# Why Is English So Simple (Comparatively)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985 "2020-01-26T06:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/21 "2020-01-26T14:31:28Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > The US foreign service has a list that ranks the difficulty of each language to learn (for English speakers). > > [Which are the hardest languages to learn? Here is the answer according to the US Foreign Service Institute](https://qz.com/1139699/the-languages-that-take-the-most-and-least-time-to-learn-per-the-us-foreign-service/) > > I would say that there is a probable equivalence of difficulty in the reverse direction for each pair. So that Korean Speakers might find English particularly hard and vice versa. Not sure if it makes sense to say that one is harder that another, Although I do think that kids in China and Japan spend more time learning characters than kids from Alphabet-using countries do. So there is a big time-sink involved in character-based language learning. One factor in difficultly is obviously similarity. One reason French is a 1 and Korean a 4 from English POV is that French and English are practically the same language if you compare to how different Korean is from either French or English. An English speaker learning Chinese, Japanese or Korean is faced with a small % of words in those languages recently borrowed from English but otherwise no relationship in vocabulary. Same for speakers of those languages learning English. However a Korean speaker learning German would have that same issue plus more complicated verb/grammar stuff than English. OTOH Korean has a relatively high number of commonly used words, several times as many as English by some counts\*. That doesn’t affect Koreans trying to learn English, but affects speakers of any language without a lot of words in common trying to learn Korean. However, a lot of both Korean and Japanese words are of Chinese origin, so that’s a factor making it easier among those three, though grammar is different and morphological tonality (tone changes meaning) in Chinese but not the other two as a rule. Probably hard to generalize how that ranking (assuming we accept it) would look as a matrix of each of the listed language v all others. But in general I guess similarity, including shared vocabulary among otherwise ‘unrelated’ languages would be a major factor, more than stuff like how much to remember in verb conjugation. I also agree learning Chinese characters is a big task which you must do to be at all literate in Chinese and you can be only very minimally literate in Japanese if you don’t (limited to kiddy books). In theory you don’t need to know Chinese characters to learn Korean but a non native speaker looking to seriously learn it is better off if they do IMO. \*obviously there is no single definition of ‘number of words in common use’. The number of words in a big English dictionary isn’t necessarily less but counts weighting by use seem to say, and it’s clear IMO, you have to know more words to function in Korean and OTOH there are loads more homonyms among those different words. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/22 "2020-01-26T15:16:31Z")
Cool podcast, Jonathan Chance. At least once each minute, the narrator is indirectly reminding us of a recent US regional English development: the “pen-pin merger.” 🙂 (Without looking it up, I’m guessing he’s from Georgia or the Carolinas). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/23 "2020-01-27T05:21:06Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > . . . (i before e except after c is just wierd) . . . i c what u did there. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/24 "2020-01-27T09:10:00Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Not to mention the numerous homonyms (waste and waist) and strange pronunciations. Through, though, brough, middles_brough_, bough, cough, ought, hiccough, So there’s at least 8 different ways of pronouncing the same 4 letter combination. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/25 "2020-01-27T09:57:12Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > I am fascinated by the subject of languages. And every chance I get, I try to learn all I can about a foreign or classic language. > > That is how I found out. English has to be the simplest language there is. I’m no linguist, but have heard it said that English is easy to grasp the rudiments of the language, but difficult to master because of its mass of irregularities. It also has one of the largest vocabularies of any language. > [@Jim\_B](#): > > And why do English people put on airs of being so intellectual (sorry but it’s true:))? I mean, their language certainly isn’t. Think about it. > > :):):):)🙂 We don’t. But American TV and film certainly likes to portray us in such a way. I can assure you the vast majority are nothing near the US perception of the English. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/26 "2020-01-27T09:58:58Z")
[Book recommendation time](https://www.amazon.com/Our-Magnificent-Bastard-Tongue-History/dp/1592404944). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/27 "2020-01-27T10:02:20Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Through, though, brough, middles_brough_, bough, cough, ought, hiccough, > > So there’s at least 8 different ways of pronouncing the same 4 letter combination. Ugh! “Brough”? I will have to look that up. I am guessing that it is pronounced “bro” but I am probably wrong. Have you ever seen that poem that starts off with “Dearest creature in creation”? It is a brilliant display of irregular English spelling. Not even a native speaker can get through it pronouncing everything correctly. Here it is: [The Chaos](https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Ruize-rijmen/De_Chaos) by Gerard Nolst Trenité: > [@](#): > > Dearest creature in Creation, > Studying English pronunciation, > ⁠I will teach you in my verse > ⁠Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/28 "2020-01-27T11:41:22Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Ugh! > > “Brough”? I will have to look that up. I am guessing that it is pronounced “bro” but I am probably wrong. it’s /ˈbrʌf/ , rhymes with “Stuff”. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/29 "2020-01-27T11:53:08Z")
