Learning any language is never easy. It takes a lot of time, and patience, and practice. But above all, it requires mental readjustment. And that’s the part that a lot of people find the most difficult.
It’s the Little Things
language thoughts
Envision and Envisage
There’s a good chance you only use one of these words, if you use one at all, and it’s probably envisage. And that’s all you really need. Both can basically mean the same thing: to imagine something, specifically to conjure up a mental image.
There is a slight distinction between the two though, if you want to know exactly how to use them to impress a language nerd.
Stranger Things
Strange can be a strange word. If I asked you to explain it, you’d probably have no problem. It means weird, unusual, not normal. Easy.
Now though, think of words related to strange.
You can probably think of strangely, stranger, and estranged. OK, strangely is the adverb form of strange, but what’s the link with the other two words?
Can you be Ruthful?
You can of course be ruthless – having or showing no compassion or pity for others. I don’t recommend it, but it’s possible. Logically then, you can be ruthful – being full of compassion or pity of others. Normally when we add the prefix -less to a noun, we can add -ful as well to mean the opposite: careful/careless, hopeful/hopeless, and so on.
Is “Y” a Consonant or a Vowel?
It’s both – that’s the boring but correct answer. It depends on the context, of course.
Hot and Spicy
Once more, I’d like to offer you a pepperoni pizza, now that you’re safe in the knowledge of what it actually is. I won’t play any tricks this time. Now, would you like that pizza to be hot and spicy? You would? OK, first, let me add some chilli oil. Then… wait, that’s it? But you said you wanted it to be hot and spicy, and I’ve only added the chilli oil. Don’t you also want some… No? OK, but with only the chilli oil, it’s not hot and spicy. Why? Let me explain again…
The Strange History of Pepperoni
Hi there! Would you like a pepperoni pizza? Of course you would! Well, here you go…
English-Language Thoughts 