English language (English English, the English language listen)) - the language of the English (the official language of England and Great Britain), residents of the USA (the official language of thirty-one states), one of the two official languages of Ireland, Canada and Malta, the official language of Australia, New Zealand. It is used as official in some countries of Asia (Pakistan, etc.) and Africa. Speakers of English are called Anglophones in linguistics; This term is especially common in Canada (including in a political context).

Analytical forms of expression predominate in the morphology of language grammatical meaning. The order of words in a sentence is generally strict. In the vocabulary, about 70% of words are borrowed. Writing based on the Latin alphabet has existed since the 7th century (additional letters were used in the early Middle Ages, but they fell out of use). Traditional spellings occupy a significant place in spelling.

English is a universal language. English for beginners or where to start learning English

There is so much information about English that it is easy to get confused!

Dear readers! I know from my own experience how difficult English is for beginners. And the point is not a lack of textbooks or information, but rather an excess of them, information noise that is impossible to understand.

In this article, I have collected and systematized materials from the site that will be useful for beginners, those who are learning English from scratch. In these articles, I share my opinion on where to start learning a language, what online resources and books are best to use, where to find good video lessons, how to choose courses and where to find an online tutor.

Where to start learning English?

If you decide to learn English “from scratch,” then you need to go from simple to complex, from the most necessary to the rarer. First of all, try to lay the foundation for future knowledge and skills and learn the basics of the language. To the very basic knowledge include:

Having laid the foundation, you need to practice a lot and in a variety of ways in all types of speech activities: reading, listening, writing and speaking in English.

Actually, that's all. You just listened short course language learning! The rest is details and particulars.

You can find the necessary materials both on this site (links above) and in textbooks and online training courses for beginners. I recommend that at the initial stage you study using a textbook for independent study (self-instruction manual). In my opinion, the most convenient way to learn the basics of a language is from a textbook, using interactive materials, such as vocabulary cards, as auxiliary materials.

What websites are there for English language beginners?

The main advantage of the textbook is that the material is presented in a methodically correct order, in convenient portions. You don’t have the feeling that you are wandering in the dark; the textbook literally leads you by the hand, giving extremely specific instructions. But in addition to textbooks, you can also study using educational programs - they contain a lot of audiovisual materials, and the learning process is built in a game form. The following sites are suitable for beginners:

“Teacher Method” – a step-by-step course for children and adults

“Teacher Method” is an interactive course for different levels, starting from almost zero. It includes courses of three difficulty levels for adults and children, as well as a separate children's course for the little ones.

In the course for beginners, learning begins with the alphabet, all explanations are made in the form of short videos in Russian with explanations from teachers, and tasks are given in the form of interactive exercises. The material is chewed down to the smallest detail. The service is paid, but is available free of charge in a limited form.

Lingvaleo is a service for self-study English using:

The lesson plan is created automatically and looks like a list of “Today's tasks”, but it is not necessary to follow it. The site has a lot of audio, video and text materials of different levels of complexity - from simple to original materials foreign TV, so it is suitable not only for lesson study of the language, but also for practice in reading and listening. Most of the features are free, but for an additional fee you can purchase interactive courses (for example, grammar or English for children) and unlock some word learning modes.

Duolingo

A free interactive course, in which, like in the “Teacher Method”, you need to go from lesson to lesson. But there are almost no explanations here; training is built on a different principle. You need to complete tasks, studying the practical side of grammar and applying the vocabulary learned at the beginning of the lesson in practice: constructing and translating phrases. It is not advisable to take this course as a basis for learning English, but it is suitable as an auxiliary educational game.

English for beginners: free video lessons

Useful Internet resources are not limited to just educational sites. Fortunately, there are now a lot of useful, interesting and free video lessons. Lessons are available in both Russian and English.

For beginners, it is better to start with lessons in Russian. For example:

I believe that it is better for beginners to study with Russian-speaking teachers, and here’s why:

He better understands the peculiarities of teaching Russian-speaking students.
At the initial stage, it is better to explain tasks and rules in Russian.
It will be too difficult for you to understand a teacher who does not speak Russian.

The principles of language learning are very simple and have been known for a long time.

1. Set specific and achievable goals

It is much more convenient to move towards a goal when it is marked than when it is an unclear fog over the horizon. Why did you decide to learn the language in the first place? To get a job as a chief engineer at New Development Engineering? To move in with your aunt in Sydney? Your goals will largely determine how you go about achieving them. For example, if you want to study at a foreign university, you will need to be able to write correctly, which is not so important for a trip to the USA under the Work and Travel program.

It is advisable to set short-term goals in addition to long-term goals. For example, complete lessons 1 – 6 in two weeks, learn 100 words in a week, read the first chapter of Harry Potter in a month, etc. There is no need to set unrealistic goals. It's better to take small steps, but without stopping.

