Modern English facts for kids

Modern English is the version of the English language we speak today. It's also called New English. It started to be spoken around the 17th century. This happened after a big change in how English vowels were pronounced, called the Great Vowel Shift. This shift began in the late 1300s and finished by the 1600s.

Even though some words are different, writings from the early 1600s are considered Modern English. For example, the plays by William Shakespeare and the King James Bible are in an older form of Modern English. This older form is called Early Modern English.

English spread around the world because of the British Empire. People in places like Anglo-America, India, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand started using English.

Today, Modern English has many different versions, called dialects. These are spoken in many countries. Some common dialects include American, Australian, British, and Canadian. All these places where English is spoken are sometimes called the Anglosphere.

Almost 1 billion people speak English as their first or second language. Most native English speakers live in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland. Many people also speak English in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Southern Africa. English is used for many things around the world. It is a common language for air travel, shipping, computers, science, and global communication.

How Modern English Developed

Modern English grew out of Early Modern English. This earlier form was used from the start of the Tudor period until the late 1600s in England. By the late 1700s, the British Empire helped spread Modern English. This happened through its colonies and its strong global influence.

English became the first truly global language. This was because it was used in business, science, technology, and education. It also helped people around the world talk to each other. English became common in North America, India, parts of Africa, and Australia. After these countries became independent, some chose to keep English as their official language. This helped avoid problems between different local languages.

Changes in Modern English

Modern English is different from its older form, Middle English. It also changed a lot during the 20th century. Here are some of the main changes. Remember, these are general ideas, and some might not be true for every dialect.

Changes in Grammar (Morphology)

• Words like "like" and "same as" can now be used to connect sentences.
• The word "the" is sometimes left out before certain groups of words.

Changes to Pronouns

• In most dialects, people now use "who" instead of "whom".
• The word "they" is now sometimes used for one person, even in formal writing.
• Words that show how often something happens, like "always" or "never," often come before helping verbs.

Changes to Verbs

• Some irregular verbs now follow more regular patterns.
• The "mandative" English subjunctive (a verb form for wishes or demands) is used again.
• People prefer to use "will" instead of "shall" to talk about the future.
• The helping verb "do" is now used with the verb "have" in questions or negative sentences.
• There are more multi-word verbs, like "look up" or "give in."
• Informal helping verbs like "wanna" (want to), "gonna" (going to), and "gotta" (got to) developed.
• We use progressive verbs (like "is running") in more situations.

Changes in Sounds (Phonology)

Before English split into American and British accents (around 1600–1725), some big sound changes happened:

• Sounds at the start of words, like "gn" or "kn," became just "n." So, "gnat" and "nat" sound the same.
• Words like "meat," "threat," and "great" used to rhyme. Now they have different vowel sounds.
• The vowels in words like "cut" and "put" stopped rhyming. Also, "pudding" and "budding" no longer rhyme.
• The vowel sound in "cloth" and "off" became like the vowel in "thought." It used to be like the vowel in "lot."

After the American-British split, more sound changes happened:

• Some accents, like those in England and Australia, stopped pronouncing the "r" sound at the end of words.
• The "y" sound in words like "chute" or "blue" sometimes disappeared.
• The "wh" sound in words like "whine" became just "w" in most English versions. Scottish and Irish English still keep the "wh" sound.
• In North American and Australian English, "t" and "d" sounds between vowels often become a quick "d" sound.
• In some American accents, the vowel sounds in "cot" and "caught" became the same.

Changes in Sentence Structure (Syntax)

• People stopped using "thou" and "ye" (older forms of "you"). Modern English only uses "you" for both one person and many people.
• Using helping verbs (like "do" or "have") became a must in questions.
• People started using "less" for things you can count, instead of "fewer."
• When comparing things, people prefer to say "more" (like "more beautiful") instead of adding "-er" (like "beautifuller").
• The "Saxon genitive" ('s) is now used for more than just people. For example, "the car's engine."

Changes to the Alphabet

The invention of printing and printing practices from other countries greatly changed the alphabet and spelling.

• The letter thorn (þ), which sounded like "th," slowly disappeared. Printers used the Latin letter "y" to stand for thorn because it looked similar. You could still see "y" used for "the" (y^e) or "that" (y^t) in old books like the 1611 King James Bible.
• The letters "i" and "j" became separate letters. Before, they were often written as one. The same happened for "u" and "v." This was a common change in the Latin alphabet during that time.

Because of these changes, Modern English now uses a Latin alphabet with 26 letters.

See also

• History of the English language
• International English
• Modern Romanian