English is a Crazy Language…is it not? You decide!
Let’s Face It. English Is a Crazy Language.
(…a nice-little poem for everyone…certainly “not” black and white! (??))
I take it you already know 
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through.
Well don’t! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard but sounds like bird.
And dead: it’s said like bed, not bead,
For goodness sake don’t call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth as in mother
Nor both as in bother, nor broth as in brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear, for bear and pear.
And then there’s dose and rose and lose–
Just look them up–and goose and choose
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword
And do and go, then thwart and cart,
Come, come! I’ve hardly made a start.
A dreadful Language? Why man alive!
I learned to talk it when I was five.
And yet to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn’t learned it at fifty-five.
Try and match up the rhyming words:
1.
| Through | Tough | Bough | Cough | Dough | Hiccough | Thorough | Thought |
| Grow, Bow, Cow, Shoe, Short, Do, Allow, due, Go, Glue Though, Enough, New, Hiccup, Rough, Snuff, Cup, Pooh, Ought, Plough, Shoo, Snow, Knew, Bow, Beau, Caught, Threw, Slough, To, Off, Up, Too, Port, Borough, Wart, Who, Woe, How,Two, Gnu, |
Drinking a cup of water is said to be a good cure for ____.
During the storms last week, many ____ were broken on the trees.
The picanha we had at the churrasco was very____ and difficult to chew.
I am going to the doctor for a ____ checkup.
I am going ____ a very difficult period at the moment.
One of the main symptoms of swine flu is a severe ____.
You need to knead the ____ very well when making bread.
Have you ever seen a snake ______off its skin?
You need to ______the fields before planting crops.
I don’t think I ____to go out tonight, because I have a class at 8:00 in the morning.
_________ is a synonym for misery.
A verruga in English is called a verruca, but is more commonly known as a _________ .
2.
| Dose | Rose | Lose | Goose | Cork | Work | Card | Ward |
| Dork, Sword, Whose, Perk, Bored, Gross, Bard, Those, Choose, Chose, Stalk, Shirk, Hard, Doze, Close, Shard, Pose, Shows, Loos, Hoard,Lord, Fork, Glues, Gourd, Papoose, Noose, Fraud, Chord, News, Snooze, Board, |
(Use the correct form of the words above in the sentences below.)
What is the correct ____ for morphine?
Many older people like to ____after lunch.
I think fat bellies hanging over skirts looks ____.
I really enjoy the ____ of the job: big office, private secretary, expense account, etc.
A porongo is a type of ____.
Ned Kelly’s final words were: such is life, before they put a _____around his neck and hanged him.
The mirror shattered into a thousand ______.
Many people ____ petrol during the second World War.
The native American woman carried her ____on her back while working.
If you ever ____your responsibilities at work again you will be fired.
His trousers were so ____ they kept falling down.
Now he wishes he didn’t ____ his belt.
The lion carefully ___________ the antelope herd before pouncing.
3.
| Font | Front | Word | Do | Go | Thwart |
| Short, Glue, Heard, Ought, Herd, Though, Through, Third, Want, Punt, Port, Show,Grunt, Who, Whoah, Caught, Thought, Turd, Quart, Nerd |
Monica Seles always used to ____when she served the tennis ball.
Oh, pooh! I just trod in a dog ____.
Even ____ I have been in Brazil for more than two years I still can’t speak Portuguese.
Border collies are used to _____ sheep in many countries.
Lex Luthor’s plans were always ____by Superman.
Bill Gates is the most successful ____ ever.
4.
| Heard | Beard | Dead | Bead | Meat | Great | Threat | Pair |
| Deed, Greet, Knead, Bird, Word, Wheat, Third, Pet, Where, Nett, Bread, Wait, Nerd, Hair, Bleed, Meet, Bed, Weird, Sleet, There, Cleared, Their, Sheet, Wet, Herd, Smeared, Snare, Deed, Their, Wear |
(Use the correct form of the words above in the sentences below.)
The child had chocolate ____all over its face.
Because of taxes my _____salary is not so large.
Superman was always doing heroic_____.
The temperature got slightly warmer and the snow turned into ____.
Sabrina asked Daniel to ____the guests while she got ready for their dinner party.
What is the best trap to ____ a rabbit?
I love it when my girlfriend ____my muscles when she gives me a massage.
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susan, students are going crazy over this article. I commend you for this one! Makes my day with the students when we read it!!!!!!!!!!!