Often slang phrases are tied to a region or ethnic group; these may not be widely used and, therefore, not formally taught. For example, a commonly used slang term used in Wisconsin is bubbler. The term bubbler refers to a drinking fountain. A comparative using this term is, "The red bubbler is larger than the blue bubbler." Slang can confuse novice speakers in a comparative situation due to its unestablished use. Accents also create problems for those who are trying to decipher the spoken word. English speakers in Great Britain, Australia, and the southern and northern United States vary greatly in spoken word styles.
The sentence structure used in English may also contribute to problems one might have with understanding comparatives. Every language has variations when it comes to the formation of sentences. Traditionally, sentences in the English language begin with a subject, followed by a verb and possibly a pronoun and adjective. Using a comparative, for example, one would say, "Spot runs faster than Sprocket," instead of "Faster runs Spot than Sprocket." Study the structure of English sentences to clear up any misconceptions about word placement and the relation between certain types of words.
Some native speakers are unclear on the makeup of a comparative sentence, so they use sentences incorrectly which can cause confusion for those who are learning. For example, a speaker might say, "The toad was more longer than the fish." Obviously, this is incorrect as "more" is not needed within the sentence as "longer" established the comparative nature of the phrase on its own. As the comparative is redundant within the sentence, a novice could easily become confused.
Abbreviations pose a problem with English speakers, both native and novice, as not all people are familiar with certain abbreviations. This is becoming more and more common with the use of "text-speak." For example, "l8r" is a common abbreviation for "later" that could easily confound a new English speaker or someone not familiar with these technological language short-cuts.