin english is very easily understood. You can string a few words together and get your point across.

japanese, chinese, german, french... in all these languages it doesn't work this way. You mess up the tone, inflection, grammar, feminine or masculine and you change the entire MEANING of the word around, thus causing you to speak gibberish.

 

[BillyIdle]

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

Actually, to be correct:

When shot at, the dove dived into the bushes

Actually, to be correct, dove is just as correct: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dive

 

[MrArboc]

It takes a scandinavian to show it

 

[Badger]

Mandarin has san san and san. Stands for 3, mountain and umbrella iirc.

So yah, while english is indeed quite f*cked up, there are a number of very difficult languages out there.

English speakers have trouble with Mandarin (and Cantonese) because our language is more guttural and there's certain sounds we find hard to make. Then there's the fact that the way you say one single word can have several totally different meanings in Chinese - like san, san and san.

 

[chilehunter]

don't forget, you can can a can of seal n' chile's, but you can't cant the can or the seal won't seal the can of seal n' chile's.