Linguistic starter puzzles
Go to the index to this collection.
1. Is it a noun, is it a verb? - Ambiguity in English
Aim: to explore how ambiguity can arise in English as a result of word classes such as verbs and
nouns being indistinguishable.
Relevant to target language: English
Language of data: English
Data: the real headlines from a range of British and American newspapers below. They are
all ambiguous – in other words, as well as their intended meaning, there is another way of
reading the headline, changing the meaning completely.
(a) Eye drops off shelves
(b) Antarticta’s unique space rocks
(c) Child teaching expert to speak
(d) Dealers will hear car talk at noon
(e) Elephant seals dive for science
(f) Cancer in women mushrooms
Question: Spot the word in each headline that makes the whole headline confusing,
because it can be read as a noun or a verb.
Example: (f) Cancer in women mushrooms – the word “mushrooms” can be both a noun
and a verb, creating two possible readings.
Solution:
(a) “drops” can be noun or verb.
(b) “rocks” can be noun or verb.
(c) “teaching” can be a noun (gerund) or a verb (present participle / progressive).
(d) “talk” can be a noun or a verb.
(e) “seals” can be a noun or a verb.
2. To be or not to be…Different verbs for “to be”
Aim: to understand the differences between the verb “to be” when used to describe certain
states that differ in some pragmatic or semantic sense.
Relevant to Target Language: Spanish (which has “ser” and”estar” which in English are both
translated with “to be”)
Language of Data: Irish
Data: Here are some sentences in Irish, all using one of the two possible verbs that both
mean “to be”: “Is” and “Tá”. In Irish sentences the verb comes first, before the subject (so in
Irish you’d say “Am I a student” where English has “I am a student”).
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
Tá mé ansin. = I am there.
Is mé Máirtin. = I am Martin.
Is tú an dochtuír. = You are the doctor.
Is í Cáit mo bhean. = Cate is my wife.
Is í an múinteoir í. = She is the teacher
Tá muid anseo. = We are here.
Tá fear agus gasúr anseo. = There are a man and a child here.
Tá an teach ansin. = The house is there.
Is Éireannach mé. = I am Irish.
Glossary:
Irish
mé
ansin
an
dochtuír
í
mo
bhean (“bean” is
normal form, the “h”
appears here
because of “mo”)
múinteoir
muid
anseo
fear
agus
gasúr
teach
Éireannach
English
I
there
the
doctor
special form of “she”
my
wife
teacher
we
here
man
and
child
house
Irish
Question:
1. Explain in your own words the difference between using “tá” and “is” different
verbs for “to be”.
Solution:
1. Irish (like Spanish) distinguishes between temporary states and permanent states. Where you
are from and your profession are thought of as permanent, characteristic of a person or
thing. However, where someone or something happens to be at a particular moment in time
can change at other times and so are not characteristic of the person or thing.
As a result, Irish uses “tá” for temporary states and “is” for permanent characteristics of the person
or thing.
3. In - Accusative or Dative?
Aim: to highlight the different ways in which languages can express location and direction.
Develop sense of how German uses Acc or Dat to distinguish the two (as opposed to Dutch
and English which have lost their case forms).
Relevant to Target Language: German
Language of data: Dutch, German, English
Data: Here are some sentences in German, Dutch and English, which all mean exactly the
same in each language. So 1 in German corresponds with 1 in Dutch and English etc.
German:
1. Der Hund rennt in das (ins) Park.*
2. Der Hund rennt in dem (im) Park.*
English:
1. The dog runs in the park.
2. The dog runs into the park.
Dutch:
1. De hond rent in het park.
2. De hond rent het park in.
*Note: Normally in German, the words “in + das” merge into “ins” and “in + dem” merge
into “im”. For this puzzle, either form can be used.
Question:
Using the vocabulary below, construct the equivalent German and Dutch sentences of the
English versions.
German:
Die Frau
lauft
das Zimmer
English:
The woman
walks
the room
Dutch:
De vrouw
loopt
de kamer
Translate into German and Dutch:
3.
The woman walks into
the room.
4.
The woman walks in
the room.
