English is a =
polyglot language. 1000 years ago there were less than 50,000 =
words used in England (roughly divided into Anglo-Saxon root, Germanic =
root and French/Latin root). Now there are more than a million =
words. 200,000 are used “commonly” and of these =
“commonly used” words, 43 comprise HALF! More =
astounding, of those 43 words, just 9 account for 25% of the words =
English speakers use!!
1. List the 9 =
most commonly-used words in English. (any order)
a =
b =
c =
d =
e =
f =
g =
h =
i
2. Almost half =
of all words commonly used are verbs. Try your hand at listing the 12 =
most common verbs (any order)
a =
b =
c =
d =
e =
f =
g =
h =
i
j =
k =
l =
Now some =
easier questions:
3. How many =
distinct sounds are in English?
a Vowels =
__________
b Consonants =
_________
4. What is the =
most common vowel sound? ____________
5. What letter =
combination has more pronunciations than any other? =
_____________
6. The single =
syllable that sounds like “air” can be spelled in how many =
ways? _________
7. What =
percentage of English words are NOT spelled phonetically (the way they =
sound)? ____%
8. What =
5-letter word is the only word that retrains its pronunciation even if 4 =
letters are removed?
9. What three =
English words end in “-gry”?
a
b
c
10. Is there =
any English word that uses all the vowels including “y”? =
____________________
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"