comprehend, apprehend, reprehend

I may be over my head with this one, but I'll give it a shot...(Oh wow, too many English expressions there! 'over my head' means too difficult for me; 'give it a shot' means to try). An English learner I know commented that comprehend, apprehend and reprehend sound similar but their meanings are different, so etymology (the study of the origin of words) may not always be a very helpful tool for English learning. I decided to check this out. These words all end in -prehend, from the Latin prehendere to grasp. Let's take each word: 1) comprehend = to understand, or to grasp with the mind! It also has another meaning of to take in, to include. 2) apprehend from the Latin apprehendere, to lay hold of. Confusingly, apprehend has several meanings. One, maybe most common meaning, is to take into custody, as in "the police apprehended the suspect". prehendere is 'to grasp', also 'to seize', so the police seized the suspect. Another meaning of apprehend is also to understand. (comprehend = apprehend?) Another meaning is to fear. This is more commonly seen in adjective form: 'apprehensive' (fearful). 3) reprehend = to find fault with. It comes from the Latin reprehendere = to hold back or rebuke, itself coming from re + prehendere to seize. I'm taking a wild guess that putting re- on 'to seize' could be seize back, hold back??? Can't think of any more -prehend words...Are there any?

gonna/wanna/shoulda,coulda,woulda

Just a short post about the use of gonna and wanna. Gonna and wanna are casual forms. Gonna comes from "going to" and wanna comes from "want to". When Americans speak and say "going to" it sounds like "gonna"! The same is true with "wanna". Many foreigners may become familiar with the forms gonna and wanna from American pop songs. However "gonna" and "wanna" should not be used in written English, unless you're writing a very casual note to a friend. They will stick out from the rest of the sentence because of their slang nature. The same is true with the forms "shoulda" (should have), "coulda" (could have) and "woulda" (would have). Note also that although in speaking "should have" sometimes sounds like "should've" it should not be spelled "should of" (people often make this mistake). There is also a (slang) expression in English: "shoulda, coulda, woulda" which one person will say to another to tell them not to regret things (or try to change what they did in the past), because of course "should have", "could have" and "would have" all refer to possible changes to events in the past.

Countries/Nationalities, Cities, etc

I noticed a student was mixing up countries and nationalities, so I decided to write this post. For instance she said, "She is from Spanish" (incorrect) instead of "She is from Spain" or "She is Spanish" (both are correct). Here are more examples of countries & their nationalities: She is from France. She is French. He is from Germany. He is German. We are from Holland (or the Netherlands). We are Dutch. (-ish endings): They are from Sweden. They are Swedish. He is from Denmark. He is Danish. (Also, he is a Dane). They are from Ireland. They are Irish. He is from Switzerland. He is Swiss. She is from England. She is English. He is from Poland. He is Polish. It looks there might be a pattern with countries ending in 'land', but note: She is from Thailand. She is Thai. (-an, -n endings): He is from America. He is American. She is from Jamaica. She is Jamaican. They are from Mexico. They are Mexican. They are from Russia. They are Russian. He is from Australia. He is Australian. She is from India. She is Indian. (-ian endings): They are from Canada. They are Canadian. She is from Jordan. She is Jordanian. I am from Brazil. I am Brazilian. (-i ending): He is from Iraq. He is Iraqi. She is from Israel. She is Israeli. (-ese endings): She is from Japan. She is Japanese. They are from China. They are Chinese. I am from Portugal. I am Portuguese. We are from Taiwan. We are Taiwanese. Cities/People living in or from certain cities: She is from New York. She is a New Yorker.* He is from San Francisco. He is a San Franciscan. We are from Paris. We are Parisian. *note that this always means New York City and not the state of New York. Then, you would say, "She is from New York state" or "She is from the state of New York". Hope you are able to use this.