Basic English

"BE" redirects here. For the English language as used in the United Kingdom, see British English.

Basic English (Business Academic Scientific International Commercial) is a constructed (made-up) language to explain complex thoughts. It has 850 basic English words chosen by Charles Kay Ogden. Some articles in the Simple English Wikipedia use only Basic English.

History[change | change source]

In 1936 Ogden commissioned Otto and Marie Neurath to produce International Picture Language as part of a series of eight books in Basic English.^[1]

Rules of word use[change | change source]

The word use of Basic English is simpler and more regular than the word use of the normal English. In normal English, words often have a number of different meanings. To make Basic English easier, not all the meanings of a word are allowed.

Ogden's rules of grammar for Basic English help people use the 850 words to talk about things and events simply.^[2]

-s / -es / -ies change singular nouns into plural nouns.
-ing / -ed change verbs into adjectives.
-ing / -er change verbs into nouns.
-ly change adjectives into adverbs.
-er / -est or more / most describe amounts.
un- changes the meanings of adjectives into their opposites.
The opposite word order with do makes questions.
'Operators' (verbs) and pronouns change as in normal English.
Make combined words (compounds) from two nouns (for example "milkman") or a noun and a direction ("sundown").
Measures, numbers, money, days, months, years, clock time, and international words are in English forms. E.g. Date/Time: 20 May 1972 at 21:00
Use the words of an industry or science. For example, in this grammar, some special words are for teaching languages, and not part of Basic English: plural, conjugation, noun, adjective, adverb, qualifier, operator, pronoun, and directive.