2. Try to exercise regularly, preferably every day!

Ideally, you need to practice every day for 1-2 hours. In practice, not everyone will be able to do this, but if you really want to, you can set aside at least half an hour a day. The main thing is not to deceive yourself by coming up with excuses about lack of time and crazy busyness. It's okay if you watch half an hour less TV or get things done half an hour earlier.

Even if you are a businessman/supermodel/pizza delivery guy, finding at least 15 minutes a day in your crazy schedule is exactly 15 minutes better than 0 minutes. And don’t forget that you can listen to audio lessons in the player while you are dying of boredom in a traffic jam.

There is no need to organize crazy marathons once a month either. It is better to exercise for 30 minutes 7 times a week than 210 minutes once a week. What's the point of running a 3-4 hour marathon a day if everything is forgotten within a week?

3. Practice makes perfect

You don't need any great intelligence or talent to learn a language. You just need to practice regularly - that’s all. Pay attention to all aspects of the language: vocabulary, grammar, practice in reading, listening, speaking and writing– and everything will be ok. Don't get hung up on theory and try to practice more.

Language is a means of communication, transmission and perception of information, knowledge, and expression of emotions. They need to be used. Learning a language but not using it is like learning swimming from books without diving into the water. Read and listen more, don’t hesitate to communicate!

An article is a service word that shows that the word behind it is a noun and describes some of its characteristics. Articles allow us to distinguish them from other parts of speech. They perform other tasks as well.

There are two articles in English: uncertain — a (an) And definite — the.

The indefinite article before words that begin with a consonant sound is used in the form a[ə], for example: a desk [ə’desk], a book [ə’bʊk]; before words that begin with a vowel sound - in the form an[ən], for example: an animal [ən’ænɪməl], an eye [ən’aɪ]. The name of the article itself (without a noun) always sounds [еɪ].

Definite article the before words that begin with a consonant sound, it is pronounced as [ðə], for example: the table [ðə’teɪbl], the pen [ðə’pen]; before words that begin with a vowel sound, like [ðɪ], for example: the apple [ðɪ’æpl], the arm [ðɪ’ɑːm]. The name of the article itself is always pronounced as [ðɪ].

When writing and pronouncing articles, it is important what sound the word begins with, not what letter. For example, if the initial letter u reads like [ʌ], then you need to put an(an uncle [ən’ʌŋkl]), but if so, then - a(a union [ə’ju:nɪon]).

Another example: if at the beginning of a word the letter h pronounced, then you need to put a(a hen [ə’hen] chicken), but if not pronounced, then - an(an hour [ən’auə] hour).

Indefinite article

has two forms - A And an;
denotes an incomprehensible/unfamiliar object.

Definite article

has one form - the;
denotes an understandable/familiar object.

Articles are never stressed and in speech merge with the word following them. When there is an adjective, the article is placed before it. Compare: an apple - a big green apple.

Use of the article

When using articles, it is important to consider what number (singular or plural) the noun is in and what its type is, namely: common or proper, countable or uncountable, abstract or concrete.

In many cases, the use (or absence) of the article is governed by grammatical rules, but in some cases it is traditional. Such cases must be remembered.

Indefinite article

The indefinite article comes from the numeral one(one). It is not usually translated into Russian, but it could be translated as “one”, “one of” or “some”, “some”. Therefore, the indefinite article can only be used with countable nouns and only in the singular.’

When an object, creature or person is mentioned for the first time, for example: I see a boy (I see (some) boy).
If revolution is used there is, for example: There is an apple in my pocket (I have an apple in my pocket/in my pocket).
If revolution is used have something/ have got something, for example: I have (got) an orange (I have an orange).
If the profession, position, nationality and other characteristics of a person are called, for example: I am a teacher (I am a teacher); Her son is a pupil (Her son is a student).
When you need to indicate that a given object (creature, person) belongs to a certain group (the property of the group is expressed by an adjective), for example: Do you know that town? Yes, it is a nice small town (Do you know this town? Yes, it is a nice little town). (In this case, the item does not need to be mentioned for the first time.)
If you need to specifically emphasize that there is only one subject, for example: Do you have pencils? Yes, I have a pencil (Do you have pencils? Yes, there is (one)). (Here, too, the subject does not have to be mentioned for the first time.)

Definite article

The definite article comes from demonstrative pronoun that(this). He distinguishes a specific object from among similar ones (“this”, “exactly this”, “that very one”).

