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accents these are different American

accents that you will hear in TV in

movies and if you visit the USA perhaps

in different regions as well so we’re

gonna share and try our best to share

what these accents might sound like but

forgive us in advance if it’s not

perfect anyway let’s begin you want to

start us off alright sure well guess

I’ll go in alphabetical order and my

first one is Boston alright a nice

Boston accent is a sort of classic

strong American accent and they’re

really famous the famous thing that boss

the Boston accent does is it drops the

Rohtak are that are that follows a vowel

so the classic example is if you have a

car you park your car and Harvard Yard

but you don’t say it that way so your

pocket car and have it Yad that’s the

that’s the classic Boston example and

that’s probably all I can do of that oh

I’ve got another one that my mom used to

use for the boston accent er has the

same thing what’s your which was let’s

go up to 33rd and 3rd Street and listen

to the boys chew it that that are sound

it totally it’s totally different from

the way that we’re speaking now yes so

it’s hard I think if you’re not

expecting that

no it’s shocking actually it’s

interesting because I think a lot of

accents in the US and a lot of places

are often regional right therefore a

whole region and sometimes they’re very

specific specific to a city and I think

Boston is that case it’s very specific

to very kind of small location mmm is

this this city in the Northeast yeah you

I think you do see that in movies

actually a lot definitely yes for sure

it’s interesting to me the way that

different accents are associated with

different like stereotypes of people

mm-hmm in movies things like that so in

movies or on television often times that

Boston accent is associated with a kind

of like tough no-nonsense

• yeah and I’m sure there are tough

no-nonsense people in Boston I’m sure

there are people that are not so tough

and tolerate a lot of nonsense that is

probably true true anywhere what do you

have for us all right I I’m gonna choose

I’m gonna start where I was born and a

place that I love to make fun of all the

time the Californian accent I say the

Californian accent but there’s not just

one so there may be my favorite accent

to make fun of is what’s called the

valley girl accent the valley girl

accent is known for making all

statements sound like a question and

having a very whiny manner of speech

there’s also this sort of weird thing

that seems to be not specific but very

common in speech among young women

particularly from California and that’s

something called vocal fry' mm-hmm

where women will like drop the pitch of

their voice in order to well just kind

of create a different manner of speech

there are a variety of reasons why

people do that and I didn’t actually

know but I do it I just grew up talking

that way though I never occurred to me I

should use this kind of speech in a

certain like situation or just I just

grew up speaking that way but in recent

years vocal fry' has been the subject of

discussion and some things I’ve read but

anyway so a typical California Valley

girl if I can give an example as like

today I was going to work yeah and I saw

this guy and he was like really really

scary and I didn’t know what to do so

this very like whiny way of sharing

stories and explaining things in not and

actually in that series of example

questions or sorry in that series of

statements nothing I said was a question

but everything had that upward

intonation so those are a few things

that are kind of characteristic sort of

characteristics among women

this way but men on the other hand

there’s this image of the surfer dude

from California and it’s typically like

young men who speak this way and they’ll

be like yeah bro what’s up like let’s

head to the beach sort of thing this

very how would you describe that it’s

like it’s it’s like if you could imagine

your voice being relaxed and yet rough

at the same time sure that’s kind of

what it sounds like do you ever like to

make fun of Californians in the way they

speak it’s my favorite accent to make

fun of well I don’t like to make fun of

accents as a rule Alicia no no I do well

I should say to mimic two minutes fun

it’s my favorite accent to mimic is a

fun accent to mimic and maybe this I

think this accent as as well has certain

associations with it maybe a lot of

people might associate stupidity or

dumbness with a Californian accent which

is unfortunate because that’s not always

the case

there are there are dumb people from

everywhere not only California but this

is an accent that often associate that

with right is unfortunate right that’s

true because of the manner of delivery

and also like apparent like right now

this is vocal fry' I’m not even thinking

about it but like dropping your voice

into a lower register but apparently

people associate that with stupidity

like that people are specifically young

women are trying to alter their voice to

see more intelligent or something like

that right I don’t even think about it

honestly so it is quite interesting but

California has a range of accents

arranged in different ways of talking so

that’s just one there you go anyway back

to your side of the table absolutely

we’re still in alphabetical order which

I like and I am going to do a Chicago

accent now for you

Chicago accent very kind of

stereotypical Midwestern accent I think

there is a wider kind of Midwestern

accent and Chicago accent is maybe a

subset of that it’s not just like the

wider Midwestern accent but there’s a

Chicago accent - I don’t know this

accent super well but I chose this one

because

it’s an accent that I used to see and

one of my favorite Saturday Saturday

Night Live sketches when I was a kid

which were the the Bears fans mmm

the Bears they’re from Chicago and they

loved the Chicago Bears and that’s

that’s the accent so kind of just draws

out what does it do

Chicago draws out a lot of vowel sounds

a lot of Midwestern accent draws out

vowel sounds and makes them a little

higher on your palate I guess there’s

the bears bears yeah and so bears so

it’s a little more like open and back

and up with the vowels mm-hmm mm-hmm I

could not do a Chicago accent to save my

life

Chicago tag oh there you go it’s hard

it’s really hard

yeah it’s a nice accent I like it the

Chicago accent has associations with

like a working-class accent mm-hmm

but maybe that’s just right I don’t know

right yeah that’s a good one

I couldn’t I don’t think I could do it I

don’t want to try saying much more than

Chicago

because that’s just sort of what I would

have tracked right it’s tough thank you

okay come on okay

although north of that then so the next

one that I prepared is I called it

Minnesota so Minnesota is a state that

is north of Chicago Chicago is in

Illinois the state of Illinois so this

is sort of the same region but this is

further north so you’re heading towards

Canada so there are a couple of places

like we talked about Wisconsin is

another state that might have a similar

accent here but Minnesota similar to

Chicago has this very drawn-out vowel

sounds and it’s okay I guess I’ll just

try and let’s let’s see one thing that

we all know how to say is like oh yeah

sure you yes sure you bet oh sure

oh sure Lisa oh oh Irish Minnesota

accents its it sounds very cheery yes I

think so too

it’s kind of what throws people off very

friendly

I shouldn’t say throws people off but

it’s like it sounds kind of joyful just

on its own so anything you say in like a

Minnesotan accent it sounds just more

happy it sounds very sincere to me ah

yeah like if I if I hear a Minnesota mom

saying oh sure you betcha

got some hot dish I know it’s casserole

but they say hot dish hot dish okay yeah

it’s very sincere and warm and friendly

thank you hey see ya around advance

right I’m not sure exactly exactly how

far this accent goes in the region if it

extends into Canada for example like

Canada is like when we talk about a

Canadian accent we use words like ending

sentences with a that kind of thing like

oh yeah Canada that sort of thing but

the a lot of Canadian accents differ

from American accents to in the vowels

rounder longer vowels compared to sort

of a general American accent and I think

Minnesotan accent our Upper Midwest

accents are towards that end of the

spectrum as well so I think Minnesotan

accents are similar to to maybe a

central Canadian X I think the most

famous example of a Minnesotan accent is

from the movie Fargo yeah Coen Brothers

movie which is Fargo is not in Minnesota

it’s in one of the Dakotas right North

to South Dakota North Dakota Ferguson

South Dakota one of the Dakotas okay but

that accent is a very classic Minnesotan

accent right the characters use right

and I was thinking about that too and in

choosing that accent to describe because

and this is part of the reason why I

said it sounds kind of cheerful is that

that movie is it’s a suspense movie it’s

a it’s a murder mystery but everyone is

speaking in this kind of cheerful

sounding voice and that really lends

that kind of gives this really kind of

strange mysterious feel to the film yes

there’s a good contrast there I think

you’re right I never thought about that

yeah I agree with you yeah all right

anyway that’s a bit about Minnesota I

don’t know if it was good enough but

anyway let’s go into your next run

my last one is southern accent and now

southern accents also there there’s a

lot of variety in southern accents

different states in the South different

parts of those states have different

southern accents but there’s also a sort

of general southern accent I’m from the

South I grew up in the South but I do

not have a southern accent but I like to

try and pick out when I hear southern

accent I like to try and guess where

people are from from hearing their

accent but I’m not always right so

there’s sort of a general southern

accent and there are pockets of specific

kind of accents in the south and I also

think there’s a big distinction in

southern accents between like a rural

southern accent and the more urban or

City southern accent the city accents

are a little bit more saw they’re softer

a little more genteel and the rural

accents are twanging year I would say so

for example a gentle southern accent

would be something hey y’all

what’s your heart it’s something like

that whereas a twangy accent would be

hey y’all mmm what’s your heart must

sharper sharper a little more Rodie

maybe okay okay but there’s a there’s a

drawl and an elongation and a slowness

to a southern accent yeah that I think

is very nice right and I think going

back to what you mentioned about the

Boston accent in the way the are sounds

in particular change I think that you

can hear that with kind of like like you

