Difficulties in Learning English: English Grammar

          Learning the English language can present people with difficulties, whether they are non-native English speakers wishing to learn English as a second language or even native speakers who wish to learn the formal type of English (as opposed to slang) which are used in academia and in transacting with government institutions. One of the problems that confound learners concerns English grammar. This is because the grammatical structure of English is unlike other languages, even those that are closely related to it or where it has borrowed large groups of vocabulary. Adding to this difficulty is the presence of a number of irregularities that exist in English.

          It is important to understand features of the language such as English grammar, vocabulary, and spelling especially for non-native speakers so they can grasp the nuances of the language better. For native speakers, it may help them understand why learning English can be difficult. Below are some of the problems of learning English in relation to English grammar:

• Plural Nouns. Most nouns in English simply add “s” to its singular to create its plural counterpart. However, there are also words which do not conform to this rule. Examples are words ending in “f” or “fe” such as wife (plural is wives), words ending in “y” such as spy (plural is spies), words that have a change in their interior vowel sounds such as man (plural is men), and Old English word plurals such as child (plural is children) and ox (plural is oxen).

• English has many verb tenses which its speakers have to master in order to effectively communicate different shades of meaning. Complicating this difficulty is the fact that English also uses auxiliary words in place of verbal inflection in creating its varied tenses.

• Irregular Verbs. There are many irregular verbs in English which may be altered radically in conjugation or may not change at all.