If the subject has already been mentioned and the conversation continues specifically about it, for example: My friend has got a dog. He walks with the dog every day (My friend has a dog. He walks the dog every day). But: My friend has got a dog. My sister also has a dog (My friend has a dog. My sister also has a dog).
If the object or objects belong to some special group, for example: The flowers in our garden are very beautiful (The flowers in our garden are very beautiful). (Here in our garden there is a special group, so the word flowers is written with a definite article. In this case, the word may be mentioned for the first time, but the article will be definite.)
If the noun is preceded by an ordinal number, for example: The second lesson is English. (In this case, we are talking about a specific and unique thing: there can be only one second lesson.)
If the noun is preceded by a superlative adjective, for example: Not is the best pupil in our school (He is the best student in our school). (In this case, we are talking about a specific and unique thing: there can only be one best student.)
If we are talking about unique phenomenon or object. (This is why the Earth and the Sun are usually written. Here, using the definite article is similar to capitalizing a word in Russian.)
If we are talking about familiar objects of furniture and the surrounding world, for example: Where is my coat? It hangs at the door (Where is my coat? It hangs at the door). (It is not necessary that a specific door is meant - just a familiar piece of furniture is called).
If an abstract noun is used in some of its particular manifestations, for example: I cannot see anything in the darkness! (I can't see anything in this darkness!)

Absence of article (zero article)

In the absence of an article, they also say that there is a zero article.

When an object (thing, creature, person) is mentioned for the first time in the plural, for example: I see boys in the street (I see (some) boys on the street).
If revolution is used there are with a plural noun, for example: There are apples in my pocket (I have apples in my pocket).
If revolution is used have something/ have got something, for example: I have (got) oranges in my refrigerator (I have oranges in my refrigerator).
If the profession, position, nationality and other characteristics of two or more people are called, for example: We are teachers; Her sons are pupils (Her sons are students).
When you need to indicate that these items belong to a certain group (the property of the group is expressed by an adjective), for example: Did you hear these songs? Yes, these were very nice songs (Have you heard these songs? Yes, they were very nice songs). (In this case, it is not necessary that the word be called for the first time.)
If an abstract noun is used in the most general sense, for example: Darkness is the absence of light (Darkness is the absence of light).
If before a noun there is possessive pronoun, for example: My house is yellow (My house is yellow).
If there is a negation before a noun no(not not!), for example: We have no bread on the table (We have no bread on the table).

Important to know! If in cases 1-5 uncountable nouns are used (they do not have a plural), then the article is also absent. All these cases are similar to the use of the indefinite article with singular countable nouns.

Using articles with proper names

Proper names are usually used without an article, for example: Moscow, New York, Elizabeth, Trafalgar Square, Elbrus.

Names of rivers, seas, oceans, for example: the Mississippi - Mississippi (river); the Baltic Sea - Baltic Sea; the Atlantic Ocean - Atlantic Ocean.
The names of some states, for example: the Russian Federation - Russian Federation; the Ukraine - Ukraine; the Brazil - Brazil; the USA - USA; the United Kingdom - United Kingdom.
Some others geographical names(with an article - according to tradition), for example: the Caucasus - Caucasus; the Crimea - Crimea; the Hague - The Hague (a city in the Netherlands).
Names of mountains (mountain systems), for example: the Alps - Alps.
Names of the cardinal directions: the North - north; the South - south; the East - east; the West - west.
Names of newspapers and magazines, for example: the Times - “The Times”.
Hotel names, for example: the Savoy - “Savoy”.
The name of the entire family (all family members) by last name, for example: the Krasnovs - Krasnovs (Krasnov family).

Names of continents, for example: America - America; Asia - Asia; Africa - Africa.
The names of most countries, for example: Russia - Russia; India - India; France - France; Great Britain - Great Britain.
Names of cities, for example: London - London; Paris - Paris; Moscow - Moscow.
Names of streets and squares, for example: Green Street - Green Street; Red Square - Red Square.
Names of months and days of the week, for example: I’ll see you in September/on Sunday.
First and last names, for example: Jack Black, Ivan Petrov.

Collocations with and without articles

Combinations without articles

after school/work - after school/work
at half past two - at half past three
at night - at night
at home - at home; at work - at work
at school - at school (in class)
at table - at the table (that is, at lunch, etc.)
by heart - by heart
by post - by mail
from beginning to end - from beginning to end
from morning till night - from morning to evening
go to bed - go to bed
in front of - ahead
play football/hockey - play football/hockey
to go/come home - go/come home

Combinations with the indefinite article

at a quarter past two - at a quarter past two
go for a walk - go for a walk
have a good time - have a good time
have a look - take a look
in a hurry - in a hurry
in a low/loud voice - quiet/loud
It's a pity! - It's a pity!
It's a pleasure! - Very nice!
It's a shame! - Ashamed!

Combinations with the definite article

go to the theater/cinema - go to the theater/cinema
in the country - outside the city, in the village
in the morning/afternoon/evening - in the morning/afternoon/evening
keep the house- stay at home
on/to the right/left - right, right/left, left
play the piano/guitar - play the piano/guitar
the other day - the other day
What is the time? - What time is it?

English grammar for beginners seems overwhelming. Articles, pronouns, verbs - the English language has a huge number of rules that are not so easy to transfer to Russian. This raises doubts: is it worth starting at all? Is it worth diving into English grammar without some confidence that you can master it? No, with such an attitude, you will definitely not be able to swim far in your study. Therefore, it is important to discard all doubts and stereotypes. Believe me, English grammar can be studied independently and in the shortest possible time. All you need is consistency and perseverance, and we will help you with everything else.