describe the more city version of a

southern accent like I think back to

like when my grandmother would use the

expression she she would say oh lordy Oh

instead of saying oh my god like that

was the southern way of saying lordy

right hurt that was a way of saying oh

my god but she would say as you just

said Oh lawdy like the R sound when we

spell that word on paper it’s lor dy but

when she pronounced it it was like l8w

mm-hmm dy Lord that was that was the way

she made an O and an R sound right - so

this is very soft slow it slow accent a

lot of the sounds kind of blend together

it’s it’s a night I think it’s

nice accent most of the time but

unfortunately a southern accent also has

associations that are generally kind of

negative in other parts of the country a

lot of people here a southern accent and

think that a person with a southern

accent is maybe uneducated not very

smart and again I think that’s very

unfortunate because that’s not always

the case I think that is an unfair

stereotype associated with the accent

for sure okay then let’s all go for my

last one a bit to the west of you I

suppose though this could probably be

blending a little bit with southern

accents I feel I chose Texas for the

next accent so Texas borders Mexico and

I would I was thinking about this

actually in preparing this card and I

was kind of thinking it’s interesting

that you don’t hear more of an influence

at least I should say at least among

like white English speakers in in Texas

and in that region like there’s not more

of an influence in terms of like the way

Spanish speakers talk but instead the

Texas accent the traditional I guess

stereotypical Texas accent sounds much

more similar to a southern accent I

think um they have what’s called the

Texas drawl so a drawl is like this

continuous style of speaking it’s like

this really well it’s not always slow

but it’s like there are no breaks almost

between words sometimes or there they’re

like kind of rolling the words together

so we make like clear distinctions

admittedly a little bit exaggerated for

this show but making clear distinctions

between words but in Texan in Texas

accents you might not hear such a clear

distinction so some kind of maybe famous

things that people say in Texan accents

like even the way the state is

pronounced we say Texas but Texans might

say Texas Texas oh yeah

I don’t know sure why not don’t mess

with Texas right that’s better I can’t

do it very well it’s like it’s it’s

there’s a cadence to it mmm which is

nice I am struggling to make it to make

that sound it’s without embarrassing

myself like it’s like the image that

that kind of speech conjures like I

think you imagine like a cowboy like

don’t you hear somebody who speaks this

way it’s it’s like a big guy to write

like a slow kind of maybe actually kind

of gentle I have an image of like a slow

sort of gentle cowboy it sounds really

weird it’s just a stereotypical image I

think of someone who speaks I think the

sterile Texan accent yes yeah sorry - no

I think that the the stereotypical

southern acts excuse me I think that the

stereotypical Texan accent also it

inserts a lot of these like glide sounds

there’s a lot of neat like why and and

gliding and blended vowels in there so

when you say like don’t mess with Texas

don’t mess with Texas you know you’re

putting in a little why to kind of wedge

that vowel apart right yeah instead of

get sort of get ya get ya that’s a good

one then that sort of e sound gets in

there heat up y’all y’all yeah a lot is

there’s there’s some cross there’s some

influence for the southern accent in

Texas as well it’s a different accent

but the two are often mistaken they’re

very similar yeah and these are just a

few accents really there are so many and

like some small regional variations as

well absolutely so these are just a

couple examples of maybe the ones that

stood out but it’s quite I feel anyway

it’s quite difficult to really replicate

another accent if you’re not used to

using it that much it’s true it’s hard

and I don’t know about you but it I’ve

been very self-conscious me too doing

all of these here hopefully they’re

accurate I think we’re gonna just get

completely roasted in the comments me

how terrible our accent good view but if

you want to know more about these

accents I would recommend just do a

quick youtube search to see what people

actually sound like using these accents

because you know maybe we can do a

Boston accent or like a Californian

accent

okay but if you really want to see a

good example of someone speaking in that

way just do a quick youtube search and

maybe you can find some some better

resources some actual native speaker

resources we often get asked on this

channel what kind of English are we

speaking people usually ask is this

American English is this British English

and the answer is American English we

speak American English on this channel

both of us are American English speakers

but we have different accents actually

we sound fairly similar in most ways but

I am from the west coast I was born in

California and then I was raised in

Oregon so I have a very mmm

West Coast I suppose accent but I think

that that has also been influenced here

in there by the people and the accents

that I’ve spent my time around so it’s

mostly West Coast I would say there’s

not really one specific region for me

right how would you define your accent I

would say I have a fairly standard

American accent and so I grew up in the

south as I said but I don’t have a

southern accent when I go home my

family’s still all in the south when I’m

not in the South now but when I go home

some of my southern accent creeps out

and I kind of let it creep out a little

bit honestly because it helps show

people that I’m from there

I mean accents in a way are like a

membership card to to a community and so

I let myself in accent come out a little

bit when I’m home but otherwise this is

my normal accent sort of standard

American accent and a standard American

accent is sort of like the newscaster

accent it’s the it’s the the flat

overarching accent that you could find

in any part of the country so people

from Boston might not have a strong

Boston accent people from California

might not have a strong California

accent they might have more of a

standard American accent that you might

people might pick up from just watching

TV

growing up which is maybe what happened

with me but I also know that I have one

interesting thing about accents we’ve

been talking a lot about pronunciation

but word choice is also a big part of

accents the different words people use

for different things like for example in

Minnesota it’s hot dish but other parts

of the country

it’s casserole and things like that and

some of the words that I use that I have

in my lexicon in my vocabulary my

internal vocabulary are very New

England’s because my parents are from

the East Coast and so I say I pronounce

your your mother or excuse me or your

mother or father’s sister is your aunt

I say aunt how do you say the word for-4

fur really yeah like I’m gonna go to the

store for some milk

they say fur I might say for if I’m

saying it quickly but I’m more likely to

say for I would say I think well I’m

going to the store for some milk I

definitely safer interesting so how do

you pronounce K and E W K and E W new

yeah I think I say new as well but i

I’ve heard some people kind of they

recognize the K sound and make it more

of like a new new sort of sound okay I

just say new no like in you I knew it I

pronounced it yeah yeah but like

dialects for sure yeah yeah they are a

huge part of language as well not just

accent there is one fierce debate that

has raged for a long time fierce debate

means a strong heated discussion that

has raged for a long time meaning it has

continued for a long time

soda pop coke Cola those four words are

used in different regions of the US a

pop you left off pop or did you say pop

I said pop did you say pop okay okay so

soda pop coke Cola those four words all

mean fizzy carbonated drink when I grew

up in California and in Oregon we used

pop okay we used pop absolutely not coke

because in my mind coke is a brand and

that is specific to one item only what

did you use coke coke because I’m from

the south that’s how people say coke

because coke is a southern brand it’s

from Atlanta but when I moved out of the

south and I moved to the west coast when

I was 18 I realer I taught myself to say

soda I started

so what you started saying soda when you

move to the west coast yes in growing up

in the South I would go to a restaurant

when I was a kid you know with my

parents and what do you want hon I’ll

have a coke please what kind you know

sprite whatever that though all of those

things are coke any soda was coke I

think that that’s changing now maybe

maybe more people are saying soda in the

south but I definitely said coke growing

up changed I changed to coke I think I

said pop alot sure fun vocab for you for

the day mm-hmm if you look at a map say

you have a map of the United States and

down here you’ve got coke and over here

you’ve got soda and over here you’ve got

pop the border between those zones isn’t

isogloss what isogloss isogloss yes and

isoglosses the term used to demarcate

between regions based on dialect it’s

interesting that’s your that’s your word

of the day though I’m interested that’s

it see it’s literally something you

could draw a line down it’s not there’s

a lot of crossover and so you can see

isogloss maps if you just get on google

and you view Google you know United

States isogloss maps you’ll see

different maps for different terms in

different words and sometimes you’ll see

quizzes like these Facebook quizzes kind

of things where how do you pronounce

this word what do you call this insect

and so on and based on how you answer

its those quizzes are pretty accurate at

predicting where you’re from isogloss is

the word is o GL o SS so if you google

isogloss you know United States or

American isogloss map something like

that you can find some very interesting

images that show you how different words

are pronounced or different words that

are used for the same thing in different

parts of the country and the lines are

not sharp there’s a lot of a blending

and gray area where those lines meet

interesting hmm

so maybe if you find an accent that you

like and you want to know more about

that you can use one of those studies

isogloss study some isoglosses never

know it sounds interesting

cool thanks for telling I didn’t know

about that first time I’d ever heard of

an ISIL glossed map are you going very

cool all right well I guess we’ll wrap

it up there so those are a few accents

from the USA again these are not by any

means the only accents in the USA

definitely have a look at some other

videos online if you want to know more

about these accents and definitely check

