Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Easy English Podcast.
I'm your host Oliver, and today we have an exciting episode, because this episode is the start of a brand new series, an extra series on the channel, which is called The Why Behind English.
The Why Behind English.
So, what is this new episode and series about?
As you learn English, you probably have a lot of questions.
Not just what is this word, but why is English like this?
How does it work?
What is the reason for this?
And why is the grammar so strange sometimes?
And today we are going to answer a few of the common why questions and in each episode in this series i'll probably do say, let's say one or two every month i want to answer your questions, your questions about english, and pick the most relevant ones to talk about.
So today's episode might be a little bit shorter because I am going to pick a few questions that I've seen in the past.
But for the next episode in the series, I would like you to ask me questions about English and about something you've been thinking about, maybe something that you find difficult with English.
But as always, we will still have our key vocabulary in each episode.
So you'll still learn some new vocabulary, as well as listening to these interesting questions and discussions.
These lessons or these episodes will probably be a little bit more like an English lesson in some ways, because each theme is another topic.
Each question will be a different topic about English.
So it will be more language focused.
But don't worry, almost every other episode will still be like our main series, focusing on different themes and ideas.
So if you've been listening for a while or you're new, make sure that you are subscribed, and there will be more of such type of content, like this episode on Patreon.
So make sure you are subscribed to the Easy English Patreon.
The link is in the description below.
Let's look at our key vocabulary for today's lesson.
These are words that you will hear at some point during today's episode, so try to actively listen for them.
The first word is structure.
Structure.
And this is a noun, and it means the way something is organized or built.
For example, the structure of a sentence.
So that's like the order of the sentence, right?
And the next word for today means more or less the same thing in context.
And that is syntax.
Syntax.
And syntax is the order of words in a sentence.
So we can have structure, which can mean different things, how something is organized or built.
But when we say syntax, it means the order of words in a sentence.
So those are two good words to listen for.
The third word today is origin.
Origin.
Origin.
And this is a noun which means the beginning or source of something.
For example, the origin of a word, where it came from, the beginning of that word.
Our fourth word today is rule.
Rule.
And this is a noun in this case, and it means a principle or an instruction that states how to do something correctly.
Languages have lots of rules.
It is, I guess, a series of guidelines or instructions about how we should say things, how we should change words and how the language should be, how it should behave.
And our final word today is exception.
Exception and this is a noun and in this case and context about vocabulary and language, it is something that doesn't follow the rule.
So an exception, something which is not like the normal, but it is that way in the language.
For example, an irregular verb is an exception to the rules.
Verbs usually have certain rules, They behave in certain ways, but an irregular verb does not behave in that way.
For example,
So what I've done for this first episode is I've picked a couple of questions that I have seen over the last couple of weeks in comments and in response to podcasts or videos.
So I'm going to take a few of those and discuss them today.
They're quite easy topics and themes, but I think it's good to practice with some easier topics and themes to start with today.
And then you can ask me, in the comments of this podcast, as many complicated or difficult questions as you like, or whatever you want to know about English.
So the first question is, why do we say an hour but a house?
So an hour but a house.
So both of these words start with an H hour and house, but one has an before it and the other has a.
This is sometimes, I think, quite a common question.
People wonder, hmm, why?
Why one and not the other?
And the answer is quite simple.
This is actually something which can confuse native speakers around the rules.
Although native speakers will use the correct option, they sometimes think about this the wrong way and they can therefore type it incorrectly or write it incorrectly.
So the rule for choosing a or an is not about the first letter of the word. but the first sound.
And native speakers, like I mentioned, often make this mistake.
They think when writing it that it's about the first letter.
So don't worry if this is a mistake that you do sometimes, because there's lots of people, I know, that also make this mistake when they're writing, because they think or they misremember this rule from school in their head.
They think oh, if it's an A E I, O or U letter at the start, then it is an, for example, an apple or an apricot.
But if it is anything else, a consonant, so not an A, E, I, O or U, they think it's an A.
And for most cases, this is right.
But in reality, it's about the first sound.
So we use an an article before a word that starts with a vowel sound.
So an A, E, I, O or U sound.
For example, an apple or an orange, both of these have a vowel sound.
But an hour, for example, also has a vowel sound.
It's got a soft sound because that H letter is is silent.
Silent letters is probably a topic that we will look at in another episode.
And then, of course, we use um, ah before a word that has a consonant sound, so that harder sound, not an a an e an i, o or a?
U, for example a car or a book or, in the first example, a house.
It's a different sound.
We've pronounced that H in that case.
In the word our, of course, the first H is silent.
So that first sound that you hear is the ow sound, that soft sound, that soft vowel sound.
So the next time you're not sure if you're thinking between your articles, you're thinking of a versus an, try and just say the word out loud and listen for that first sound, and if you hear that softer vowel sound, then you'll know.
In most cases it is an, an.
And if you hear that consonant sound like car bar I don't know why I'm thinking of lots of R words, but you get the idea.
If you hear that consonant sound, you will know it is A.
So we will go to our second question of the day.