First, let's figure out what the grammar of this language is. The English grammar or English grammar is a set of all rules that relate to prepositions, prefixes, parts of speech, types English verbs and their times, members of the sentence and so on.

In simple words, everything that is in the English language is its grammar. Accordingly, a common question about how to learn grammar , has a very simple answer: to learn English grammar, you just need to learn the language. Of course, it will not be possible to analyze all the nuances in one article. Why, even books that promise to show you the entire grammar of the English language from scratch with exercises, in fact, will never tell you about the entire grammar. Therefore, we have collected only the most basic rules that are best suited for beginners.

How can you learn English grammar without even knowing the rules of pronunciation? Let's start with them. The rules for reading letters in English is a fairly broad topic, since with a certain combination their pronunciation can change. However, let's not go too deep and consider the standard pronunciation of letters, of which, by the way, there are 26 in English. When mastering the topic of pronunciation special attention is given to the transcription, which is usually indicated in square brackets:

№	Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation
1	A a		Hey
2	B b		bi
3	C c		si
4	D d		di
5	E e		And
6	F f		ef
7	G g		ji
8	H h		HH
9	I i		ah
10	Jj		Jay
11	K k		kay
12	Ll		el
13	Mm		Em
14	Nn	[ɛn]	en
15	O o	[əʊ]	oh
16	P p		pi
17	Q q		Cue
18	R r	[ɑː]	A
19	Ss		es
20	T t		you
21	U u		yu
22	V v		vi
23	W w	[‘dʌbljuː]	double
24	X x		ex
25	Y y		wy
26	Z z		zed

English Grammar: Articles

When studying English grammar, a lot of confusion may arise with, since they have no analogues in Russian. Articles are usually used with nouns to show whether we are talking about a specific object (that bag) or an indefinite one (a person). There are 3 types of articles:

Zero article or its absence:

The indefinite article a/an is used when you are not paying attention to a specific thing, but are simply talking about the subject in general. The indefinite article is also used when you first mention something to someone:

Note that if the noun or adjective that describes it begins with a consonant, the article “a” is used, and if it begins with a vowel, “an” is used.

Definite article the, expressing specific objects:

They occur constantly in speech, so be sure to remember.

Nouns in English grammar

English grammar from scratch very often begins with nouns. Perhaps this is because nouns in English have a lot in common with Russian ones. For example:

they are also divided into proper and common nouns:

can change in number, forming the plural using the ending -s (-es):

have cases, although their number is limited to only two:

perform the roles of all members of the sentence, examples:

The difference is that, unlike the Russian language, English nouns do not change by gender. Only pronouns have it.

English Grammar: Pronouns

Pronouns in English are divided into 9 subgroups, but the most popular are rightfully personal pronouns. They change according to cases, tenses and numbers:

English Grammar: Verbs

The verb in English is perhaps the main part of speech. It can be personal and impersonal. Personal verbs include those verbs that are used with all persons and in all tenses. They can be used in both active and passive voices:

Impersonal ones include the gerund, infinitive and participle:

Both regular and irregular verbs have 3 forms. The correct ones are formed as follows:

Irregular ones have 3 individual forms that need to be memorized, for example:

It is necessary to know all these forms, since with their help the formation of tense verb forms occurs.

In addition, verbs have three moods:

Particular attention should be paid to modal verbs. Modal verbs are verbs that are not used on their own. They are necessary to show the speaker’s attitude towards some action. One of the most used modal verbs are:

should (should)	You should stop drinking alcohol. (You need to stop drinking.)
can (may)	Every person can achieve everything he dreams about. (Every person can achieve anything he dreams of.)
must (must)	The pupils must wear uniforms here. (Here students are required to wear a uniform.)
have to (need / have to)	I have to wake up early because of work. (I have to get up early because of work.)
need (needed)	I need you like no one else. (I need you like no one else.)
used to (formerly)	I used to watch this cartoon when I was a child. ((Previously) I watched this cartoon when I was a child.)

English Grammar: Adjectives

An adjective in English denotes an attribute of an object and answers the questions “which?” and “whose?” In simple words, it is used to describe objects and persons. According to their structure, adjectives are divided into 3 groups:

These and other adjectives can be used in 3 degrees of comparison:

English Grammar: Adverbs

The descriptive function is also characteristic of adverbs, which are responsible for expressing a characteristic of an action. It comes in several types:

They can also have degrees of comparison:

English Grammar: Numerals

Numerals, as in Russian, are quantitative and ordinal:

With the exception of the first 3 digits, the remaining ordinal numbers are formed with -th (-eth). In English ordinal numbers can be written using a number and the last two letters of the ending: second - 2nd, ninth - 9th, sixteenth - 16th and so on.

