Question:
Stylistics of Different Languages
It is fair to say that English has a very confusing verb system. Although Romance languages like French and Italian have multiple tenses, and French is notorious for its irregular verbs, those languages do have a consistent system for forming verb tenses. Unlike languages in the language groups spoken on the Continent (German, Slavic, Romance), English does not have a unitary verb system. That is to say, each tense in English has multiple forms, like "I sit";"'I do sit"; and "I am sitting." There are stylistic differences between and among the various verb forms, and these differences can cause confusion both for native speakers of English, and for those who are study English as a Second Language (ESL).
This already substantial difficulty is compounded by the strong preference of most Americans for slangy, colloquial English. In particular, ESL students may be baffled when they hear their co-workers, fellow students, and friends using verb tenses that are not found in textbooks.