out isogloss maps as Davie recommended

to learn a little bit more about each

region where different accents are

spoken and phrases for gossip

let’s go oh my god so the first phrase

is oh my god so so oh my god

so is a introductory phrase you can use

to start your topic with like a surprise

factor so you say oh my god and then so

is your transition phrase so for example

oh my god so I have to tell you about

this movie I saw or oh my god so I saw

my neighbor in the shopping mall this

morning or oh my god so did you see my

new dog it’s kind of weird usually it’s

about a person not about a dog but who

knows you won’t believe what happened to

me the other day the next expression is

you won’t believe what happened to me

the other day you won’t believe what

happened to me the other day meaning

something happened to you and you think

it’s going to be a surprise to the

person listening to you you won’t

believe what happened to me the other

day so it’s a very fast phrase because

it sounds like you want to share very

quickly like you won’t believe what

happened to me you can drop the other

day if you want or you said you can say

you won’t believe what happened to me

this morning you won’t believe what

happened to me last night you won’t

believe it happened to me this weekend

you won’t believe what happened to me

over my winter vacation so that you

won’t believe what happened to me gets

very very quick and short so examples

you won’t believe what happened to me

the other day

I’ve ran into my ex boss or you won’t

believe what happened to me the other

day I tripped and fell down a flight of

stairs or you won’t believe what

happened to me the other day I got a new

parrot

sure I don’t know maybe one of you can

use that guess what the next phrase is

very short the next phrase is like an

exclamation so an excited statement and

a question guess what guess what so

guess what is inviting the listener to

guess what happened to you yes what the

full question would be guess what

happened or guess what happened to me

but we only say guess what so guess what

and sometimes the listener guesses and

sometimes the listener just says what

usually the listener just says what ask

so meaning you should continue the story

so if you say guess what I quit my job

or guess what I saw my best friend with

a new guy I haven’t seen before

another example guess what I got a new

car something like that so some kind of

shocking like difficult to guess

situation I haven’t told you about this

yet the next expression is I haven’t

told you about this yet I haven’t told

you about this yet so have not becomes

haven’t I haven’t told you about this

yet so maybe you’ve told you have told

other people but this specific person

maybe you have not told that person your

news or some information yet but this

yet implies you are planning to or you

want to tell them this so it’s it’s kind

of creates a little suspense I haven’t

told you about this yet so we could use

this like I haven’t told you about this

yet I’m going to France next summer or I

haven’t told you about this yet but I

broke up with my boyfriend last night or

I haven’t told you about this yet but

I’m throwing a big party for my coworker

this weekend can you come other examples

I haven’t told you about this yet I saw

my boss out for dinner with someone

who’s not his wife Oh oh my god that’s

not true

I haven’t told you about this yet I

heard

that the company is gonna go bankrupt Oh

also not true okay so those are some

pretty juicy juicy gossip that’s an

expression we use we say juicy gossip is

something that’s like really really

interesting gossip or a really

interesting story about people we say

juicy gossip for that have you heard

about the next expression is have you

heard about blah blah blah have you

heard about can be followed with a noun

phrase have you heard about a person you

can use a person or have you heard about

a situation you can use both you can use

an object - so have you heard about the

new iPhone or have you heard about the

new office policies you can use that for

pretty much anything you want to inform

your listener about so have you heard

about is usually said very quickly have

you heard about so the U becomes

shortened - yeah have you heard about

have you heard about bubble blah so have

you heard about the new secretary have

you heard about our new boss sir have

you heard about my co-worker quitting

his job have you heard about the

neighbors above us they’re moving so you

can use people here for a gossip

expressions or you can use objects in

this expression just to introduce

something new very useful phrase have

you heard about my mum sorry mom I don’t

know why you came into that one okay so

the other day the next expression is

kind of like the beginning to a story so

maybe this can be for gossip maybe it

can just be like a story something

interesting or maybe boring that

happened to you the expression is so the

other day so the other day so the other

day the other day here means not today

some other day which day it doesn’t

really matter it’s not really important

but we say the other day some day in the

past this expression is used for so we

can say so the other day I was sitting

at my desk in the office when my manager

came and

if he could speak to me dun dun dun or

so the other day I was shopping and I

ran into my ex-boyfriend or so the other

day I was renting a car and the former

President of the United States came into

the car rental shop what all right so

the other day just some day in the past

so I was talking with and the next one

you can use maybe for gossip sometimes

but also you can use for making plans

it’s so I was talking with someone and

bla bla bla so I was talking with

someone means you were having a

conversation at another time with a

person and you want to kind of report

information or share something from that

conversation with the person listening

now so I might say so I was talking with

Risa and I think that we should plan a

party for this weekend what do you think

so I was talking with my team about this

and I think that we should make some

changes so that’s a very kind of

everyday work situation use of this

phrase but you can also use it for

gossip like so I was talking to my best

friend and I think I’m gonna move or I

was talking to my parents and I think

it’s best if we break up oh so it can be

for plans it can be for gossip it can be

for just any conversation plus a report

what’s up with the next expression is

kind of a little like mysterious then

the expression is what’s up with bla bla

bla usually what’s up with person for

gossip meaning there’s like the nuance

here is there some problem where it

seems like something’s wrong with this

person they’re unhappy they’re sad

they’re angry some kind of negative

emotion we use this so it’s like what’s

up with Stevens I haven’t heard from him

lately what’s up with your brother he

seems really upset or what’s up with

your neighbor why is he so noisy or

what’s up with your boss he’s so strict

so it sounds

like there’s some problem we usually use

this intonation what’s up with what’s up

with none to introduce somebody who has

a problem we don’t say what’s up it’s

not that it’s not that sort of hello um

expression it’s a it’s an expression for

a problem you can also use a noun phrase

that is not a person here like what’s up

with this new office policy or what’s up

with this new rule at work or what’s up

with this new item on the menu at this

restaurant it’s super weird so what’s up

with wah wah wah has sort of a negative

nuance you can use it for people to talk

about strange behavior what’s up with

you have you heard from lately the next

expression is have you heard from blah

blah blah lately have you heard from

person lately have you heard from

steven’s lately I haven’t seen him have

you heard from your mom lately have you

heard from your dad lately have you

heard from your brother lately have you

heard from your landlord lately I don’t

know why you hear from your landlord but

have you heard from someone lately there

is sort of enix like a little bit of an

expectation that you are in contact with

the person involved in this sentence

like you have some relationship maybe

it’s a family relationship romantic

relationship professional relationship

there’s some relationship with this

person and lately it’s like have you

heard from them recently lately in the

last few days in the last few weeks so

you can use this if for example you are

looking for someone or you’re worried

about someone you can use this here you

can also use it just just to check in

about some other person without asking

that person directly so like if I want

to ask about I’m using risa in my

example Risa is our Japanese Channel

host if I want to ask about how Risa is

but I don’t want to ask Risa I know

maybe she’s busy or I don’t know for

some reason I cult to talk to her I can

ask like a co-worker I’m gonna say hey

have you heard from recent lately it

seems she’s really busy or have you

heard from so-and-so lately it seems

they’re busy so if I want to ask about

another /

sin but I don’t want to bother this

person or that something makes it

difficult I can use have you heard from

bla bla bla recently or lately to ask

about them very useful phrase I have to

tell you about

next expression ah the next expression

is I have to tell you about blah blah

blah I have to tell you so have to

becomes hafta I have to tell you about

it has a nice hmmmmm sound I have to

tell you about papa bah or I have to

tell you about something

so I have to tell you about my weekend I

have to tell you about Stephens I have

to tell you about my mom I have to tell

you about my boyfriend how’d she tell

you about my girlfriend

whatever it is some person used at the

end of this sentence creates a nuance

like there’s exciting news about that

person or I have to tell you about this

thing that happened you can use a

situation at the end of the sentence to

but you’re using I have to at the

beginning of this sentence so that

sounds like it’s really important like I

feel it’s so important it’s my

responsibility to tell you because this

is so exciting of course you can use

this in more boring situations as well

like I have to tell you about the new

office policy you can use it in that way

with a very flat intonation but for

gossip purposes use I have to tell you

about Papapa that sounds really good so

what do you have to tell somebody about

I have to tell you about this new idea I

have for a business or I have to tell

you about what happened to me last night

okay so there are these really exciting

ways that we can introduce things that

happened or that we can talk about

people or whatever okay want to speed up

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account right now the difference between