English Grammar: Interjections

It is impossible not to note the independent part of speech, the use of which helps to convey emotions and one’s feelings, namely interjections. They can be divided into 3 groups:

Functional parts of speech

Functional parts of speech in English grammar are used quite often. Let's look at some of them:

Conjunctions connect members of a sentence, as well as simple sentences within a complex sentence. By structure they are divided into:

According to their functions, they are divided into coordinating and subordinating:

Prepositions are used no less often than conjunctions. According to their structure, they are divided into exactly the same groups:

In addition to their main purpose, prepositions are always used with the following verbs:

Another useful part of speech is particles. There are 5 types of particles in English:

English Grammar: Word Order in a Sentence

Sentences in English are affirmative, negative and interrogative. They are built as follows:

Based on these tables, sentences are drawn up at any time.

English Grammar: Tenses

There are 12 tense forms in English. They are formed using 3 tenses and 4 tense forms:

Times/Species	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Past (past)	V2	to be (past) + V-ing	had + V3	had + been + V-ing
Present (present)	V1	to be (in the present) + V-ing	have / has + V3	have / has + been + V-ing
Future (future)	will + V1	will be + V-ing	will + have + V3	will + have + been + V-ing

Knowing these forms, you can form any sentences.

English Grammar: Types of Sentences

By the way, about proposals. As in Russian, English sentences divided into simple and complex. Complex ones are divided into complex and complex.

It is worth noting that, despite the fact that most sentences in English are complete, it is also possible to use incomplete sentences. Typically, this option is used in colloquial speech, so this is rather a practical grammar of the English language:

These were the basic rules of grammar. Of course, it is unfortunately impossible to fit all the material here. However, knowing at least the mentioned rules of the English language, you will already feel quite confident during a conversation. As for conversations. A collection of English exercises or another version of descriptive information is, of course, good. However, believe me, practical English grammar cannot be compared with anything in its effectiveness. Language learners can learn much more by communicating than by sitting in front of a book. Therefore, do not hesitate to communicate with native speakers.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Guyana
Belize
Netherlands

Asia and Oceania:
Australia
New Zealand
Philippines
Kiribati
Tuvalu
Hong Kong
Singapore
Pakistan
Samoa
Fiji
Nauru
Papua New Guinea
Tonga
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu
Palau
Federated States of Micronesia
Marshall Islands

Total number of speakers:

Mother tongue: 309-400 million
Second language: 199-1400 million

Rating :

3rd or 4th as a native language (tied with Spanish), 2nd in total number of speakers

Classification

Category:

Germanic branch West Germanic group Anglo-Frisian subgroup

Writing:

Language codes

GOST 7.75–97:

ISO 639-1:

ISO 639-2:

ISO 639-3:

Alphabet

The English alphabet contains 26 letters.

The rendering of English names and titles in the Russian text is determined quite complex system rules that compromise between phonetic and spelling systems, for more details see the article “English-Russian practical transcription”. Many names and titles, however, are passed down by tradition, archaically, in partial or complete contradiction of these rules.

Systemic differences from the Russian language

There is no consistent systemic correlation between the spelling of words and phonology, that is, without knowing the traditional pronunciation in advance, it is not always possible to correctly read a word “from a sight”.
In the third person, the pronouns “he” and “she” are used for people (or “they”, for people of unknown gender), most other nouns (including names animals) is replaced by the pronoun “it” (“it”). Exceptions - name vehicle“ship”, “ship”, which is preferably referred to by the pronoun “she”, as well as the sun - “he” and the moon - “she”. Moreover, to express a relationship regarding of this subject or concepts, the pronoun “she” can denote something that you like, causes a positive reaction (life, love, youth, health, etc.), and the pronoun “he”, on the contrary, denotes words that can cause rejection or negative reaction (death, old age, illness, etc.). Often the pronouns “he” and “she” are used to refer to animals - characters from fairy tales or pets.
There is practically no inflection depending on the role of the word, including cases; case relations are conveyed by the position of words in a sentence and prepositional constructions.
Frequent conversion - the identity of cognate words of different parts of speech (for example, "flower", "floral" And "blossom" denoted by one word “flower”). In view of this, the sequence of words in phrases is extremely important. In a sentence, in most cases, there is also a fixed order of the words that make up the sentence (subject-predicate-direct object-indirect object), unlike the Russian language.
In most cases, there is no difference between addressing another person as “you” and “you”; only one form is used - “you”. However, the Old English pronoun "thou" ("You") can still be found in fiction, computer games, etc.
Aspect relations in the system of verb tenses are expressed in various forms, both simple and analytical.
There are articles (indefinite - "a" ("an" before vowels) - and definite - "the").
When writing proper names (for example, works of literature and art, names of periodicals, etc.), quotation marks are not used, they are highlighted italics or don't stand out at all.
There are no double negatives (however, the rule is often violated in common parlance, as well as in poetic texts. An example is the song “I Don't Wanna Cry No More" by the group "Helloween").
Wider compatibility of words; there is no rule of semantic agreement.
In affirmative sentences, direct word order is used, that is, the initial position is occupied by the subject, followed by the predicate, followed by the circumstances of place, manner of action and time, respectively. An example would be the sentence “He was running down the street very fast at 5 o`clock.” rus. “At five o’clock he was running very fast down the street.” . In questions, as a rule, inversion is observed - the subject and predicate change places: “When was he running down the street?” - “When was he running down the street?”

