Basic English facts for kids

Basic English is a special, simpler version of the English language. It was created by Charles Kay Ogden in 1925. The idea was to make it easier for people from different countries to talk and understand each other.

Basic English uses only 850 main words. These words were carefully chosen to help explain complicated ideas in a simple way. Some articles on the Simple English Wikipedia are even written using only Basic English words.

In 1936, Ogden worked with Otto and Marie Neurath. They created a book called International Picture Language. This book was one of eight books written entirely in Basic English.

How Basic English Works

The rules for using words in Basic English are much simpler than in regular English. In normal English, one word can have many different meanings. But in Basic English, each word usually has only one main meaning. This makes it easier to learn and use.

Ogden made special grammar rules for Basic English. These rules help people use the 850 words to talk about things and events clearly.

Simple Word Changes

Here are some ways words change in Basic English:

• To make a word mean "more than one" (plural), you add -s, -es, or -ies. For example, "cat" becomes "cats".
• You can change action words (verbs) into describing words (adjectives). You do this by adding -ing or -ed. For example, "run" can become "running" (as in "a running race").
• Action words (verbs) can also become naming words (nouns). You add -ing or -er. For example, "teach" can become "teacher".
• To change a describing word (adjective) into a word that tells how something is done (adverb), you add -ly. For example, "quick" becomes "quickly".
• To compare amounts, you use -er or -est. Or you use the words more or most. For example, "big", "bigger", "biggest".
• To make a describing word mean the opposite, you can add un-. For example, "happy" becomes "unhappy".
• To ask a question, you often use the word do at the start of the sentence. For example, "You like it" becomes "Do you like it?".
• Some special words, like "operators" (verbs) and "pronouns" (like "he" or "she"), change just like they do in regular English.

Combining Words

You can also make new words by putting two words together. These are called "combined words" or "compounds". For example, you can put two naming words (nouns) together, like "milk" and "man" to make "milkman". Or you can combine a noun and a direction, like "sun" and "down" to make "sundown".

Special Words and Numbers

• Things like measurements, numbers, money, days, months, years, and clock times are used in their normal English forms. For example, "20 May 1972 at 21:00".
• If you are talking about a specific industry or science, you can use its special words. For example, when learning about languages, words like "plural" or "noun" are used. These are not part of the 850 Basic English words, but they are needed to explain the topic.

More About Basic English

• Basic English alphabetical wordlist
• Basic English ordered wordlist
• Basic English picture wordlist – This list shows 200 words that are easy to draw pictures of.
• Basic English international wordlist
• Basic English compound wordlist
• Basic English combined wordlist

Related Ideas

• Plain English Campaign – This group works to make all English writing clear and easy to understand.
• International auxiliary language – This is a language meant to help people from different countries communicate.

See also

In Spanish: Inglés básico para niños