someone everyone and anyone and somebody

anybody and everybody let’s get started

by looking at the meanings of these

words and how we use them okay let’s

begin with someone and somebody to begin

with you can remember someone in

somebody and anyone and anybody follow

very similar rules as some and any if

you’ve seen the video on our channel

talking about some and any maybe you

remember the

that I’m going to explain here you can

check that video for some extra

information about those grammar points

too so let’s start with someone and

somebody we use someone and somebody in

positive statements so a simple

statement not a question in other words

when we make a positive statement we use

someone and somebody in that sentence

structure we also use these two words in

requests and in offers so keep in mind

these are two categories of questions so

a request question or an offer question

let’s take a look at some examples of

this now first of all there’s someone at

the office

so here I’ve chosen someone there’s

someone at the office this is a positive

statement so not a question just a

statement it’s a positive here the next

example can you send someone to help me

can you send someone to help me this is

a request so a specific type of question

a request question can you send someone

to help me the third example sentence is

an offer would you like to talk to

somebody would you like to talk to

somebody so here we have request offer

positive statement we can use someone or

somebody in each of these examples so

I’ve used someone someone and somebody

here but actually we can change each of

these to the other choice both are fine

in each of these example sentences I’ll

talk more about the difference between

one and buddy a little bit later for now

however let’s move on to the difference

between anyone and anybody okay so this

is a key difference between someone and

somebody anyone and anybody this is used

in negative statements these are used in

negative statements someone in somebody

used in positive statements so this

follows the same rule as some and any

so in negative statements and we use any

and anybody in information questions so

that means that not requests not offers

but you’re looking for some kind of

information we use anyone and anybody in

these cases so let’s look at a few

examples of this first I don’t think

anyone is at the office don’t think

anyone is at the office so here we’ve

used anyone because it’s a negative

here’s my negative it’s in the do not so

not right here this is my negative

therefore I’ve used any one here one

more example sentence a question this

time has anybody seen my keys here I’ve

used anybody I’ve used this because this

is an information question I’m looking

for some information I don’t have now

this is not a request it’s not an offer

so I shouldn’t use someone or somebody I

need to use anyone or anybody I’m

looking for information this third

example sentence is the same why hasn’t

anyone returned my calls here anyone and

I’m looking for information in this case

a why this is a why question so again

not a request not an offer I’m looking

to find something new I’m looking for

information so I should use anyone again

just as I talked about with someone and

somebody I can change this anyone

anybody and anyone to the other word

it’s fine to use the other word here for

example anybody anyone anybody that’s

perfectly fine again I’ll explain more a

little bit later here but remember

anyone and anybody is used in negative

statements someone somebody used in

positive statements this is one key

difference okay but let’s move along now

to everyone and everybody everyone and

everybody this will fall out kind of a

different rule than someone and anyone

we use everyone and everybody to refer

to all people related to a situation or

related to a group so this could mean a

class it could mean every person in an

office that could mean in a city in a

country so it just depends on the group

or the situation we use this word when

we want to talk about all people related

to that group or related to the

situation so let’s look at some examples

okay first one everyone in our class

graduated so here everyone in our class

graduated refers to all the people in

our class so everyone in that group of

people in this case the group is the

class so all people in the class

another example it was great to see

everybody at the Reunion so everybody

here shows us again all people and this

could be a class reunion it could be a

family reunion a company reunion so this

just means it was great to see all the

related people so the people related to

the situation at this reunion event one

more example then everybody had a great

time

so here everybody shows us everybody in

the situation so maybe everybody who

attended the event had a great time

everybody who attended the party had a

great time this is quite a common

expression after an event of some kind

so again as we saw with the first two

groups we can actually change each of

these words to the other word so

everyone can be replaced with everybody

same thing here everybody and everybody

can be replaced with everyone so I want

to end this lesson with a quick

introduction or a quick overview to the

difference between these two endings one

and buddy

what is the difference here really one

the words that end in one someone anyone

and everyone they sound more formal than

the words that end in buddy

so we can actually use these

interchangeably interchangeably means we

can mix and

we can choose which one we prefer so

that means the meanings are the same

like their purpose is the same it’s just

up to us to choose so why would we do

this why would we choose one word and

not the other word you can choose

according to the syllables if you

remember syllables is the number of

beats a syllable is a beat of a word so

for example somebody somebody has three

beats someone has only two beats two

syllables this is important when you are

writing especially like writing poetry

writing lyrics for music or maybe you’re

trying to write a nice essay for example

we are listening for which words sound

nice to our ears so sometimes the word

somebody sounds nice sometimes the word

someone sounds better so it’s up to us

meaning we can decide we can choose

which word we prefer to use so you just

have to listen and kind of feel which

you prefer there’s no difference in

meaning it’s just a sound preference and

a little bit of a formality difference

so I hope that this lesson helped you

understand the differences between these

words a little bit as I said if you want

some more information about the

difference between some and any you can

search the YouTube channel for that

video as well first question comes from

Flavia high-flow BIA Flavia says hi

Alicia can you explain why you use if I

were you instead of was yeah so the

pattern if I were you is an example of

what’s called the subjunctive mood so

the subjunctive mood is something that

we use to talk about unreal situations

so things that are not true so we use if

I were you to talk about the unreal

situation the Unreal present situation

which refers to like the fact that I am

NOT you like that’s not a true situation

so we use this subjunctive pattern if I

were you to talk about that if I was

however would begin a simple past

statement so

something in the past but maybe the

speaker is not so certain about that

past thing so for example if I was wrong

I’m sorry or if I was noisy last night I

apologize so that means the speaker has

some uncertainty about the past like if

I was noisy last night like I don’t know

if I was but maybe I was if I was I

apologize so those are past situations

that could be possible they’re not

necessarily like unreal but we want to

maybe express like an apology or we want

to express some kind of uncertainty

about something that might have affected

someone in the past so maybe I was noisy

last night or maybe I was wrong for

example I don’t know but if I was then I

apologize or I’m sorry so we use this if

I was for these simple past tense

statements so actually you will commonly

hear native speakers using if I was you

but it’s not like that’s gonna cause any

communication problems actually

so yes the technically correct pattern

to use if I were you but there are so

many people that say if I was if I was

that it’s not like a communication

problem

so technically yes it’s incorrect to say

if I was but you’re not gonna have any

problems if you use that pattern instead

so that’s the basic difference if I were

you

refers to an unreal present situation if

I was something refers to uncertainty

about a past situation or a past event

so I hope that this helps you thanks

very much for the question

okay let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from Carol hi Carol

Carol says Alicia I’m stumped by trying

to distinguish the difference in meaning

between evaluate and assess could you

help me yeah great question and actually

native speakers have trouble with the

difference between these words too so

let’s talk first about the word evaluate

so a great way to remember the

difference between the words eval

and assess is to consider that inside

the word evaluate is the word value so

when we evaluate something we are

assigning or we are giving some value to

that thing or to that person this can

mean like the price of something this

can mean the significance of something

this can mean like the condition of

something so some examples we evaluated

this camera and gave it an 8 out of 10

score our company’s software was

evaluated by a tech website and given a

low rating so in each of these example

sentences a certain like level of value

is assigned or is given to something or

to someone so when we evaluate we’re

doing it in order to give value or it’s

like to assign or to find the value of

something so it could be a score it

could be a price so let’s compare this

to the word assess the pronunciation is

assess assess so the word assess then

has the same feel of evaluate but the

purpose of assess is to understand

something better so we don’t assess

something in order to assign a value to

that thing we’re assessing something in

order to understand it better so like we

try to understand deeper like

information or like to learn more about

the details of something we assess

something so like you might assess a

situation that means you look deep into

the details to better understand the

situation some more examples we need to

assess the security of the company’s

data he assessed his housing options

before making a decision so this is the

difference between evaluate and assess

if you’re ever not sure just to remember

that the word value is inside evaluate

to help you remember that evaluate is

used to assign value to something so I

hope that this helps you thanks very

much for the question

ok let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from yes sir hi yes

sir

yeah sir says what is the meaning of the

expression word I’ve seen it in some

movies and I can’t figure out what it

means yeah