Phonetics

If we take the so-called standard pronunciation of English in England, Commonwealth countries and the USA as a unit of comparison, without taking into account the peculiarities of modern dialects and adverbs of the USA and England, we can note:

almost complete absence of “soft”, that is, palatalized consonants;
absence of devoicing of final voiced consonants, a phenomenon observed in the Russian language;
assimilation and dissimilation in the English language occurs much less frequently than in Russian.

Morphology

Average word length

№	English	Russian
List of Swadesh for English
1	I	I
2	you	You
3	he	He
4	we	We
5	you	You
6	they	They
7	this	this, this, this
8	that	that, that, that
9	here	here, here
10	there	there
11	who	Who
12	what	What
13	where	Where
14	when	When
15	how	How
16	not	Not
17	all	all, all, everything, everything
18	many	many
19	some	some
20	(a) few, some	few
21	other	different, different
22	one	one
23	two	two
24	three	three
25	four	four
26	five	five
27	great	big, great
28	long	long, long
29	wide	wide
30	thick	thick
31	heavy	heavy
32	small	small
33	short	short, brief
34	narrow	narrow
35	thin	thin
36	woman	woman
37	man	man
38	person, man	Human
39	child	child, child
40	wife	wife
41	husband	husband
42	mother	mother
43	father	father
44	animal	beast, animal
45	fish	fish
46	bird	bird, bird
47	dog	dog, dog
48	louse	louse
49	snake	snake
50	worm	worm
51	tree	tree
52	forest, wood	forest
53	stick	stick, rod
54	fruit	fruit
55	seed	seed, seeds
56	leaf	sheet
57	root	root
58	bark	bark
59	flower	flower
60	grass	grass
61	rope	rope
62	skin	leather
63	meat	meat
64	blood	blood
65	bone	bone
66	fat	fat
67	egg	egg
68	horn	horn
69	tail	tail
70	feather	feather
71	hair	hair
72	head	head
73	ear	ear
74	eye	eye, eye
75	nose	nose
76	mouth	mouth
77	tooth	tooth
78	tongue	tongue (organ)
79	nail	nail
80	foot	foot, leg
81	leg	leg
82	knee	knee
83	hand	hand
84	wing	wing
85	stomach	belly, belly
86	entrails	entrails, intestines
87	neck	neck
88	back	back
89	breast	breast
90	heart	heart
91	liver	liver
92	drink	drink
93	eat	eat, eat
94	bite	bite
95	suck	suck
96	spit	spit
97	barf	vomit, vomit
98	blow	blow
99	breathe	breathe
100	laugh	laugh

One of the most characteristic features of the English language is the short word.

The result of counting the number of monosyllabic words in passages:

The first vertical rows are the result of counting all words, the second are the result of counting, in which repeated words are counted as one.

Already from this table it is clear that short words predominate in the English language, but there are also long words, for example, individualisation and even antiestablishmentarism (the longest word in the English language is honorificabilitudinitatibus - 27 letters). But there are relatively few such words in the language, and most importantly, they are rarely found in speech. The fact is that monosyllabic and generally short words are often of Germanic origin, while long ones are of French and Latin origin. There are more short words in colloquial language, jargon, and poetic speech than in scientific prose and journalism.

The words of the English language have become shorter due to two processes: the first, which has completely taken over the language, is the disappearance of endings. This process transformed synthetic Old English into almost purely analytical New English. A striking example of such abbreviations is the ancient Gothic word "habaidedeima", compared to an English word with the same meaning "had"- “had”. The second process captures only part of the vocabulary of the English language - this is the acquisition of a stronger Germanic accent by borrowed words. In this case, words are abbreviated as described below.

1. One or more initial syllables are dropped: “vanguard” - from the old French “avant-guarde” - “avant-garde”. Sometimes a modified word coexists in a language with a later borrowing that is not modified, but they acquire different meanings: “history” - “history” and “story” - “story”;

2. A syllable drops out in the middle of a word: “fantasy” gives “fancy” - “fantasy”.

Middle English period

The next period in the development of the English language covers the time from 1485. The invasion of the Norman feudal lords in 1066 introduced into the Old English language a powerful new lexical layer of so-called Normanisms - words dating back to the Norman-French dialect of the Old French language spoken by the conquerors. For a long time, Norman French remained in England the language of the church, government and the upper classes. But the conquerors were too few in number to impose their language unchanged on the country. Gradually, medium and small landowners, who belonged to a relatively greater extent to the indigenous population of the country - the Anglo-Saxons, acquired higher value. Instead of the dominance of the Norman French language, a kind of “linguistic compromise” is gradually emerging, the result of which is a language approaching the one we call English. But the Norman French language of the ruling class retreated slowly: only in 1362 was English introduced into legal proceedings, in 1385 teaching in Norman French was stopped and English was introduced, and from 1483 parliamentary laws began to be published in English. Although the basis of the English language remained Germanic, it included such a huge number (see below) of Old French words that it becomes a mixed language. The process of penetration of Old French words continues from approximately until the end of the Middle English period, but reaches a peak in the interval between -.

