Tracing the evolution of English verbs over 1,200 years -- from the Old English of “Beowulf” to the modern English of “The Princess Diaries” -- researchers have found that the majority of irregular ...

bringed a huge change in our use of the language. Now researchers believe more of the irregular verbs that make English such a rich and varied experience are heading for extinction. In future, 'stank' ...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Irregular verbs are the bane of any effort to learn English, but new research looking at how language evolves suggests frequent use keeps pesky irregular verbs like "take" from ...

Irregular verbs Some irregular verbs can be grouped into patterns to help remember the different forms. 6 mins Learning English Vocabulary Phrases from Shakespeare We learn phrases from Shakespeare ...

English in a Minute: 3 ways to use 'situation' Words with 'ough' English in a Minute: 3 ways to use 'supreme' ...

Natural languages comprise elaborate systems of rules that enable one speaker to communicate with another 7. These rules serve to simplify the production of language and enable an infinite array of ...

The words used the most in everyday language are the ones evolving at the slowest rate, say two new studies published in Nature. In one paper, researchers at Harvard University focused on the ...

This article is reposted from the old WordPress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. The blog is on holiday until the start of October, when I’ll return with fresh material. For decades, ...

'I let Roger drive the car whenever he wants to.' 'I let Roger drive because I wasn’t feeling very well.' 'If you hadn’t let him use your credit card, you wouldn’t now be overdrawn.' 'I always cut my ...