English is a wonderfully wacky language—full of strange rules, even stranger exceptions, and enough contradictions to make your head spin. Whether you’re a native speaker or learning it as a second (or third) language, you’ve probably questioned its logic more than once. Why do we park in a driveway but drive on a parkway? Why does read rhyme with lead sometimes, but not always? The truth is, English doesn’t just borrow from other languages—it steals from them, then makes up its own bizarre rules just to keep things interesting. Here are ten hilarious reasons why English is so hard to learn!
Homophones will drive you crazy! – Their car is over there, but they’re not in it. And don’t even get started on two, to, and too!
Silent letters make no sense. – Why is there a “k” in knife? Or a “b” in subtle? It’s like letters are just lurking around for fun.
Plurals are unpredictable. – One goose, two geese… but one moose, two moose. And don’t ask why it’s mice but not hice.
The same word can mean the opposite! – If you seed a lawn, you’re planting seeds. But if you see the lawn has been seeded, it means someone already did it.
Pronunciation rules? What rules? – Tough, though, through, and thought all sound completely different. English is just messing with us.
We steal words from EVERY language. – Déjà vu from French, karaoke from Japanese, bungalow from Hindi… No wonder nothing follows one rule!
Phrasal verbs are chaos. – You run out of milk, but you run into a friend. You give up, but also give in. What’s going on?!
Spelling is a nightmare. – Colonel is pronounced “kernel,” Wednesday sounds like “Wens-day,” and queue is just a long wait for the letter “Q” to finish showing off.
Idioms make zero sense. – Why do we “spill the beans” when sharing a secret? And why is something easy “a piece of cake”? What does food have to do with anything?
The past tense is a mess. – You sing today, but sang yesterday, and have sung before. But you bring today, brought yesterday, and have never brung anything.