word is like a strong

expression of agreement among close

friends you can also use it to like ask

really or is that true if you use kind

of like a question intonation so like

word so you might also hear it used in a

situation where someone does something

that like you really admire or that you

kind of respect or you think is

impressive and you like you might hear

someone say like word in response to

that so that kind of shows support or

that you were impressed or you admire

that thing I feel like in a lot of cases

it’s just used as a simple expression of

agreement or understanding for example

we’re gonna watch the game tonight word

personally I don’t use this word that

much because it is kind of like a cool

word and I’m not really like a cool like

hip-hop street culture kind of person

but if you want to use it I would

recommend using it among very close

friends and in very casual situations so

I hope that this helps you understand it

thanks very much for the question

alright let’s move on to your next

question next question comes from bray

antalya hi Bryan

Bryan says hi Alicia can you please

explain to me the meanings and uses of

the word happen specifically in these

cases do you happen to my sister happens

to be a lawyer

etc I’m confused yeah this is a nice

question okay to begin with I want to

introduce a few very common patterns

that we see with the word happen let’s

take a look do you happen to have would

you happen to know if it just so happens

that my sister happens to be okay so

kind of the theme with this use of the

word happen is chance or by chance of

something so let’s take a look at the

first two patterns here these first two

are question patterns so the first one

was do you happen to have and the second

one was would you happen to know if so

another way to say these is is there any

chance you have or is there any chance

you know so you’re asking very politely

like is there a poss

bility is there a chance of this thing

so we use this form of happen to make

very formal or like very soft requests

so this is really useful when you’re

like speaking to a stranger so if you

can imagine like you’re a tourist and

you need some help in a city that you

are unfamiliar with you could say to a

nearby person like excuse me do you

happen to know where I could buy a

coffee around here or excuse me would

you happen to have the time so that’s

like you’re making a very like soft

request

that’s like saying is there any chance

or is it possible at all that you have

this information or you could do this

for me

so it’s a very soft request form so

let’s take a look at the other two

sentence patterns that I introduced here

these are some statement patterns so

again these do mean by chance but for

these kinds of statements the context is

actually really important the situation

is important so for example it just so

happens that I got two free tickets to

that concert you were talking about last

week so it just so happens means like by

chance or like something happened like

that was very coincidental it just so

happens that this situation fits nicely

with something else in my life right now

so it just so happens I got these free

tickets and this relates to having this

discussion with you about a concert last

week so those two things kind of fit

nicely together it’s a nice little

coincidence so it just so happens that

is used to do that so the other example

pattern that you introduced my sister

happens to be a lawyer is probably

something you would see in a situation

where a person is looking for a lawyer

and the person who says that sentence is

introducing that like oh no I need a

lawyer do you have any recommendations

and person B might say oh my sister

happens to be a lawyer so that’s like

saying by chance my sister is a lawyer

like coincidentally like

matches your situation nicely that’s

kind of the feeling of happens to in

this case happens to be a lawyer so yes

you could say like oh my sister is a

lawyer that’s fine as well but it

doesn’t have that same nuance of

coincidence so kind of think of happens

to or like happens to be as meaning by

chance in these statement

situations and when you’re using it as a

question it creates like this formal

very gentle like is it possible to type

request so I hope that that helps you

understand using the word happen or

happens in cases like these thanks very

much for the question okay let’s move on

to your next question next question

comes from cloudy hi cloudy cloudy says

what’s the difference between these

words admire a door and idolize Thanks

okay let’s compare let’s make some

example sentences first I admire Beyonce

I adore Beyonce I idolized Beyonce

okay so first let’s look at I admire

Beyonce so we use admire for people

usually people that we respect so maybe

we respect that person’s work or we want

to be more like that person or we think

they’ve done like great things they’re

very talented so if I say I admire

Beyonce it means like I respect her I

respect her work so we use admire to

mean like something or someone that we

respect the second sentence

I adore Beyonce uses the word adore

which means you love something so when

we say I adore something we can use it

to talk about like people usually people

in our lives sometimes we use it to talk

about like our favorite activities as

well like I adore arts and crafts

perhaps but when we use it to talk about

people it’s usually for people that we

have a close relationship to so like

Beyonce superfan might say like I adore

Beyonce I just love her so that means

that they feel like a close connection

to that person or like they really

really enjoy it

in this case the celebrities work so to

adore something

can be used in that way also within

families like parents could say they

adore their children so to adore means

to love something and have a very close

connection or you feel like you have a

close connection with someone then the

final example sentence was I idolized

Beyonce I idolized so to idolize that

verb has the word Idol inside so Idol

actually has it like a religious kind of

connection so an idol was something like

to be worshiped so like a god or a

goddess figure sort of thing so to

idolize something means to kind of have

that thing as like above you so you have

like this image in this case like

Beyonce I idolized Beyonce that means

she’s like above everything like we

really appreciate her like we think

she’s just amazing and she’s like above

everybody else so to idolize someone is

like has almost like this image of

worshiping someone so maybe like a super

super super Beyonce fan could say like I

idolize Beyonce I want to be like her

like I want to do everything a fan can

do so maybe that’s idolized in this case

so probably the most common words here

are admire and adore idolize is not used

nearly as much as these two but that’s

the difference between those words so I

hope that that helps you understand want

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let’s begin with the basic definition of

the verb set so the basic definition the

basic definition is to put something in

a place or in a position some examples

of this I always set my keys on the

counter set your bag next to the table

okay let’s look at the conjugations for

this verb present set sets past set past

participle set progressive setting

all right now let’s look at some

additional meanings for this verb

so the first additional meaning of the

verb set refers to the position meaning

like the place or the time that a story

happens so some examples the movie is

set in New York City my favorite book is

set in the distant future so in these

examples we see the verb set is used to

refer to the place or the time when a

story happens so in the first example I

say the movie is set in New York City

means the story takes place in New York

City so set means takes place in the

story happens in New York City but we

use set to explain them my favorite book

is set in the distant future

so this refers to a time so the setting

the point in time when the story happens

is in the distant future so distant

future means far far far in the future

into the future not the past the future

so in the distant future this story

happens in the distant future but we use

set so my favorite story my favorite

book is set in the distant future so

here we see it used to refer to the

location or the time when a story takes

place the second meaning for today is to

cause someone or something to be in a

condition so this is a very open this is

a very broad meaning let’s look at a few

examples some common examples here first

you set my house on fire

the performance animal was set free okay

so in the first example very dramatic

example I said you set my house on fire

so here I said set and then the object

here is my house you set my house and

then the condition is on fire so on fire

means it’s burning

you know flames bad my house is gonna

you know crumble to pieces

you set my house on fire means you

caused my house to be in the condition

of on fire you caused my house to be

flaming that’s bad of course in this

case but set refers to causing an object

to be in that

dition we see the same thing in the

second example sentence the performance

animal was set free so free here we see

is the condition the animal a

performance animal probably in like a

zoo or a water park or something

was set so caused to be free caused to

become free so the performance animal

was not free before it was set free it

was caused to become free so we can see

a set is used to like cause a change in

condition in something these are a

couple examples of how to do the third

meaning for today is to establish

something so to establish something like

a policy or a new click condition a

record something like that so examples

of this the school is setting new rules

for next year they were about to set a

new record okay so here set is used to

mean establishing something in the first

example sentence I said the school is

setting new rules for next year so that

means the school is establishing now the

school is in the process of establishing

new policies for the next year new rules

so setting I’ve used in the progressive

tense means establishing or creating in

the second example sentence they’re

going to set a new record means they’re

going to establish they’re going to

create a new record so we use set in

this case to set a record let’s go to

the fourth meaning for this verb the

fourth meaning here is to get something

ready for use so like we setup the

camera or we setup the iPad we setup the

lights for this you know filming

operation here so set up is a very very

common way of using the verb set to set

up something other examples I spent all

day setting up my computer will you set

the alarm for 8:00 a.m. so in my second

sentence there you heard I said will you

set the alarm for 8:00 a.m. so that

means it’s like I’m preparing the alarm

in that case I’m not like preparing mmm

something for use I’m preparing a

function in that case so we don’t say

will you set up the alarm for 8:00 a.m.

