FOR my dissertation for a PhD in applied linguistics, I wrote a 300-page manuscript all about verbs in Philippine English. One might imagine I have an unusual obsession with verbs — and, yes, I had.

Anwar Hassan from Egypt asks about the grammatical differences between British and American English. Nyu Shvei from Hong Kong wants to know when to use 'I didn't go home' and 'I wouldn't go home'.

Verbs are the action words in English, and they are the heart of every sentence. Understanding how to use different verb forms correctly is essential for clear, powerful, and accurate communication, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

“We’ve won,” President Trump announced at a rally on March 11, as the widening war in Iran started to rock oil markets and ...