English: Fun Fun Fun

Isn't English fun to learn--

Especially spelling and pronunciation?

It's hard enough for native speakers

And is the cause of a lot of frustration!

 

Think of female deer, does,

And then the form of do, does.

Consider the a-s found in as

And how it is pronounced in was.

 

We have ears on our heads.

Add a b and you've got bears.

There's also e-a-r in earth.

And a funny e-i found in heirs.

 

Look up and see a star.

Add an e and you've got stare.

That is not so hard perhaps.

But why does stare rhyme with where?

 

Say is easy to say, all right.

But add an s and you've got says.

But if you add an s to hay,

You do not pronounce it hez!

 

Back to where, which rhymes with air.

But look at the e-r-e in sphere.

I before e except after c…

But what about the weird word weir?

 

Tough and though are always fun.

Then there's through and ought and drought.

Don't forget to drop the b

When you say both debt and doubt.

 

Throw in apostrophes,

And English teachers really have fits

When they are used for writing plurals

Or when it's is used for its.

 

Forget all the silent letters

In words like write, knot, and pneumonia.

If you said, "I made the rules,"

I'd have to say, "I disown ya!"

 

It wouldn't work to try to write

All the words phonetically

For Easterners and Southerners

Don't say all the words like me.

 

For many years I've been around English--

Hearing, speaking, discerning it,

Exploring its countless nuances.

I guess I'll always be learning it.

 

(8-28-17) By Bob B