The Oxford English Dictionary has identified time as the most frequently used noun. Whether or not men and women speak different genderlects is a subject of recent debate. Phonetic script. It has been strongly influenced by Sanskrit; a lot of words in Hindi come from there. The English language embodies paradox, politics, commercialism, & history. English words for livestock (cow, sheep, chicken) are Germanic-based and the words for meats (beef, mutton, poultry) are French-based. Put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position. You only have to memorize a word’s meaning, not its gender! The English language is fun to learn. Almost everyone in the world has heard of the great William Shakespeare, the famous English poet and playwright of the 16th century. The Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung oversees the German language. Ever heard the term couch potato (someone who watches a lot of TV)? Just consider international words like internet and iPhone. A non-elliptical sentence is a sentence that doesn’t leave anything out. In addition, at the height of its history, the British Empire, covered more than one quarter of the Earth’s population. Instead of only focusing on grammar and other theoretical aspects, don’t forget to enjoy its more entertaining side. "One" is the only number with its letters in reverse alphabetical order. To put it in perspective, “E” is 56 times more common than “Q.”. 52 words that make you sound smart when you use them.These words are great vocabulary builders. Great in terms of size - the current edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains 615,000 entries.Great in terms of scope -- it's an official language in seventy-nine countries and territories. Ever want to just squeeze your kitten because she’s so darn adorable?! English has a fascinating history full of interesting facts that might come in handy on an upcoming trivia night or, at the very least, provide a new perspective on a language we speak and write constantly, but often take for granted. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The most common vowel in English is "e", followed by "a". If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn English with real-world videos. It has changed over time, and it continues to change every day. © 2021 Enux Education Limited. Can you guess which word comes from French and which one comes from Old English? Learning English becomes fun and easy when you learn with movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talks. The British Empire refers to the period between roughly the late 15th to 17th century and the 1960s, when England had vast territories and colonies all over the world. can take anywhere. Others like Noah Webster had their hands in English spelling as well. The Oxford EnglishDictionaryis updated 4 times every year: March, June,September, and December. A native English speaking person knows between 10,000 (uneducated) to 20,000 (educated) word families. German words can have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. All Rights Reserved. Fun, Amazing & Interesting Facts about English Language. Bumblebees were nicknamed foggy-toddlers in 18th century England. If you want to download you have to send your own contributions. Shakespeare Added Over a Thousand New Words to the English Language 2. Practice this technique with FluentU, an immersive app that teaches you English with real-world videos (like movie trailers, music videos, inspiring speeches and more). Brits are well known for their humour – strange to many cultures and most notably known for the use of irony (and if you’ve ever visited a UK comedy club you may well have been nothing short of baffled at some of the jokes). It was caused by the wide influence of the Italian Renaissance that spread to France and later entered England. English is the most extensively spoken language in the world and is more commonly spoken and written than any other language. This is Part 2 of this series with 8 new facts about the English language. 2 words for each letter in the alphabet. The English language is, quite literally, the greatest language in the world. The crown for most letters goes to Khmer, spoken in Cambodia, with 74 letters. 3. Shakespeare invented over 1,000 words, which he incorporated into his writing. The English alphabet has actually gotten smaller over the years! Sit. Please check your email for further instructions. This means that English is the official language of airplane travel. The professor applied a heuristic teaching method so that her students would learn by trial and error. It means “just okay; fine.”. Then get to grips with the word above – which serves as the longest word of all. Break the ice — To relieve the tension or silence in a conversation by talking. Let’s get to the fun facts about English language! So, after almost 3,000 tweets, here to mark our first anniversary are 100 random facts about the English language, English words, and English etymology taken from our first year online. Every syllable in English must have a vowel (sound). Webster was a dictionary publisher who was largely responsible for American spelling differing from British spelling. Here’s Shakespeare again! ‘Subdermatoglyphic’ is the longest English word that can be written without repeating any letters. That means if you visit or move to the U.S., you can find many other non-native speakers just like yourself. An isogram is a word or phrase in which each letter appears the same number of times. 22 Interesting Facts about English worksheet It’s a medical term that refers to a lung disease caused by inhaling sand dust or ash. 8. Weighing in at 45 letters this word is the name for a form of lung disease that’s caused by the inhalation of ash and dust and, given that it’s a medical term, hails from the now defunct language of Latin. ★ "Forty" is the only number which has its letters in alphabetical order. I get it. English is a beautiful, complicated, fun and infuriating language all at once. These are different from the gendered pronouns “he/him” (masculine) and “she/her” (feminine). The Latin alphabet originally comes from the Etruscan alphabet. If you can consider whether an English word has a French or Germanic root, it just may help you know when to use it! 1. Interesting Facts about English Language Do you know word 'alphabet' comes from first two letters Greek alphabet - alpha and beta ? Chinese, the most spoken language around the world, has over 50,000 characters. You might also hear this referred to as reduplication. For full details please see our. For example, the command “Go!” may seem like the shortest sentence, but it’s elliptical. In Hindi come from English-speaking countries its history, the famous English pangram is: “ the Bard. ”.! A sentence that doesn ’ t have these gender rules today for products and services we believe.. Common and vast language, it ’ s a medical term that refers to someone who s! Which serves as the most spoken language around the world has heard of the recent and! Re throwing your textbook at the wall thanks to some horribly confusing grammar topic are of! Politician is a great help to many English learners that order medical that... 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