we’ll just say

the alarm for 8:00 a.m. we would say set

up the computer because I want to use it

I’m not setting a function of the

computer we could say set the clock on

the computer we would not say set up the

clock we would say set the clock so set

the clock is like establishing the

correct time to set up something is like

to prepare it to be used so set up a

computer good set up a software fine

but set a clock set an alarm it’s like

to decide a time or two like establish

some kind of functionality we don’t need

to use up in those cases so this will be

in addition to meaning number four I

want to say just a quick note about how

it’s often used okay so with this

meaning when we use the verb set to

refer to getting something ready to use

like with a computer for example we’ll

often follow set with the preposition up

so for example I want to set up my

computer or I spent all day setting up

my computer in my original example

sentence so you might see set plus up

it’s commonly used with up not always if

you’re talking more about functionality

like set an alarm or set the clock then

you don’t need to use a preposition but

when you’re talking about preparing

something for use you’ll often see that

up the preposition up is used in

addition to set so to set up something

so one more example might be to set the

coffee pot in the coffee maker

so you’re preparing it for use but we

don’t say set up the coffee pot we say

set the coffee pot in the coffee maker

to prepare it for use

let’s talk about some variations of how

you can use the verb set first one to

set back to set back to set back means

to cause a delay in something example I

broke my wrist and set back my project

schedule that’s true this mistake has

set us back two weeks so here we’re

seeing set back to set something back

causing a delay so I broke my wrist and

set back my project schedule so I broke

my wrist and caused my project schedule

to be delayed I caused a delay in the

project as a result of breaking my wrist

so to cause delay in the second one this

mistake has set us back two weeks so

this mistake has set us back so meaning

caused us a delay by two weeks so set us

we see the object there is included in

the verb the phrasal verb set us back so

what was set back us in our project and

whatever it is we’re working on this

mistake has set us back two weeks we

were caused to be delayed by the mistake

so to set back us well we can also use

it as a noun a set back the second

variation is to set out to set out this

actually has two meanings it can mean to

begin a journey especially like a

walking journey to set out for something

it can also mean to begin an activity so

let’s look at some examples first they

set out early in the morning he set out

to build his own company so in the first

example sentence they set out early in

the morning means they left they began

their journey early in the morning so

this is especially the case for like

walking journeys it’s not only for

walking journeys but it kind of has the

feeling of a little more like bodily

journeying somehow so like we set out on

our bike ride or something like that

there’s something kind of bodily

happening I guess if that makes sense

then in the second example he set out to

build his own company so set out means

like he started the activity of building

his own company is what that means or

like she set out to become the top in

her class for example so she started the

activity of working

to become top in her class so to set out

to do something is to start working

towards something so to start an

activity usually with some like goal in

mind to set out to do something ten

phrasal verbs for eating and drinking so

let’s get started

drink up the first phrasal verb is drink

up drink up drink up is a happy is a

cheerful phrase we use that means let’s

start drinking or let’s enjoy drinking

or please drink so you can use it when

everybody gets their drinks you can say

alright our beers are here let’s drink

up it means it has the nuance of drink a

lot like you can also use it like as a

challenge to someone like someone who

loses a bet or loses like an argument

you can say drink up is kind of a

challenge it’s sort of like a friendly

command4 drink so in sentence our beers

are here everybody drink up take down

the next phrasal verb is take down take

down as in take down and order take down

is a phrasal verb that these staff like

waiter or waitress will use at their

restaurant they may come to your table

and say can I take down your order they

may also say can I take your order of

course but to take down is like to take

your order and write it down on a

notepad for example in a notebook so

take down your order

you might hear this so in a sentence

when you’re ready I can take down your

order ring up the next word is ring up

ring up we use ring up to mean total to

total something to total a bill to total

the amount of something at a restaurant

or shopping - for example so again this

is a word that waitstaff the staff the

restaurant may use so when you finish

your meal they will ring up your bill

they will ring up your total and you

will pay that amount at the end of your

immune so in a sentence I’ll ring up

your bill at the cash register set down

the next phrasal verb is set down set

down so we use set down for items which

we are carrying and then we

or we place on a table so usually

there’s like a downward motion if you’re

carrying something like you can use it

for a backpack if you want to like to

set down to to drop something to leave

something but to put it in like on a

table to put it in a place specifically

there so we can use set down at a

restaurant like please set the plate

down on the table or can you set down my

drink over there or I’ll set down your

order over here so set down means to

place something something you were

carrying to place it on a table or to

place it on a desk so set it down in a

sentence please set down the plates

carefully cut up the next phrasal verb

is cut up cut up we use cut up to mean

cut but cut up usually means to cut all

of something so if you receive like mono

chicken or beef or pork or some large

item you need to cut we say cut up to

mean cut the entire piece to cut

everything you receive so in a sentence

make sure to cut up steak into small

pieces for example it’s easier for

children to eat or I take a long time to

cut up my meat for example so cut up

means cut everything cut into the next

phrasal verb is cut into so to cut into

means just to make one slice into

something usually we use cut into four

like the first slice like we use it

maybe to check that a something is

properly cooked sometimes so like to cut

into a chicken or to cut into turkey we

usually use this for the first slice so

the first experience like when I cut

into the chicken all the juices came out

it looked delicious I’m excited to cut

into my Thanksgiving turkey this year or

I’m really looking forward to cutting

into that steak later it looked great

so cut into is kind of that first cut

that initial cut where you can see maybe

what the what the meat looks like or you

get you get a sense of how the rest of

your meal is going to taste so

cut into the first slice I want to cut

into my dinner later stop up the next

phrasal verb is stop up stop up so to

stop means to soak with liquid to soak

with liquid to stop up therefore it’s

like to to soak to soak liquid from like

a bowl or from a cup or something but we

use this with bread usually so if you’re

eating soup for example and there is

leftover soup in your bowl you can take

bread and soft up soak up the liquid

from your soup with bread so to stop up

liquid so to soak and pick up something

is the image here so to sob up bread so

for example I like to stop up my soup

with bread or I like to stop up extra

sauce with a biscuit for example so

usually there’s some bread and some

sauce or liquid we use with this phrase

cool down the next phrasal verb is

cooled down cooled down means to let

something become lower temperature

naturally so to let something cool down

really means to allow something to

gradually go to a lower temperature if

you make a pie for example it’s very hot

when it comes out of the oven so

oftentimes the recipe will say allow to

cool down and serve for example so

meaning after the pie is taken from the

oven you should let the temperature cool

you should let the temperature come down

before eating so to cool down is like

reducing the temperature but just

naturally over time so in a sentence

make sure to let your mashed potatoes

cool down before you try to eat them

heat up so the next phrasal verb is heat

up heat up we use heat up usually to

talk about microwave use or oven use so

it’s taking a cold food or maybe a

frozen food usually just a cold food

kept in the refrigerator put it in the

microwave and turn it on to heat the

food to make it warm again

so to heat up is like to move the heat

level

up to increase the temperature of the

food we use the phrasal verb heat up to

do this so for example I like to heat up

my pizza before I eat it my leftover

pizza or you should heat up yesterday’s

soup it would be really good to have

that tonight or maybe we should heat up

something quick for dinner tonight so

heat up means to increase the

temperature of a cold thing

chow down so the next phrasal verb is

sort of a slang expression it’s Chow

down chow down means like to eat really

excitedly it’s it’s not a phrasal verb I

personally use very much but you can use

it to express your enthusiasm for

something so it’s typically used for

like sort of junk food type things or

like really really um everyday foods

like in in the USA it’s like sandwiches

or hotdogs or like something you might

get it like a sporting event will say

like I want to chow down on a sandwich

later I want to chow down on some pizza

after this so to chow down is like

enthusiastically eat like you’re not

thinking about being polite you’re not

worried about looking nice while you eat

you’re just enjoying eating very

enthusiastically so like oh let’s chow

down on some pizza later for example so

or for example like we’re gonna chow

down on some barbecue this weekend it’ll

be great first question this week comes

from Saad hi Saad Saad says hi Alicia I

want to know the difference between all

every and each ok this is a big topic

I made a whiteboard video about this

recently and it will be out on the

channel eventually but here’s a quick

introduction let’s begin with all all

means 100% of something so we use all

when we’re talking about a group so many

of something and 100% we want to focus

on the group with all some examples all

the questions in this series come from

viewers all my family members live in

another country we use every when we

want to talk about the parts of a whole

we use this with the singular form of an

so some examples every person in our

class passed the test every member of

our team received an award so in these

cases with every we see that there are

individual parts to a larger whole -

like a group and we want to mention the

individual parts yes but in relationship

to the whole we use every to do this in

the singular form each then focuses on

the individuals so we’re not focusing so

much on a group but we want to really

focus on the individual we can use each

with the singular form and with the

plural form of a noun examples

she wears earrings on each ear each

person in our group gave a presentation

so another point with each is that we

use each when there’s only two of

something if there’s more than two you

can use every or maybe each depending on

the situation just make sure if there’s

only two like ears for example or arms

or legs make sure to use each using all

or every will sound strange because

we’re focusing on large numbers so

that’s a quick introduction to the

differences between these words I hope

that that helps you and please watch for

the whiteboard video to come out soon

okay let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from valina hi

valina

valina says hi Alicia I would like to

ask you about the difference between no

wonder and wondering and how to use it

in sentences okay let’s start with no

wonder so no wonder it means that’s why

that’s why so we use it when we kind of

solve a mystery

sort of it’s like a small mystery like

no wonder this happened or no wonder

something in the past when we’re

wondering that’s the progressive tense

of the word wonder it means we’re

thinking about something like there’s

something we’re curious about or

something that we would like to know but

wondering is kind of like light thinking

I guess you could say so I’m wondering

about my future maybe so it’s kind of

you’re dreaming or you’re imagining

something perhaps he’s out of the

country no wonder he didn’t answer my

phone call you’re out of salt no wonder

your food tastes bland

excuse me I’m wondering where the

restrooms are I wonder what’s going to

happen next week so in the last example

sentence there I used wonder in the

present tense meaning it’s just

something that I’m thinking about for

the future you could say I’m wondering

about next week that’s fine if you’re

actually doing it now with someone but

wondering refers to an action happening

now in this moment so I hope that that

helps you understand

no wonder and wondering thanks for the

question

all right let’s move on to your next

question next question comes from sweet

devil hi again sweet devil sweet devil

says hi Alicia and my question how do I

pronounce these words in fast connecting

speech of it of her of his okay well

first with the her and his examples that

H sound almost disappears like it

becomes very reduced of her and of his

I’ll give some examples in a moment with

of it the two kind of connects they make

a V sound patterns that might use

something like this are not so common in

everyday speech but these are a couple

cases where you might hear it your

sandwich looks delicious can you give me

some of it that was a great performance

did you make a recording of it so in

these examples you can hear of it

becomes of it of it did you make a

recording of it can I have some of it so

it’s like a V sound there let’s move on

to the other two with the H sound

whichever movies have you seen pictures

of are really interesting so here you

can also hear that that H sound becomes

very very soft and we have that same

sound with of pictures of are really

interesting which of her movies have you

seen the same thing happens with of his

how many of his books have you read what

do you think of his work so we have that

same look again with of and the H sound

is very very soft it’s like I’m just

exhaling the sound of his of his of her

as well of it so kind of a theme here is

that the F becomes a quick v sound

almost and we’re sort of just releasing

air to make the H sound with

his-and-her examples of it of her of his

so I hope that this helps you with this

pronunciation point thanks very much for

the question okay let’s move on to your

next question next question comes from

zou higher highs all higher zou higher

says what is the difference between

persuading and convincing great question

yeah many people use these

interchangeably but there is a key

difference to convince someone means to

change someone’s mind to change

someone’s way of thinking so it refers

to giving someone information with the

intent of changing the way that they

think to persuade however is giving

someone information or telling someone

something with the aim of causing them

to take an action so to convince is

referring to someone’s thinking to

convince someone of an idea to persuade

someone is to cause them to take an

action like to persuade someone to give

you money for example so convinced ideas

persuade actions some examples we

convinced my parents that we were

responsible enough to take the car out

for the night

I convinced my team of the importance of

social media we persuaded management to

buy us new equipment I’m going to

persuade my parents to loan me a few

hundred dollars for a vacation so here

you can see convinced is used to talk

about a way of understanding or a way of

thinking persuade is used to talk about

getting someone to do an action to take

an action so I hope that this helps you

understand the difference thanks very

much for the question okay on to your

next question next question comes from

Luis raise your e hi Luis Luis says hi

Alicia my question is what’s the

difference between hint and clue in your

videos you say for example here we have

a hint could we use clue instead ah yeah

for sure in a case like this you could

use hint and clue in the same way clue

is something that I feel is used more

when we have like a mystery or there’s

kind of like a puzzle to solve you might

also hear it in like detective stories

so if like a detective is investigating

something and

looking for evidence when they find

something they might say oh this is a

clue in there like mystery solving

process but clue that’s I mean it’s a

great example if anyone has played the

game clue absolutely your job in that

game is to collect information to

collect evidence about a murder that

happened so that’s your job you’re

collecting clues so that’s sort of the

feel of the word clue you’re trying to

solve a mystery so when I said it’s okay

to use clue to replace the word hint you

can kind of imagine that like a sentence

could be like a puzzle especially if

you’re learning so you’re trying to

solve the mystery of the meaning or the

grammar of the sentence so if you can

think of it that way it’s okay to use

the word clue I prefer to use the word

hint and yes I do use that word a lot in

our videos because hint has the feeling

of something that’s communicated

indirectly so I’m not saying something

clearly or maybe my example sentence

doesn’t say something clearly but I’m

looking for these small like bits of

information that kind of tell me

indirectly something so when I say here

we have a hint it’s like I’m kind of

referring to this indirect information

I’m getting from this sentence someone’s

vocabulary choice for example could give

me like a hint about that person’s

emotions for the day so it’s an indirect

way of receiving information is a hint

so I prefer to use hint but I think it’s

fine to use the word clue let’s look at

a few more examples sentences that maybe

can show some of the differences in how

these words are used also I want to

point out that both hint and clue can be

used as nouns and as verbs we found a

clue at the scene of the crime a

fingerprint we don’t have any clues as

to who robbed the store this

announcement from the CEO might include

some clues about upcoming policy changes

can you give me a hint about your

surprise party plans management hinted

that we might get a bigger budget next

year here’s a hint about the meaning of

the sentence okay so I hope that this

helps answer your question about clue

and

hint thanks very much for sending it

okay let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from Mohamed Salah

hi Mohamed Mohamed said what’s the

difference between sympathy and empathy

yeah

sympathy refers to seeing feelings in

another person seeing emotions in

someone else and recognizing those

feelings because you have also

experienced them so if for example your

colleague or your friend like they have

an emotional situation like a family

member has passed away and you have also

experienced that you can say you

experience sympathy for that person

because you have the same experience

that’s the noun form sympathy as a verb

it’s sympathize as an adjective it’s

sympathetic some example sentences I can

sympathize with your work struggles we

had a tough time last month I’m lucky to

have a boss that’s very sympathetic so

empathy is different from sympathy in

that we recognize feelings in another

person but we have not experienced that

situation ourselves we only recognize it

and we can maybe imagine what the other

person feels like but we don’t have that

experience ourselves so empathy is the

noun form to empathize is the verb and

empathetic is the adjective some

examples I was so relieved my friends

empathize with my need for support it’s

wonderful to have empathetic colleagues

so I hope that this helps you understand

the difference between sympathy shared

feeling and empathy and understanding of

someone else’s feeling I hope that that

helps you want to speed up your language

learning get access to all of our best

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your free lifetime account right now