But first I want to remind you if you like learning English, Do you want to improve your phrasal verb knowledge?
I do have a relatively new ebook out called Phrasal Verbs Are Easy.
The link is available in the description below.
You can pick up a copy which teaches you phrasal verbs through short stories in context where you can practice, with some questions, putting the verbs in the correct form.
But also from reading those stories you get to see the phrasal verb in action, in context, and it helps you to memorize it.
Let's continue with our next question.
And the next question is why do we have to use the word the?
And this is a good question.
It might seem simple, but it is a good question, and one we are going to look at.
So the word the is called a definite article and we use it to talk about something specific, to show that both the or something that both the speaker so let's say I'm the speaker and the listener know about.
So it's a very clear difference.
Imagine you are in a room and there are many books.
Maybe you're in a library or a room with a bookshelf.
And if you say to someone, please give me a book, it can mean any book.
You're asking for any book in that room at all.
It doesn't matter.
You don't care which book you get.
The listener now simply knows that you just need one book.
But if you say, please give me the book, then you're asking for a specific book.
Maybe it's the one on the table.
Maybe it's a book that you were just talking about with that person.
But the listener should know exactly what book you're talking about from context.
And then they will know exactly which book to give you.
So in that case, they should always know if you're going to use the word the.
So the word the helps to make it clear which thing you're talking about.
It points to something that you should both know and mutually, so both of you together, understand.
So...
Why is English spelling so strange?
That's a question that I got a couple of weeks ago and it will be our third and final question for today's The Why Behind English.
This is a question that many English language learners ask.
And the answer is in the history of the language.
And it explains because I know so many other languages make a lot more sense when it comes to spelling.
Some languages are spelt when you write exactly the way they are spoken.
Unfortunately, English is not one of those languages which can make it quite challenging for learners like yourself.
And the reason for this strange spelling and the many exceptions that are in the language is quite simple, to be honest.
English is not a pure language.
So it's a mix of different languages.
That's how it was created.
English started as a Germanic language.
So from this family of Germanic languages.
And then, a few hundred years later, the French language came from Normandy, that region, to England, and the English language decided let's take thousands of words from French.
Later on, when scientists and writers needed new words, They then looked towards the languages of Latin and Greek and decided hmm, these words are great.
Let's use them.
So you can think of English language, the English language in general, as a dish with many different ingredients.
Lots of different seasonings that all come together and make the language that you're learning.
And each ingredient that has been added into English over the years, like German French Latin, Greek.
All of these have their own different spelling rules and sometimes they don't mix together perfectly.
In fact, a lot of the time they don't mix together perfectly, and this is why a word like knight.
So when we talk about a medieval knight, A man that rides a horse with a big sword
A knight.
This is why it is spelt with a K and a GH.
Because it is of Germanic origin.
And why, on the other hand, a word like chef is spelt with a CH and an F on the end.
Because it's of French origin.
It comes from French.
The spelling might look strange, but each part of a word has a story.
If you look up a word that you're interested in, you can see the origins of it, which languages it came from and the rules that it follows.
So that is hopefully another interesting way that you can look at all of those strange spellings and difficult words.
I hope that helps you to reframe that in your head.
So, as we've seen today, the why behind English is not always so simple.
But it is often quite logical.
It makes sense. confusing or parts that just don't make any sense.
Why would they say it like this?
Why would the language behave this way?
Sometimes they have a logical explanation and often that answer with maybe some strange syntax or word order or structure or maybe weird pronunciation or writing.
It all comes from the origin of the language, where those words came from.
Of course, for many people there will be some easy parts of English bits that you love more than others, that you find easier than others.
And often that relates to what your native language is.
Some parts of English will be easier for European language speakers from, let's say, like Spanish French, even German a little bit.
And some parts will be easier for completely different languages.
It can be related to pronunciation, grammar and that type of thing.
If you're used to a lot of irregular words, for example, it might not be too scary for you that English has so many irregulars.
But the one thing I would be thankful for is honestly, I think that the English grammar system is not one of the worst out there.
But of course it has its challenges.
So asking the why is important.
And we talked about critical thinking before on this podcast.
And that's what this series is going to be about.
The why behind English.
We're going to look at why certain things behave a certain way.
So if you find this interesting and you would like to keep having more in-depth episodes, make sure to go and sign up for the Easy English Patreon.
The link is in the description below.
You can go to the stan.store page.
That's stanstore slash easyenglishpodcast.
You can type that in or the link is in the description of the podcast episode.
And there you can find all of the useful links, the link to the Patreon, to my new book, etc.
But most of all, thank you very much for listening to today's episode of the podcast.
Write me your English questions in the comments below.
I want to hear as many of them as possible, whether you're on Spotify or whether you're on YouTube or another platform.
Write me your questions.
If you're listening somewhere without a comment section, you can email me so you can click on to maybe the website or somewhere else, or Patreon as well, and leave me a message or a comment.
Thank you very much for joining me today on the Why Behind English on the Easy English Podcast.
And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
Goodbye.