Solutions:
German:
3. Die Frau lauft in dem (im) Zimmer.
4. Die Frau lauft in das (ins) Zimmer.
Dutch:
3. De vrouw loopt de kamer in.
4. De vrouw loopt in de kamer.
4. Telling Time – Dividing the hour
Aim: to explore how different languages divide up the clock when it comes to telling time.
Relevant to target language: German
Language of data: Estonian
Data: Here are some phrases for telling time in Estonian – the English translations are given.
Kell on kaks. = It is two o’clock.
Kell on pool kaks. = It is half one.
Kell on veerand kaks. = It is quarter past one.
Kell on kolmveerand kaks. = It is quarter to two.
Vocabulary:
Estonian:
üks
kaks
kolm
neli
viis
pool
veerand
kolmveerand
kell
on
English:
one
two
three
four
five
half
quarter
three-quarters
o’clock
is
Questions:
Translate the following English sentences into Estonian:
a. It’s three o’clock.
b. It’s half past three.
c. It’s half past four.
d. It’s quarter to four.
e. It’s quarter to five.
f. It’s quarter past four.
Solutions 4:
Translations
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Kell on kolm.
Kell on pool neli.
Kell on pool viis.
Kell on kolmveerand neli.
Kell on kolmveerand viis.
Kell on veerand viis.
5. Loanwords – Swedish influence on Finnish
Aim: to explore how languages when in contact with other languages can be affected
through loans.
Relevant to Target language: any, but especially pertinent to English where students may
experience this more commonly and study this. Also, perhaps useful in History or Geography
lessons to increase awareness of the effects of invasions / conquering etc.
Language of Data: Swedish, Finnish and Estonian.
Data: Here are some common vocabulary lists from Finnish and Estonian – two closely
related languages, which because of their close relationship (like Italian and Spanish for
example) resemble each other quite a bit. However, Finnish has been influenced by
Swedish, as Finland was once ruled by Sweden, something that never happened to Estonia,
so Estonian escaped the Swedish influence.
Finnish
mä
sä
hän
se
torstai
päivä
English translation
I
you
“he” or “she”
it
Thursday
day
Estonian
ma
sa
ta
neljapäev
päev
English translation
I
you
“he” or “she” or “it”
Thursday
day
Swedish
jag
du
han
hon
det
torsdag
dag
English translation
I
you
he
she
it
Thursday
day
Questions:
1. Identify in the data above, the Finnish words that have been influenced by Swedish.
Explain your choices.
2. Why would Finnish have borrowed from Swedish, and not the other way around (Swedish
borrowing from Finnish)?
Solutions:
1. The Finnish for Thursday “torstai” looks very similar to the Swedish “torsdag” –
especially when the Estonian word “neljapäev” is completely different. The word
“päev” means “day” in Estonian and the Finnish word is very similar to this, “päivä”.
Also, the word “hän” (for “he” or “she”) in Finnish looks very similar to the Swedish
“han” (the word for “he”). Estonian has only one word for all 3: “he”, “she”, and “it”,
which suggests that Finnish borrowed this word from Swedish.
2. Sweden ruled Finland, as the Swedish speakers were the rulers, they would probably
be more important in Finland at the time. So Finnish speakers would think of
Swedish as a language spoken by important people, which would make it more likely
for Finns to borrow Swedish words than the other way around.
6. “Colourless green dreams sleep furiously”. –
Grammatically correct, but ill-formed sentences
Aim: To explore how sentences’ meaning is not just dependent on grammar, but also on issues of
semantics.
Relevant to target language: English and any other language studied in school.
Language of data: English
Data: See the sentences below. They are all grammatically correct, yet something is not right about
them.
Explain what is odd or strange about each sentence.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
The bird neighed.
He had left next Friday.
She broke her scarf.
The teacher counted the sky.
The car crashed for two hours.
Solution:
a. The verb “neighing” is associated semantically with horses, NOT with birds.
b. The adverbial phrase “next Friday” suggests a future event, yet the verb phrase “had left” is
a past tense – perfect, which suggests the action has already been completed.
c. Scarves are not items that can be broken in the way a cup or a mobile phone can.
d. Sky is an abstract concept, which makes it strange to think of it as an object that can be
counted.
e. The verb “crash” suggests a one-off event that only happens for an instant, yet the adverbial
“for two hours” suggests that the action was on-going.