today I’m going to talk about the

difference between which and that which

and that are both relative pronouns but

a lot of people confuse the two so let’s

talk about how to use them okay first a

quick overview which first we use which

in what are called non

restrictive relative clauses we use that

on the other hand in restrictive

relative clauses so before we continue

let’s talk about the difference between

non restrictive clauses and restrictive

clauses the difference here a

non-restrictive clause first of all

where we use which is a clause that does

not have information essential to

understanding the noun it is connected

to I’ll show you some examples in just a

minute a restrictive clause however is a

clause that has information essential to

our understanding of that noun so we

need the information in the restrictive

clause to completely understand the noun

or the noun phrase it is attached to a

non-restrictive clause is sort of extra

information we don’t need the

information to understand the noun or

the noun phrase it just provides some

more information so let’s take a look at

a few examples of this the first example

I have is rather extreme but it’s just

to show the differences between these

two first the school that I parked my

car next to is dangerous so here my noun

is school here I’ve got the relative

pronoun that I have the school that I

parked my car next to is dangerous I’ve

used that here because my Clause is a

restrictive clause

I need this information the school that

I parked my car next to is dangerous if

I remove this the school is dangerous

the sentence is correct however the

meaning changes the key here is that I

parked my car there so I want to explain

that specifically the school that I

parked my car next to this school in

particular is dangerous so that shows us

that it’s a restrictive clause we have

to use that in this sentence because the

information is essential to our

understanding in this sentence however

the school which has a tennis court is

dangerous I’ve used which so which is a

non restrictive is used in non

restrictive clauses this shows us it is

extra information

the school has a tennis court do

I need to know this information no it’s

just extra information if I remove this

clause the school is dangerous the root

sentence the basic sentence stays the

same this is just extra information

it doesn’t necessarily tell us essential

information about the situation so we

use which to show that it’s a non

restrictive relative clause as I said

this is a rather extreme example so

let’s take a look at something that’s a

little bit more complex okay

let’s look at the next two sentences

first the car which I bought last year

is already having trouble and the car

that I bought last year is already

having trouble these are very similar

sounding sentences however our choice of

which or that as well as the commas

which I’ll talk about later have changed

the meaning so there are a couple key

differences here one by seeing that in

the first sentence that we’re using a

non restrictive clause here with which

we see the car which I bought last year

this shows us that this is extra

information about the car here however

we see that this is essential

information the car that I bought last

year is already having trouble so the

speaker could be saying here with this

sentence the second sentence the car

that I bought last year specifically a

car that the speaker purchased the

previous year this sentence means

therefore the speaker might have other

cars the speaker is specifically meaning

this specific car that they he or she

bought last year in this sentence with

the non-restrictive clause we don’t have

the same nuance the car which I bought

last year is just extra information in

this sentence

so here the car that I bought last year

this is indicating a specific car this

one with the non restrictive clause it’s

just giving us extra information so the

speaker may or may not have another car

we don’t know so that’s all I want to

say about that okay but a question that

many people have is how do you know

whether it’s a restrictive or a non

restrictive clause so this is a quick

tip a quick hint for native speakers and

native speakers actually it’s a

restrictive non-restrictive how do I

know to do that

remove the clause just take the clause

out of the sentence is the meaning of

the sentence the same is the sentence

still grammatically correct is it okay

if yes if the sentence is okay the

meaning is the same

it’s a non-restrictive clause if no if

the meaning changes if you lose some key

information it is a restrictive clause

so this is a quick hint if you’re not

sure whether she use which or whether to

use that try this test as quick test

just take it out and see if the meaning

changes the last thing I want to talk

about here is the use of commas so

you’ll notice I used commas throughout

this lesson and also when I was reading

they kind of create a natural pause

around this extra information but when

do you use them we should use commas

around non-restrictive clauses so you

can see I used them here and here in the

example sentences we use commas around

non-restrictive clauses only again this

lesson comma which is being recorded

comma is about which and that so when

you’re reading it creates a natural

pause so the reader knows there’s going

to be like extra information there the

reader can understand through use of

these commas however do not use commas

around restrictive clauses for example

the lesson that I just taught was about

how to use which and that this is a

restrictive clause so I mean

specifically this lesson that I just

taught was about how to use which and

that I should not include commas here

because I’m not including any extra

information all of the information is

essential it’s the same with all of the

other example sentences I used in this

lesson there are no commas included

because all of the information is

essential the reader needs to understand

everything in one piece you can think of

it that way okay

so that’s an overview of the differences

between which and that restrictive

clauses as well and a couple of comma

tips too so I hope that this was a

useful lesson for you first question

comes from Rizal Kusa Wandy hi

can result result says can you explain

what modal verbs are sure so a modal

verb is a verb that’s used to talk about

possibility or ability in English we

have will and would shall and should can

and could and may might and must I might

come to the office later we should look

for a new apartment can you help me move

my sofa so we use modal verbs in English

to talk about possibility yes and

ability to as with can and could but we

also use them in patterns relating to

giving advice and asking for advice as

well as making offers and requests to so

there are a couple of videos on the

channel that you can check out for some

more information about modal verbs first

you can look at the must for possibility

whiteboard video there’s also a video

about wood especially using wood for

future tense situations that’s coming

out very soon you can also look at the

will vs. going to video on the channel

for some future tense expressions there

are some other videos about modal verbs

coming out and some other information

about may and might and must in live

streams so please take a look around the

channel for some more information some

detailed information about some of these

modal verbs and of course there’ll be

more content coming up soon so I hope

that you check out those lessons and I

hope that you can get a good start on

modal verbs studies thanks very much for

sending this along I hope that helps

clear up what a modal verb is okay let’s

move along to your next question next

question comes from trying hi trying

trying says hi Alicia what does get rid

of mean ah get rid of means throw away

we often use the word get rid of when we

want to throw something away quickly or

when we really don’t want that item or

it was really unnecessary we can also

use the phrase

get rid of with people but this is used

when we want to cut someone off of a

group or an organization

like when someone loses their job for

example I finally got rid of my broken

blender our company finally got rid of

that employee who was stealing things

okay so I hope this helps you understand

the expression get rid of something

thanks very much for sending it all

right onward to our next question next

question this week comes from Mohammed

Al Daley heigen mahmoud mohamed says hi

Alicia what’s the difference between

supposedly and supposably and can I use

them interchangeably no use supposedly

supposedly

so supposedly means according to

something else this is true but we use

supposedly when we’re like a little bit

skeptical so skeptical means we don’t

quite believe something is true like

there’s a little bit of like disbelief

there like maybe someone is lying or

someone is hiding something so there’s a

feeling of suspicion but it’s like

saying according to this person this

situation is true but we might not have

all the information so supposedly is the

word that means this some examples

supposedly this is a good company to

work for supposedly he missed his flight

because of traffic so supposedly the

other word you introduced means

conceivable something we are able to

conceive up something that we can

suppose so it does not have this meaning

of according to someone plus disbelief

it doesn’t have the same meaning as

supposedly in American English speakers

will use this word but it’s a mistake

they’re intending they’re planning they

want to use the word supposedly but they

make a mistake and use supposably

instead so please use supposedly not

supposedly I hope that this helps you

thanks very much for the question all

right let’s move on to your next

question next question comes from Mota

had a motive oh hello mother honey

well tejate says hi Alicia is it true

that we use of for something that

belongs to a thing or animal but

apostrophe s for something that belongs

to a human ah no it is not true while

yes it does

sound more natural to use apostrophe s

for something that belongs to a human it

is not a rule to use of to show

possession for something that belongs to

a thing or an animal some examples let’s

compare the cars steering wheel came off

in my hands and the steering wheel of

the car came off in my hands my computer

screen is broken the screen of my

computer is broken so these pairs of

sentences actually mean the same thing

we’re just showing possession in like

different ways I would say that native

speakers will probably use whatever is

the shortest way to describe whatever it

is they want to say so probably the

apostrophe s pattern is most common it’s

certainly not incorrect to use the of

pattern both are fine to use here when

you’re talking about people however it

does sound much more natural to use the

apostrophe s pattern using the of

pattern to show possession for something

we own or something we have sounds very

weird when you’re talking about people

