Are there winners and losers in the world of ESL?

[Change1961]

Hello Torsten and everybody there around. I have no much time to be here on forum, but, being a middle English lover, I have an quite interesting question. What is distinction between 'thy' and 'thine'? I hope that the answer will be distinguished well enough for me to comprehend. Thank you in advance, Alexander.

[Beeesneees]

Hi Change,

I guess you'll like this page which explains all those 'middle English' words clearly and simply:
http://ecclesia.org/truth/thou.html
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Cheers m' dears!

[Change1961]

Hello Bizzie, here I am again. I am afraid I did not get the explanation I need. That article is nice, telling the things exactly the way I see it: replacing 'thee', 'ye', 'thou' and so on with just 'you' and 'your' is nothing but a devaluation of the language, muddy and ambigous. And this is why I LOVE middle English, to my opinion today's English is good for poetry and lyrics only. But I still did not receive an explanation about 'thy' and 'thine'. There is an example: 'Take up THY couch, and go into THINE house.' There must be some distinction, but it is not precisely explained. The similar thing is with the Lord's prayer, right? Best regards, I shall be waiting, Alexander

[Beeesneees]

Like "my" and "mine" and "a" and "an", in Middle English "thy" used to become "thine" if it came before a vowel.

Thy nose. Thine eye.
My nose. Mine eye.
A nose. An eye.

Also, like my/mine, when used as a predicative adjective "thy" became "thine".

Thy house. (Your house - subjective form) That house is thine. (That house is yours - objective form)
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Cheers m' dears!

[Change1961]

WOW!!! It never entered my mind! I have been wondering for years about that detail. Thank you very much indeed! Alexander

[Pdq]

oh, I'm really glad to take part in forum.

[Fokou]

In my opinion, the better way to improve vocabulary in english is : Read more in english(News, book, novel, ) - listen de radio or/and tv program in english. even si you don't understand continues. when will you heard the same word several times in the differents context you can remember and you use it well.

[Ezraidi]

hello every one,

Iam moroccan student,and i like communicating in English as a second language as well as exchanging ideas and opinions with others.Thanks all

[Ezraidi]

hello,

thanks for your comment. It seems to me that we, you and I, stand on the same ground. Yes, without reading we can not improve our language in general becouse the more we read, the more we remmember and get new words.however, reading most of times is not enough to improve our language. I know many students who read a lot of books, newspapers and novels, as well as they get good marks,but when it comes to face to face communication, they find difficulty to communicate.Communicating with others moivate us to improve our language.Thanks

[Zaiomust]

Hi everyone,
I wonder if someone can help me to provide me with some rules how to pronounce the words correctly. Pronuciation is my anxiety in English.

Thank you

[Beeesneees]

Hello Saiomust,

There are a large number of phonemes (letter sound blends) in English. It's not possible to produce a concise set of rules, but you might find this useful:
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-and-app/interactive-phonemic-chart/
(Beware: There are a few strange sounds on there though! Note the comments underneath the chart for details!)

You can also listen to how most words are pronounced using an online dictionary, such as this Learner's Dictionary. (Click the loudspeaker icons to hear the words.)
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Cheers m' dears!

[Azoudiarra]

hi Mr torsten,
i would like to have one lesson which explain me how to use the prépositions (on,at,i ,of,etc....)
thank you for your big job !

[Azoudiarra]

Hi everybody !
i wanted to have a corresponding.I am a english lover and i like sharing with another person !

[Fakhair]

Hi every one Idont know how put my picture in this

[Beeesneees]

Hello Fakhair,

Welcome to the forums.

There are two ways to add a photo, depending on whether you wish to add it to your profile so that it appears under your username on the right of every message you post, or whether you want it to appear in one specific post.
You will find instructions here:
Forum Images
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Cheers m' dears!