7. What verbs can and cannot do - Categorical Constraints
Aim: to explore how verbs can be used with arguments (such as indirect and direct objects).
Relevant to target language: English and any other language studied.
Language of data: English
Data: Verbs differ in the number of arguments they require, i.e. the number of noun phrases which
must appear in the sentence with the verbs to make grammatical sentences. Some verbs
(intransitive) only need a subject, e.g. “sleep” whereas others such as “give” can take a subject, a
direct object, and an indirect object.
For example:
“She sleeps.” Has 1 argument, the subject “she”. I cannot add any other arguments – e.g. She sleeps
a duvet” does not make sense.
“He gave her a book”. Has 3 arguments, the subject “he”, the direct object “a book” and the indirect
object “her”.
Question: Identify how many arguments the following verbs can take. Give contrasting examples to
support your claim.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Disappear
Lend
Bring
Announce
Resent
Weep
Solution:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Disappear – 1 argument (subject ) (I disappeared)
Lend – 3 arguments (I lend you a book)
Bring – 3 arguments (I bring you a cup of tea)
Announce – 2 arguments (the government announces a new tax)
Resent – 2 arguments (I resent having to travel)
Weep – 1 argument (I weep – not I weep a river)
8. Vive la différence! – Different French verbs in different
clauses
Aim: to explore the use of the subjunctive in subordinate clauses.
Relevant to target languages: French, Italian (called confusingly “conjuntivo”), Spanish.
Language of data: French
Data: Below are sets of French sentences with their English translations.
Question: In the sentences (b) the verb forms used in the original shorter sentences (a) are
different from the verb forms in (a). What is the reason (in terms of meaning) that the verb
forms in (b) change from their normal forms in (a)?
1. (a) Nous sommes seuls dans l’univers. – We are alone in the universe.
(b) Il est possible que nous soyons seuls dans l’univers. – It is possible that we are alone in
the universe.
2. (a) Il boit du Pernod. – He drinks Pernod.
(b) Il est douteux qu’il boive du Pernod. – It’s doubted whether he drinks Pernod.
3. (a) Vous partez. – You leave.
(b) Je suggère que vous partiez. – I suggest that you leave.
4. (a) Nous allons au cinéma. – We go to the cinema.
(b) Marie préfère que nous allions au cinema. - Marie prefers that we go to the cinema.
5. (a) Nous passons les vaccances à Paris. – We spend the holidays in Paris.
(b) Il est important que nous passions les vacances à Paris. – It is important that we spend
the holidays in Paris.
Solution 8:
In the (a) sentences the clause (the main clause making up the sentence itself) is in
indicative mood – it makes a statement. However, in the (b) sentences the clause is now no
longer a main clause, but has become a subordinated clause dependent on the rest of the
sentence, the main clause. The main clauses in 1 and 2 suggests hesitation and insecurity.
Sentences 3, 4, and 5 express opinions – in both these situations the dependent clause must
be put in the subjunctive mood, which is why the verb forms change. The subjunctive signals
a hesitation or preference / opinion rather than a plain statement (which is in the indicative
mood).
9. To do, a doer, doing – Derivational Morphology
Aim: to introduce the concept of derivational morphology.
Relevant to target language: English and all other MFL.
Language of data: Zulu
Data: Languages often make new words out of existing ones by adding a syllable in front
(prefix) or at the end (suffix) of the existing word.
Here are some examples of Zulu:
(a) ukucula = to sing – this gives Zulu the following words:



umculi = singer
umculo = singing, music
isiculi = person who sings often
(b) ukudlala = to play – this gives Zulu the following words:




umdlali = player
umdlalo = game
isidlali = playful person
isidlalo = toy, thing to play with
Question: Give the Zulu words for the English words, using the original verb that gave Zulu all the
new words.