As one would expect, the vast majority of words related to government go back to Old French (with the exception of the original Germanic king, queen and a few others):

reign - to reign, government - government, crown - crown, state - state, etc.;

most noble titles:

duke - duke,
peer - peer;

words related to military affairs:

army - army,
peace - peace,
battle - battle,
soldier - soldier,
general - general,
captain - captain,
enemy - enemy;

court terms:

judge - judge,
court - court,
crime - crime;

church terms:

service - service (church),
parish - parish.

It is very significant that words related to trade and industry are of Old French origin, and the names of simple crafts are Germanic. An example of the first: commerce - trade, industry - industry, merchant - merchant. No less indicative for the history of the English language are two rows of words noted by Walter Scott in his novel “Ivanhoe”:

names of living animals - Germanic:

the meat of these animals bears the Old French names:

beef - beef,
veal - veal,
mutton - lamb,
pork - pork, etc.

The grammatical structure of the language undergoes further changes during this period: nominal and verbal endings are first mixed, weakened, and then, by the end of this period, almost completely disappear. Appears in adjectives, along with in simple ways formation of degrees of comparison, new analytical ones, by adding words to the adjective more'more' and most'most'. The end of this period (-) marks the victory of the London dialect over other English dialects in the country. This dialect arose from the merger and development of southern and central dialects. In phonetics, the so-called Great Vowel Shift occurs.

As a result of the migration of part of the British in 1169 to the territory of the Irish county of Wexford, the Yola language independently developed, which disappeared in the middle of the 19th century.

New England period

The period of development of the English language, to which the language of modern England belongs, begins at the end of the 15th century. With the development of printing and the mass distribution of books, the normative book language is being consolidated; phonetics and spoken language continue to change, gradually moving away from dictionary norms. An important stage in the development of the English language was the formation of diaspora dialects in the British colonies.

Dialects

The English language has many dialects. Their diversity in Great Britain is much greater than in the United States, where the basis of the literary norm until the mid-20th century was the Mid-Atlantic dialect. Since the 50s of the 20th century, the dominant role in the United States has passed to the Mid-Western dialect.

England

Main article: Dialects of English in England

Cockney(Cockney) - a term for a number of historical dialects of the districts and craft guilds of London
Geordie ( English) - dialect of the people of Northumberland, in particular Newcastle on Tyne
West Country
East England(East Anglia)
Birmingham (Brummy, Brummie)(Birmingham)
Cornwall(Cornwall)
Cumberland(Cumberland)
Central Cumberland(Central Cumberland)
Devonshire(Devonshire)
East Devonshire(East Devonshire)
Dorset(Dorset)
Durham(Durham)
Bolton Lancashire(Bolton to Lancashire)
North Lancashire
Radcliffe Lancashire
Northumberland(Northumberland)
Norfolk(Norfolk)
Tyneside Northumberland(Tyneside Northumberland)
Somerset(Somerset)
Sussex(Sussex)
Westmorland(Westmoreland)
North Wiltshire(Wiltshire)
Craven Yorkshire(Yorkshire)
North Yorkshire(North Yorkshire)
Sheffield Yorkshire(Sheffield)
West Yorkshire(West Yorkshire)

Scotland, Wales and Ireland

Lowland Scottish(Lowland Scots) - also considered a separate language (Lowland Scots).
Edinburgh(Edinburgh) - also considered a dialect of Lowland Scots.
Belfast(Belfast)
South Wales(South Wales)
Yola is a dead language, separated from medieval English.

North America

American English (AmE, AmEng, USEng)
- Socio-cultural dialects

Good day, dear readers. You have already made significant progress in learning English. But few people know where this language came from, how it appeared. It's time to find out. Everyone knows that the basis of modern European languages became Latin. So, for example, the German dialect is a cross between Latin and Gothic, French is Latin and Gaulish, and English appeared as a result of mixing Latin and Celtic. English language

The history of modern English began back in the 8th century BC. During this period, the territory of modern Great Britain was inhabited by Celts who communicated in the Celtic language. So the word “Britain” itself comes from the Celtic - brith — painted. Also from Celtic came words such as "slogan" = sluagh + ghairm = battle cry, "whiskey" = uisce + beathadh = living water.

