Breaking News English

An Australian businessman has invented a new, 27th, letter [from / for] the English alphabet. It is a [symbolic / symbol] to replace the word "the". It looks like a combination of a capital "T" and a [lower / lowly] case "h" (Ћ). However, the "new" letter looks the same [as / has] a letter from the Serbian language. Paul Mathis believes many people will like his [ideal / idea] . It is already available for [download / upload] on Apple's iTunes. Mathis is hoping mobile phone, tablet and computer [markers / makers] will add the letter to their keyboards. He invested $35,000 [in / on] his app, but so far Apple has shown [little / small] interest. He told the "Sydney Morning Herald": "Is this going to [change / charge] the world? Not really. But is it something that might be useful for people? I think so."

Mr Mathis believes the new character is [useful / usefully] because it replaces the most common word in the English language – "the". He said it will [spend / save] people time when they [type / typing] because they only need to use one key [instead / rather] of the three needed for each letter of the word "the". He argued that [other / another] words have their own character. He pointed [up / out] that the word "and" has its own symbol - the ampersand (&) and that is only the fifth [most / mostly] common word. Mathis also says his new symbol will help "in the texting space" such [was / as] Twitter or texts where there is a limited number of characters. Not everyone [agreeing / agrees] with Mathis. Computer experts don't think manufacturers will change their keyboards or [operates / operating] systems.