(c) ukubhula = to thrash – this gives Zulu the following word:

thrashing stick (literally: thing to thrash with) =
(d) ukuthula = to inspect – this gives Zulu the following word:

inspector =
(e) ukucabanga = to think – this gives Zulu the following word:

thought =
(f) ukubuza = to ask – this gives Zulu the following word:

question =
(g) ukuthunga = to sew – this gives Zulu the following word:

tailor =
Solution 9:
(c) thrashing stick = isibhulo
(d) inspector = umthuli
(e) thought = umcabanglo
(f) question = umbuzlo
(g) tailor = umthungli
10. Where does the pronoun go? – Pronoun positions in
French
Aim: to explore the rule for positioning the pronoun in French.
Relevant to target language: French, Italian
Language of data: French
Data: Have a look at the sentences below. They are all correct, except for the ones marked
with *, which have not been translated into English.
a.1.
a. 2.
a. 3.
Jean a acheté les parapluies.
Jean les a acheté.
* Jean a acheté les.
John has bought the umbrellas.
John has bought them.
---
b. 1.
b. 2.
b. 3.
Je vois le professeur.
Je le vois.
* Je vois le.
I see the professor.
I see him.
---
c. 1.
c. 2.
c. 3.
J’ai donné le livre à Jean.
Je lui ai donné le livre.
* J’ai donné lui le livre.
I have given the book to John.
I have given him the book.
---
Question 1: What is the rule for placing the pronoun in French?
Question 2: Look at the following sentence: it appears to go against the rule. Can you
explain this?
d. 1.
d. 2.
d. 3.
Regardez le professeur!
Regardez-le!
* Le regardez!
Look at the professor!
Look at him!
---
Solution:
Question 1: The pronoun must go in front of the verb (when pronouns are substituted for
nouns in the role of direct or indirect object).
Question 2: This sentence is an imperative (where the verb comes at the start of the
sentence) so the normal word order is reversed, which affects the rule for placing pronouns.
To keep the imperative mood, the pronoun is “attached” with a hyphen to the verb instead,
so the verb is still at start.
11. Lend or borrow? Exploring the difference.
Aim: To explore how some language use one word where English has two, as in
“loan/borrow”.
Relevant to target language: German, also English where sometimes students get confused
about the difference between “lend” and “borrow”.
Language of data: Dutch
Data: Here are some sentences in Dutch, which only has one verb that can mean both
“lend” and “borrow”.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Dutch Sentences
Ik leen jou een boek.
Ik leen een boek van jou.
Ik leen een boek aan jou.
Zij leent een euro aan hem.
Zij leent hem een euro.
Zij leent een euro van hem.
English Translations
I lend you a book.
I borrow a book from you.
I lend you a book.
She lends him a euro.
She lends him a euro.
She borrows a euro from him.
Questions:
1. What does Dutch do to compensate for lacking two distinct verbs like English “lend” and
“borrow”?
2. “To lend” can be expressed in two ways in Dutch as seen in the sentences a. + c. and d. +
e., but “to borrow” can only be expressed in one way as seen in sentences b. + f.
Explain why the following sentences are not possible in Dutch. Because these sentences are
not possible with the meaning of “borrow”, they have been marked with * and there is no
English translation given.
g.
h.
* Ik leen jou een boek.
* Zij leent hem een euro.
-----
Solution 11:
1. In Dutch, the word order matters – so “Ik leen jou een boek” always means “I lend you a
book” and can never mean “I borrow a book from you”. Similarly, you can express “lend” by
adding a phrase: “to you” – in Dutch “aan jou”.
2. Both sentences already mean “to lend to” and therefore cannot also be used to express
“borrow from”.
12. The long and short of it - Spelling and Pronunciation
of long and short vowels
Aim: to explore how spelling rules / orthographic conventions are used in different
languages to convey vowel length.
Relevant to target language: English
Language of data: Dutch, Finnish, English
Data: Many languages have different length of vowels, for example in English the vowel
sound in “fit” is short, but apart from that it is exactly the same (in the way that you make
the sound in your mouth) as “feet” – the only difference here is that this vowel sound is
longer.
Here are some examples of similar pairs in Finnish:
Short vowel sound English translation
Long vowel sound
c. tuli
fire
tuuli
d. mutta
but
muuttaa
English translation
wind
to move, to change
Here are some examples of similar pairs in Dutch:
Short vowel sound English translation
Long vowel sound
a. bot
bone
boot
b. botten
bones
boten
English translation
boat
boats
Questions:
1. What one strategy do Finnish and Dutch have in common when it comes to distinguishing
short and long vowel sounds?
