ESL Blogs

Ish? What the :P is that? If you’re not familiar with this term yet, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Don’t be fooled by it either because you may know ‘-ish’ as a suffix (a group of letters found at end of a word and used to change or modify its meaning), but this word is actually a form of a very short reply.

Ish is an adverb used in informal conversational English which means ‘slightly’ and regarded as a reply to a question. And if you’re into English TV shows like I do, you’ve probably heard this plenty of times. Or you might have used it yourself unconsciously! So how do we use this in speaking? Imagine you have a pretend (imaginary) friend in front of you. Don’t make it spooky though or you won’t be able to sleep well tonight. But you can use your wild imagination in order to practice your English communication skills.

Now invent a scenario or conversation, something like you always do such as a hobby. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You could make a dialogue like this;

Loki: ‘We’ve been running for hours. Aren’t you tired?’

Loka: ‘Yes! Ish’. (instead of ‘Yes! I’m tired-ish.)

Quite simple, eh! Talking to yourself is a good practice. Make sure no one catches you doing it or else he or she might suspect you're having a mental illness. Moving on…

Some people love to incorporate this term in words that do not need a suffix. They just want to exaggerate things and add humor to a conversation. Of course, it’s considered grammatically incorrect. For example;

Red: ‘You’re face is paleish! Have you been using a lot of glutathione lately?’

White: ‘That’s true. Guilty as charged!’

Right! Have you understood this blog? If so, just remember that ‘ish’ -the adverb, should only be used in informal conversation. I’m sure the grammar police aren’t amused, but this word has been circulating for many years and even spoken by natives themselves. We all know the English language has continuously evolving. In addition, new words are invented all the time. Regardless of what I’ve written here, it’s vital to be aware how words are being used. Knowing how to express them correctly would lead to a better understanding and thus avoid language barriers and misinterpretations.

Now, I challenge you to use this adverb either in written dialogue or a sentence. Please write them in the comment below. You may share what you’ve been talking about with your pretend friend awhile ago he he… :P