examples my friends hair is beautiful

the hair of my friend is beautiful

your brother’s shirt is so funny the

shirt of your brother is so funny

very weird so in these pairs the second

example sentence that uses of while

grammatically correct sounds very

strange so when you’re talking about

people use the apostrophe s pattern to

talk about their characteristics or the

things that they have if you’re talking

about an object or an animal you can

choose whichever you prefer

as I said native speakers tend to use

the shortest expression possible so in

most cases that’s the apostrophe s

pattern also note that in some formal

situations when we want to make

something sound a bit more like grand or

exciting we will use that of pattern

instead of the apostrophe s pattern like

the palace of the king instead of the

king’s palace so that’s going to make it

sound a little bit more exciting so in

those cases and like those formal really

exciting like luxurious expensive cases

you might hear of used more

okay I hope that that helps you thanks

very much for your question let’s move

along to our next question for this week

next question comes from BA huge hi BA

huge

but he says what’s the difference

between if I and if I will for example

if I do that and if I will do that if

there’s a difference where is it ah this

is a good question but the answer is

that we use if I and not if I will

actually this relates back to our first

question from this week’s episode about

modal verbs when you’re making a

conditional sentence that means a

sentence that uses an if clause and a

main clause we do not use a modal verb

in the if clause if you want to use a

modal verb your modal verb needs to come

in your main clause so that means if you

want to make an if sentence and you want

to use will you can use them in the same

sentence but you have to separate the

clauses that they’re in that means if I

something something something

I will something something something

that’s the pattern that you need to use

you cannot use if I will together in

that way you have to separate these two

some examples if I have the day off

tomorrow I’ll go to the movie theater

if we save enough money this month we

can go to Hawaii this summer so the

second example sentence uses a different

modal verb I used can there instead of

will so just make sure that when you’re

making these conditional sentences that

you don’t use your modal verb in your if

clause use it in your main Clause also

remember you can swap the order you can

switch the order so that its main clause

first if clause second that’s fine the

same rule still applies we can go to

Hawaii this summer if we save enough

money this month so that’s also fine you

can choose whichever you prefer so I

hope that that helps you use if I not if

I will let’s get to your first question

this week first question comes from

Karima hi again Karima Karima says hi

Alicia could you please tell me what

can’t you tell means Thanks yeah we use

the word tell to mean understand

so in casual conversations tell means

understand so it doesn’t mean

share information it means understand or

know we use this a lot in questions so

for example how can you tell how can you

tell means how do you know so can you

tell how can you tell this is quite a

common pattern with this word we would

use can’t you tell in a situation where

we’re trying to confirm that the

listener does not understand or does not

notice something can’t you tell

so we’re using the negative can’t

because we’re confirming can’t you tell

so we would use this in a situation

where maybe the speaker has some like

change or there’s something that they

hope the listener notices but maybe the

listener does not notice and the speaker

wants to confirm for example I got a

haircut

can’t you tell this is an expensive suit

can’t you tell so another way of saying

can’t you tell is like aren’t you able

to notice or aren’t you able to

understand so you’re confirming

something like I got a haircut can’t you

tell it’s like the speaker is surprised

that the listener doesn’t notice so

these are the situations where we would

use the negative can’t you tell when we

use the positive form can you tell we’re

actually asking for information so an

example is like oh no I spilled coffee

on my white pants can you tell meaning

are you able to notice or can you see

that I spilled coffee on my pants for

example I went to a really smoky

restaurant for lunch

can you tell so are you able to notice

like because of the way I smell

so can you tell is asking for

information like can you see can you

notice can’t you tell is a confirmation

question so just remember tell is used

to mean understand I hope that that

helps you thanks very much for the

question okay let’s move on to your next

question next question comes from Bach

Tarkan haibach guitar Bach tear says hi

Alicia what is the meaning of rather I

really can’t use it in a sentence okay

there are a couple of different ways to

use rather

first we can use rather to introduce

preferences so a great example of this

is would you rather a or B so we’re

introducing our options with the word

rather then when we give our preference

we can use rather to do that we can say

I would rather a than B so this is

giving us options we can use to give

those options and we can use it to

explain our choice you can think of

rather like prefer meaning you would

desire one thing more than another thing

so I would rather drink coffee than tea

she would rather watch a movie at home

than go to a theater so rather sounds a

bit more casual than prefer the second

use of rather than is to use the word to

mean a better way of saying something

that I just said I use social media

every day rather I check social media

every day I don’t always post so when we

use rather in a sentence like this it

means a better or perhaps a more

accurate way to say what I just said is

this so in the first sentence I said I

use social media every day then I said

rather which means more accurately or a

better way to say that is I check social

media every day so you can hear with my

intonation I’m focusing on the word that

I’m changing in the first sentence my

verb was used I use social media every

day when I use this rather pattern I’m

emphasizing with my voice the change

that I have made so I check social media

every day that’s the thing that’s more

accurate so when we use rather this is

kind of a common emphasis pattern let’s

look at one more example he hates going

on business trips rather he hates the

paperwork required for going on business

trips so in that case we’re making the

statement a little bit more accurate and

we use rather to explain that so he

doesn’t hate business trips

he hates the paperwork he has to do for

business trips so we use rather in this

way as well so those are two ways to use

the word rather I hope that this helped

you understand

thanks very much for the question okay

let’s move on to your next question next

question this week comes from tan Titian

hi tan tan says number one what’s the

difference between important essential

and significant and two what is the

meaning of time after time year after

year or day after day okay let’s look at

your first question important essential

and significant so important means it

requires attention something that

requires our attention some examples we

have some important news to share

it’s important we have a meeting soon

essential means important and we cannot

do without it like if we don’t have this

thing something negative might happen

some examples health care is essential

for all citizens

it’s essential we solve these problems

as soon as possible so significant means

something very noticeable or to a great

degree to a great extent examples there

was a significant increase in profits

last year we lost a significant amount

of inventory in the storm okay so that’s

a quick introduction to the differences

between important essentially and

significant now let’s go on to your

question about year by year or day by

day and those kinds of patterns we just

use these to emphasize that over time

something happened so like for example

year by year she improved her English

speaking abilities it means like as

years past something occurred gradually

so day by day he grew more and more

proficient at playing the trumpet for

example so it’s referring to something

that continues over a period of time

that’s expressed with this day by day or

year by year so if it’s an everyday

action you could use day by day to mean

like a child growing for example like

day by day the child grew stronger or if

it’s something that’s more long-term

like language studies you could say year

by year our English speaking abilities

grew so we’re talking about a continuing

action over time usually that grows or

like the changes in

way so we can use these kinds of

expressions to talk about that progress

I hope that that helps you okay thanks

very much for the question

let’s move on to your next question next

question this week comes from Bruno

Donizetti bueno hi Bruno Bruno says hi

Alicia please tell me what is the

difference between I go and I will go

okay I go begins a present tense

statement so that’s something that

happens now like part of a schedule or

just something that you regularly do

examples I go shopping every weekend I

go to the dentist once a year

I will go is a future tense statement a

simple future tense statement when you

use will you’re talking about something

that’s probably in the near future and

maybe something you’ve just made a

decision about examples I’ll go with a

latte please

I think I’ll go to the movies after work

so we’ll go is a future tense statement

I go it’s a present tense statement hope

that that helps you thanks for the

question okay let’s move on to your next

question next question for this week

comes from Constantine hi Constantine

Constantine says hi Alicia if there a

difference between because and cause it

seems to me they have a similar meaning

yes yes these are the same so because

and cuz have the same meaning because we

write cuz without B at the beginning

just to be more casual to be a little

bit more friendly so you can use them in

the same way I would recommend if

however you are writing something like

an essay or paper something formal make

sure to use because so always spell the

full word because on the other hand you

may also find an even shorter version a

rather a shorter spelling of this word c

uz cuz so cuz also means because but we

just use this coz because it’s quick and

easy to type but it’s also just the way

that native speakers say because in

everyday speech

we don’t always say because so clearly

we use cuz like I’m going to the store

cuz I want to get something to eat

so cuz see you see

something you might see a lot in texts

or on social media as well so yes

because cause and cuz all have the same

meaning

because thanks very much for the

question hope great work here’s a reward

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