Tag: Etymology
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Today, anyone who understands or studies English knows the English alphabet has twenty-six letters. Emphasis on the word today since English has lost and gained several letters over the centuries. Many of these losses and gains help us explain why we pronounce the same letter combinations differently. For example, th in this doesn’t sound the…
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Recently, I wrote about awkward plurals used in English, focusing mostly on the linguistic history related to why we say the things we do. Today’s post is a touch different. While there is some information about etymology, there are several other practical tips that can be used daily with plurals derived from Latin.
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Lions and tigers and bears, oh my—this is easy to understand. But what about wolves and mice and geese, and why is it moose not meese? Awkward plurals in English are the bane of EFL and ESL students the world over. Even native English speakers can sometimes struggle to understand the confusing mess our language…