In English, the rules are simple. The numerous exceptions make it difficult. e.g.: What’s the plural of “mouse”, “goose”? What’s the past tense of “lose”, “go”? How does one pronounce “bass drum”, “bass fishing”, “indict”, “pneumonia”. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/30 "2020-01-27T12:19:02Z")
For native English speakers, English is by far the simplest language 🙂 But I spend the majority of my time with people who speak English as a foreign language, and they often ask me about this or that grammatical or spelling idiosyncrasy. I find myself saying “I don’t make the rules…” a lot. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/31 "2020-01-27T13:29:25Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The only other Germanic language that has undergone this so much is Afrikaans. And Afrikaans is even simpler than English to learn in one way - there are very, very few variant spelling, everything is spelled how it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/32 "2020-01-27T13:59:25Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Cool podcast, Jonathan Chance. At least once each minute, the narrator is indirectly reminding us of a recent US regional English development: the “pen-pin merger.” 🙂 (Without looking it up, I’m guessing he’s from Georgia or the Carolinas). I believe that he (he being Kevin Stroud, the presenter of the _History of English_ podcast) is from North Carolina. I’m a regular listener of that podcast, which is very good and very entertaining, but you’re quite right. Stoud’s slight southern accent does sometimes make his pronunciations kind of interesting. At least to this midwesterner. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/33 "2020-01-27T13:59:54Z")
In my experience English is extremely easy to learn (I learned with some couple of years of formal learning and then by playing games and reading books in english, my wife learned the same way except without the formal learning (only some ver basic classes in high school) and my son learned it just by osmosis it seems), but extremely hard to pronounce, at least coming from Spanish which is far more phonetical. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/34 "2020-01-27T14:04:45Z")
Have you ever taught a child to read? Then any ideas about English making sense and being simple will vaporize quickly. ---
**Author:** ![fedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@fedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/35 "2020-01-27T14:18:28Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Not to mention the numerous homonyms (waste and waist) and strange pronunciations. > > People learn suite and then pronounce suitable like suite-able. Why should an e at the end of a word change the pronunciation? [Acceptable answer: That’s how it is.] > > English is easy to learn, almost impossible to perfect as it is full of exceptions (i before e except after c is just wierd) and much more flexible. Even most native speakers make numerous spelling and speaking errors. > > There’s a reason why every single post which is written to correct someone else’s grammatical error contains its own error. It’s inevitable. > > And yet we still manage to understand one another. I agree–context is everything in English, especially verbal; take mean/mien (two different words), or even mean-- is it verb (what do you mean), adjective (you’re so mean), or noun (what is the mean income). Or how one letter creates different meanings–loath (reluctance) becomes loathe (hate) ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/36 "2020-01-27T14:21:28Z")
LOL. Simple. The language with 8 different ways of saying any one particular thing, of which 5 versions are commonly used, 6 are technically incorrect, 3 are pronounced the same but written differently, 2 are only used in the written form and 2 only verbally. Oh, and 3 mean completely different things depending on which country’s version of english you are using. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/37 "2020-01-27T14:21:43Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > OTOH Korean has a relatively high number of commonly used words, several times as many as English by some counts\*. . How many words does a typical university graduate know in Korean? I thought it was something like 12,000 in English. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/38 "2020-01-27T14:24:21Z")
> [@My linguistics professor in college](#): > > Languages do not become simpler. They exchange one form of senseless complexity for another. You can certainly have pidgins, which are indeed simpler. If [enough people need to use the pidgin, it becomes a creole](https://www.britannica.com/topic/language/Pidgins-and-creoles), and develops rules, not because the rules make sense, but because that’s how people speak. [Esperanto](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Esperanto) was developed to be simple, and it is. For speakers of native European languages. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/39 "2020-01-27T15:18:59Z")
> [@](#): > > If an ‘s’ and an ‘i’ and an ‘o’ and a ‘u’ > With an ‘x’ on the end spells “su.” > And an ‘e’ and a ‘y’ and an ‘e’ spell “I” > … Pray, what is a speller to do? > > Then if also an ‘s’ and an ‘i’ and a ‘g’ > And a 'h,e,d" spell “side,” > There’s nothing much left for a speller to do > … But go and commit ‘siouxeyesighed.’ … ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985/40 "2020-01-27T15:50:01Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > What’s the past tense of “lose”, “go”? One of my favorite factoids that makes you go “whoa…” Originally the past tense of “go” was simply “goed”. “Went” was the past tense of a different verb with a similar meaning, “wend”. Bend/bent, send/sent, wend/went. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-english-so-simple-comparatively/846985.md?page=3)