{"id":37877,"date":"2018-01-17T16:54:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T15:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/?p=37877"},"modified":"2018-01-18T17:09:05","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T16:09:05","slug":"myths-and-mysteries-of-the-english-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/myths-and-mysteries-of-the-english-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths and Mysteries of the English Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning another language as an adult can be frustrating. We\u2019re problem-solvers. We look for patterns in language and try to formulate rules. Unfortunately, there\u2019s not always much logic to be found in English.<\/p>\n

In his book The Story of English in 100 Words<\/a>, linguist David Crystal explains why.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnglish has been this vacuum cleaner of a language, because of its history meeting up with the Romans and then the Danes, the Vikings and then the French and then the Renaissance with all the Latin and Greek and Hebrew in the background.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This big mix makes English frustrating, but also fascinating! In this week\u2019s article we\u2019ll walk you through some of the myths and mysteries of English.<\/p>\n

Easy grammar?<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

At first glance English grammar is a walk in the park<\/em><\/span>. Nouns are easy, they just come in two forms (singular and plural). Verbs are too, they don\u2019t have all the complicated conjugations like some languages. There are some irregular verbs<\/a>, of course, but once you\u2019ve learnt them, they stay the same whoever you\u2019re talking about!<\/p>\n

But take a closer look and you\u2019ll see that things aren\u2019t so simple after all. For example, we often use the present tenses to talk about the future<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Myths<\/p>\n

And we can use the future tense for something we\u2019re just about to do:<\/p>\n

\"Myths<\/p>\n

Then there are other forms like inversion<\/a>, where the subject and auxiliary verb switch places:<\/p>\n

\"Myths<\/p>\n

Weird place names<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even when you\u2019ve reached a good level of English, don\u2019t be surprised if you struggle to make sense of English place names. They can be utterly<\/em><\/span> confusing!<\/p>\n

Some cities in the UK are especially difficult to pronounce and the spelling provides very little help. Have a guess how to pronounce these places below, then click on the link to hear the correct pronunciation for each one.<\/p>\n

Edinburgh<\/a><\/p>\n

Leicester<\/a><\/p>\n

Warwick<\/a><\/p>\n

There are other places in the UK that don\u2019t make any sense at all. Due to the fact that English is made up of a combination of languages, there\u2019s a risk of saying the same thing twice (or three times!). For example, Bredon Hill<\/a> in England, literally means \u2018Hill Hill Hill\u2019!<\/p>\n

Check out this interactive map for more interesting British place names and their meanings:<\/p>\n