#EnglishProblems

[theyuniversity]

Why English Is Hard to Learn. And Why That’s Kind of Beautiful.

If you’ve ever tried to learn English as a second language, or even just reflected on how strange it can be, you’ve probably encountered the maddening inconsistency that defines it. A humorous and insightful anonymous poem, featured in the image above, captures this frustration perfectly — turning it into a playful exploration of the language’s quirks.

Let’s break down why English is so difficult... and so fascinating.

The Plural Problem

The poem begins with a seemingly simple rule: “We’ll begin with box; the plural is boxes.” Easy enough. But then: “the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes.” Wait, what?

English doesn’t follow consistent pluralization rules. Goose becomes geese, but moose doesn’t become meese. Mouse becomes mice, but house becomes houses, not hice. Pan doesn’t become pen, and tooth becomes teeth, but booth stubbornly remains booths.

Sound Logic? Not Really.

If foot becomes feet, shouldn’t book become beek? Why not? The poem playfully applies a pattern, then breaks it—just like English often does. This inconsistency is part of what makes the language tough to learn: learners crave patterns, and English often refuses to give them.

Homophones and Hilarity

Then there are the sounds: “this” becomes “these,” so should “kiss” become “keese”? It's absurd, yet logical—at least based on other rules we've seen. This is where English can feel more like a riddle than a language.

Pronoun Pandemonium

Perhaps the most charming part of the poem is its playful take on gendered pronouns. We have he, his, him, but imagine if she followed the same pattern: she, shis, shim! Of course, that’s not real English—but it highlights how arbitrarily male pronouns get a consistent set while female ones don’t. It’s a small detail that opens the door to deeper questions about language and gender.

The Takeaway: English Is a Patchwork Quilt

This poem is more than a string of funny rhymes. It’s a reflection of how English has evolved—not through logic or consistency, but through centuries of borrowed words, regional dialects, invasions, and cultural shifts. It’s a chaotic mash-up of Germanic roots, Latin structure, and French flair, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

And while that might make it frustrating to learn, it also makes English wonderfully rich and expressive. Its irregularities give it character. Its flexibility lets it grow.

So the next time you find yourself puzzled by why the plural of goose is geese but the plural of moose isn’t meese, just smile. You’re speaking one of the weirdest, most inventive languages in the world.

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[italianoutlanders]

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" #EnglishProblems 🇬🇧 #Outlander " . Via #OutlanderStarz . #OutlanderSeries #OutlanderSeason3 #TobiasMenzies #FrankRandall

[adramofoutlander]

Tea bags! #englishproblems #outlanderstarz #outlander #tobiasmenzies #frankrandall

[shootandchop]

The side of a veggie & fruits vending machine. This is real life, and it's clearly got fresh pesticides and bacteria. Purchase your fresh bites! - #vendingmachine #vending #vendingmachines #vendingmachinedinner #bam #fresh #alwaysfresh #eatfresh #pow #pests #pesticides #freshpesticides #macau #onlyinmacau #macauproblems #englishproblems #englishbulldog (at One Oasis Apartments 金峰南岸優質樓盤)

[arielaspalla]

Can you believe it??? #verybritishproblems #britsdoitbetter #englishproblems

[bookscafe-blog]

At the @torontowolfpackofficial game. It is sunny as hells, and I know I'm gonna get more pink. Whatever, I was big and pink before. #Rugby #wolfpack #torontowolfpack #englishproblems #saturdaysarugbyday #bigandpink (at Lamport Stadium)

[pointme]

honestly, this

[mylifeisaseries]

Reading Habits Tag

Tagged by @englishlitstudent, because us lit nerds need to stick together!

Do you have a certain place at home for reading?

Usually my bed or the couch, depending on my mood.

Bookmark or random piece of paper?

I can do both but my mum recently got me a really nice flowery fabric bookmark and I use it all the time.

Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter/a certain amount of pages?

Definitely the latter. I usually read around 50 pages at a time (less if it’s dense) and I get nervous if I don’t stop in the right place.

Do you eat or drink while reading?

Sometimes, I especially love drinking tea while reading.

Multitasking: Music or TV while reading?

No TV, but I do listen to music. I can read over songs with lyrics, but if I really need to focus I’ll listen to instrumentals. There’s a whole playlist made of just Sleeping At Last’s instrumentals on Spotify, I’ve been loving reading to it lately.

Reading at home or everywhere?

Anywhere. At the moment I read at home, at work and on the bus. For some reason I tend to get surges of anxiety whenever I take public transports in my hometown, and reading or writing usually keeps the anxiety at bay during my trips to and from work.

Reading out loud or silently in your head?

In my head, definitely. I’m still self-conscious about my accent (I once had kids I was babysitting get frustrated at me for it during story time), which comes out stronger than ever when I read out loud because I can’t anticipate what I’m about to say.

Do you read ahead or even skip pages?

Absolutely not! Alright, occasionally, when I’m anticipating something I’ll take a look at the next page to see if it’s happening yet.

Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?

I’ll do my best to keep it like new, but I mostly buy my books second hand so I’m used to well-loved ones.

Do you write in your books?

Never! Last semester one of my professors required us to do so and I used a complicated system with post-its and a notebook instead.

Thank you for the tag! I always love to discuss anything literature, especially over on my lit blog @thebooknerdqueen. I’m going to tag @fanbows, @obscurelittlebird, @englishproblems and @rosiealbrecht!

[racer-reader]

The tags!

I added some from @englishproblems because they are so right on!

the utter excitement that i feel when a book has a map at the front is ridiculous

[meganelizabethh]

So many things I want from hot topic but the shipping is crazy, why isn't there a uk store :(

[sepdet]

I'm sorry this is great but as soon as I saw a blog named @englishproblems posting about handwashing the first thing I thought of was this:

[source]

[therealprincesszeanah]

my dash is weirdly on brand this morning.

[bannedbookreader]

@englishproblems

Saw this gem today

[mykoreanroommate-blog]

"Do you say I take my belt off or I take my belt out?"

Julianne