Afterwards, Britain was conquered by the great Caesar, and in the 1st century BC. it began to be considered part of the Roman Empire. Some Romans began to move to the province, who had to communicate closely with the local population, that is, with the Celts, which was reflected in the language. Thus, words with Latin roots have appeared in modern English.

For example, "street" = via strata = paved road, common nouns - “wine - vinum, pear - pirum, and many geographical names - Manchester, Lancaster. This is how the Romans and Celts interacted with each other, forming new English words right up to the 5th century AD, until the territory of Britain was invaded by Germanic tribes, and a new period began in the history of the development of English.

Old English period in English history

This period covers the period from 449 to 1066. In 449 AD. The ancestors of the English language, the Celts and Romans, were invaded by the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons, Frisians and Jutes, who significantly outnumbered the local population. So the Anglo-Saxon dialect gradually began to displace the Celtic dialect, destroying or transforming existing words.

Only in the hard-to-reach and remote areas of Britain were the Germans unable to reach, and Celtic languages remained there to this day. These are Wells, the Highlands, Cornwall and Ireland. Therefore, if you want to touch the ancestors of modern English, then go there.

Celtic alphabet Thanks to the Germanic tribes, many words with common Germanic roots appeared in English, which were also borrowed from Latin at one time. These are words like " butter, Saturday, silk, mile, pound, inch". In 597, the Roman Church began to Christianize pagan Britain, and by the early 8th century AD. Most of the British Isles already professed the new religion.

The close interaction of these cultures was naturally reflected in the language. By borrowing words from Latin and assimilating them with Germanic dialects, many new lexemes appeared. For example, "school" comes from Latin "schola", "Bishop"- from " Episcopus", "mount"- from "montis" and many others. It was during this period that over 600 words with Latin and Germanic roots came into the English language.

Then, in the second half of the 9th century, the Danes began to conquer Anglo-Saxon lands. The Scandinavian Vikings intermarried with the Anglo-Saxons, mixing their Old Icelandic language with the dialect spoken by the local peoples. As a result, words from the Scandinavian group came into English: amiss, anger, awe, aye. The combination of the letters "sc-" and "sk-" in English words ah - a clear sign of borrowing from Scandinavian languages: sky, skin, skull.

Middle English period of development of the English language

This is the period from 1066 to 1500. AD In the middle of the 11th century, during the Middle Ages, England was conquered by the French. Thus, in the history of the development of the English language, the era of three languages began:

French - for the aristocracy and the judiciary
Latin - for Science and Medicine
Anglo-Saxon - for the common people

The mixture of these three adverbs gave rise to the formation of the English that the whole world studies today. Thanks to mixing, the vocabulary doubled. The vocabulary split into high (from French) and low (from German) variants of the language. The same distinctions can be traced in the semantic series of synonyms that arose as a result of the use of the languages of the aristocracy and peasants.

Map of Britain 11th century So, an example of social division can be the names of domestic animals that have Germanic roots, that is, worker-peasant: swine, cow, sheep, calf. But the name of the meat of these animals, which the intelligentsia ate, comes from the French: pork, beef, mutton, veal. However, despite not all the external factors influencing English, its core still remains Anglo-Saxon.

In the 14th century, English became literary, that is, exemplary, and it also became the language of education and law. In 1474 the first book appeared in English. It was William Caxton's translation of R. Lefebvre's A Collection of Stories of Troy. Thanks to Caxton's work, many English words have acquired completeness and integrity.

During this period, the first grammatical rules appeared. Many verb endings disappeared, adjectives acquired degrees of comparison. Changes are also taking place in phonetics. The London pronunciation became popular in Britain in the early 16th century. About 90% of the country's total population spoke this dialect.

With the beginning of mass migration from England to North America, the language there began to change in a different direction. This is how British, American and other varieties of modern English appeared, which today differ significantly from each other, both grammatically, phonetically and lexically.

New England period of the formation of English

This period starts from 1500 to the present day. William Shakespeare is considered to be the founder of modern literary English. It was he who purified the language, gave it form, and introduced many idiomatic expressions and new words that English speakers now use to communicate. During the Age of Enlightenment, in 1795, L. Murray’s textbook “ English grammar" For almost 200 years everyone studied from this book.

Lindley Murray Linguists say modern English is a mixture different languages, and even today it is not static, being constantly updated. This is the main difference between this language and other European dialects. English not only allows, but welcomes neologisms, different dialects and variants. As we can see, he still preserves the tradition of “mixing dialects.”

At the beginning of the 20th century, the globalization of the English language occurred, which was facilitated by the colonial policies of the United Kingdom. In the middle of the last century, the global importance of the United States increased, which also contributed to the popularity of the American version of the language.

English has long become not only the No. 1 language of international communication, but also the language of science, media, education, and technology. Today it is difficult to calculate exactly how many people speak this language. Numbers are quoted from 700 million to 1 billion. Some people are carriers of it, and others, like you and me, are trying to learn it.