Writing system: People interested in simplifying the way English is written say spelling is not the only source of confusion. For instance, the use of the apostrophe to show possession: many people still do not know the difference between it's and its; or, the rules of capitalization which call for an upper case letter to mark proper nouns and the beginnings of sentences.

Grammatical forms: English has eight grammatical endings, three of which are [-s]. It marks plural nouns, possessives, and present tense verbs. English also has many verbs that follow no predictable pattern in their tense and person changes. Some form their past tense by adding [-d], [-ed], or [-t] (e.g., walk/ walked, bend/bent). Others go through internal vowel changes (begin/began, sing/sung), or undergo both. Some do not change at all. Even skillful users of English sometimes have to pause before using the past tense of such verbs as swim, shrink, dive, shine or sneak.

Rules for placement of commas and quotation marks vary from one English-speaking country to another. Conventions for spelling and punctuation can also change within one country over time, as authors of various literatures take liberties with this and that rule and as the public accepts or disposes of the changes.

For all that, English lacks some words that are necessary. The English language needs separate singular and plural second person pronouns. Many dialects of English have solved this problem by using the word you for one person, y'all for more than one. Other dialects of English have accommodated this need in other ways with you 'uns, youse, you guys.