2. Why is Finnish more straightforward in the way it represents the difference between long
and short vowels than Dutch?
Solutions:
1. Both Finnish and Dutch write one vowel-letter when the sound it represents is short, and
write two when it is a long vowel sound.
2. Finnish always write 1 vowel-letter for a short sound, and 2 vowel-letters to mark a long
vowel sound. However, Dutch can also use double consonant-letters to indicate that the
preceding vowel was short (e.g. “botten”).
(The full rule for Dutch is to do with syllables – if a syllable ends in a vowel, that vowel
automatically becomes long, so to make sure that a short vowel stays short, when a word
gets a suffix, the consonant must double to ensure that the initial syllable ends in a
consonant – hence “bot” – “botten”).
13. Subject-verb agreement
Aim: to show how different subjects require different verb forms; or how a language can do without
subject pronouns.
Relevant to target language: Spanish
Language of data: Latin
Data
Here is a table of forms for the present tense of the verb amare, ‘to love’:
singular
plural
1st person
amo
amamus
2nd person
amas
amatis
3rd person
amat
amant
Question
What forms of the veb laborare, ‘to plough’, would you use in the gaps of the following sentences?
(1)
(2)
(3)
Agricola ___. ‘The farmer ploughs.’
Agricolae ___. ‘The farmers plough.’
Vos __. ‘You people plough.’
Solution
laborat – laborant – laboratis
14. Translatability
Aim: To show that meanings aren’t always translatable.
Relevant to target language: German
Language of data: German
Data
German has three basic verbs for describing people moving from place to place:



fahren: to move using a vehicle
reiten: to move on horseback
gehen: to move on foot.
Question: Which of these verbs would you use in translating the following into German?
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
I drove to the shops.
I rode to the shops.
I walked to the shops.
I went to the shops.
Solution:
General – none of the German verbs accurately translates any of the English verbs.
1: fahren allows going by bike, but drove doesn’t.
2: reiten requires a horse, but rode allows a bike.
3: gehen allows running, but walked doesn’t.
4: all the German verbs are more specific than went.
15. Gern
Aim: To introduce the idea that languages can borrow abstract grammatical patterns.
Relevant to target language: German
Language of data: Dutch and Czech
Data
Here are some sentences in Dutch:
(1)
(2)
Ik zwem. ‘I swim’
Ik zwem graag. ‘I like swimming.
and Czech:
(3)
(4)
Plavu. ‘I swim.’
Rád plavu. ‘I like swimming’
Questions [check Czech data]
Q1. If ‘You swim’ is Jij zwemt and Plavaš, how would you say (in both languages) ‘You like to swim’?
Q2. What is the grammatical difference between this pattern and the English ‘I like swimming’?
Q3. Why do you think this pattern is found in these two languages, bearing in mind that a similar
pattern (with gern) exists in German?
Solution
Q1. Jij zwemt graag. Rad plavaš.
Q2. like is a verb, with swimming as its (subordinate) object, graag and rád are adverbs, which
attach as subordinates to the verb.
Q3. Both The Netherlands and the Czech Republic are geographically next to German, so they
probably borrowed the pattern from German (or German borrowed it from one of them and passed
it to the other).
16. Once, twice ...
Aim: To show that single words may express complex meanings, and that irregularity of expression is
especially common among common words.
Relevant to target language: any
Language of data: English
Data:
(2)
once – twice – three times – four times ...
(3)
first – second – third – fourth – fifth ... twenty-third – twenty-fourth – twenty fifth ...
Questions:
Q1. What does twice mean? Is its meaning any less complex than that of four times?
Q2. Do expressions become more or less regular as the number rises? Why?
Q3. What’s odd about the expression twenty-fifth?
Solution:
Q1. ‘two times’. No.
Q2. More regular, because less common. Irregular expressions have to be memorised, so they tend
to be common.
Q3. Twenty-fifth means ‘25-th’, but the –th clearly belongs to five (which it turns into fifth), not to
25.