The number of people with some grasp of English is around 1.5 billion. However, the number of people who can write or speak the language as fluently as a native speaker is estimated to be 900 million. Interestingly, English originated in Germany. It continually evolves with new vocabulary created and added while some are removed. Old English is very different from modern English. Here are some facts about English to get you interested in an english learning course in singapore.
1. Longest and shortest sentences
Maybe you have consistently used the word go without knowing that it can construct the shortest sentence in all of English. “Go!” is the shortest grammatically correct sentence. The sentence is a command, and the exclamation mark makes it complete. The longest sentences can be difficult to pinpoint as sentences can be easily altered to make them longer.
There are words that are hard to pronounce, but when asked to pronounce a word with over forty characters without a breath, it is even more difficult. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis is the longest word in the dictionary. The word is close to one and a half times the number of letters in the alphabet. There are words with only a single letter, such as “I” and “you”.
2. Most common incorrect sentence
Even for basic speakers, it is easy to tell that ‘long time no see’ does not make grammatical sense. However, the phrase is commonly used. It is a direct translation from Mandarin.
3. Daily additions
Each day, an average of more than ten words are added to the dictionary. Therefore, within one century, there are over 350000 new words in the dictionary.
4. Most common letter
The letter ‘e’ is the most common in English. It is estimated that there will be an ‘e’ letter in every ten letters. You can use this article to check it for yourself.
5. Shakespearean words
If you have read some of the writings by William Shakespeare, you have probably encountered words there are not in the dictionary. It is not a surprise because Shakespeare is believed to have invented some of the English words used today. Some of the words include laughable, elbow, bandit, critic, and dauntless, just to mention a few.
Each day, you will encounter something new in English. Maybe it’s a new word that replaces the ones highlighted in this article; maybe it’s a word you have never heard of before. Languages are constantly evolving, and English is no exception. Therefore, it is vital to update yourself with the latest facts about English, to keep up to date with different developments and modifications to the language. This will spice up your interest in enrolling in and attending Singapore’s English courses.
