16 Fun Facts About English That’ll Make You Want to Know It Better

The English language is one of the fascinating languages in the world. While most of the grammar nazis focus on grammatical and theoretical aspects, they forget to enjoy its entertaining side. For instance, do you know enneacontakaienneagon is a word in English? Its meaning is as strange as the word itself. It means a shape with ninety-nine sides. You might have thought there is no name for a shape with more than eight sides! Isn’t it?

You would be surprised to know that over 840 million people speak English as their first language. English is an official language of over 65 countries and over 25 non-sovereign entities such as Puerto Rico. Comparing with other languages, English has the craziest inventions and unnecessary words. For instance, Jawn is an English word that can replace half of your vocabulary.

If you have joined the English class anytime, you must have learned the new English concepts, but this is certain that you haven’t heard amazing facts about this language. Here are a few fun facts about the English language that you wish you knew before.

1. Over 3000 Words are Added to the Dictionary Annually

Source = Bookriot

How many words have you learned from the dictionary? May be thousand or more! But you still have a long way to go, if you want to learn the entire English words existing. 

Imagine over 3000 words are adding annually to the dictionary, and how many words do you remember? Shakespeare has added 1000 words to the English language. Today, the Oxford English Dictionary contains half a million words. You could say that a new word is added to the dictionary every two hours. 

2. Go is the Shortest Grammatical Correct Sentence in English

Whenever you say Go, you have used the shortest Grammatical correct sentence in this language. Did you know this?

3. A Pangram Sentence Has Every Letter of the Alphabet

Have you ever used any pangram sentence in the English language? One example of a pangram is “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Do you know another pangram sentence? 

4. ‘I Am’ is the Shortest Complete Sentence in the English

Source = Heartspaceoc

Did you know this? When you say I am, that means you have used a complete sentence. ‘I’ is also the most common and the oldest word used in English. Other common words are we, two, and three. 

5. Most Common Adjective is ‘Good’ & Most Popular Noun is ‘Time’

In the English language, the most common adjective that is used is ‘good,’ and the most popular noun is Time. How often do you use these words?

6. Uncopyrightable is the Longest English Word That Doesn’t Have Repeating Letters

I wish I knew this before. 

7. There Could be Different Spellings of the Sound ee!

This sentence might surprise you, but the sentence- ‘He believed Caesar could see people seizing the seas’ has different spellings of the sound ‘ee.’

8. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the Longest Word in English

Source = Wikimedia

You are probably wrong if you thought that Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is the longest word in English. This word means fantastic and got popularized by the movie Mary Poppins. 

But Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a lung disease that is caused by dust and inhaling ash, is the longest word in English. The word contains 45 letters. Hats off to you, if you tried pronouncing this word. 

Also, do you know a city in Britain has 58 letters in its name? Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a city in Britain. I wonder how do people living their pronounce this name. Did you pronounce it correctly? 

9. Ough Could be Pronounced in Different Ways

You would be surprised to know that the word ough could be pronounced in 9 different ways. Read this sentence ‘A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed’ and you would know that you have pronounced ough in 9 ways.

10. Pronunciation is the Most Common Word That is Mispronounced in English!

Source = Speakwell

This is the funniest fact you would ever know about the English language. Pronunciation, which tells us the way to speak any word, is the most commonly pronounced word in English. 

Other commonly mispronounced words are GIF, Niche, Chiaroscuro, and Mischievous. While some people pronounce these English words incorrectly, others misspell these common words.

11. “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is the Most Difficult Tongue Twister in the English Language

Did you read that? Now, try to say this tongue twister continuously for five minutes. Could you do that? Yes? Great! Challenge your friends to play this tongue twister game.  

12. Queueing is the Only Word With 5 Consecutive Vowels

Did you notice that Queueing has five vowels in a row? It is the only English word that has consecutive vowels. 

13. No Rhyming Words for Month, Silver, Purple, and Orange

This is strange! Do you know the words that could rhyme with Orange, Purple, Silver, and Month? Give it a try. 

14. English is Used by the Pilots While Flying

Regardless of their origin, every pilot who is flying has to use the English language for communication. English is also called the language of the air. 

15. Dreamt is the Only Word in English That Ends with ‘mt’

Source = Ytimg

Dreamt is a variation of dreamed. Have you ever used another word that ends with mt? Keep trying!

16. E is the Most Common Letter Used

E is the commonly used alphabet in English. Do you know which alphabet is the least used? It is Q. 

Anyway, do not think that you are a logophile if you do not know these rare English words!

How many fun facts do you know about English? Do you know other English facts that are funny and knowledgeable as well? If so, then share them.