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now before they expire hi everybody

welcome back to ask Alicia the weekly

series where you ask me questions and I

answer them

maybe first question this week comes

from Stefan hi Stefan Stefan says hi

Alicia what is the meaning of the phrase

to get used to doing something does it

refer to a completed action or not and

can we use it in present simple like I

get used to getting up early yeah yeah

okay to get used to doing something

means to become accustomed to doing

something we tend to use it more

simple past tense as in your example I

got used to getting up early or I got

used to waking up early when we use it

in the past tense the past tense got

instead of present tense get it means

that the speaker has already become

accustomed to doing that thing so in the

sentence I got used to waking up early

it means the speaker is now accustomed

to getting up early they’re fine we can

however as you suggest use it in the

present tense as well like I need to get

used to getting up early that’s an

expression for like a desire to be able

to get up early which means that the

speaker is not now able to get up early

or they’re not accustomed to getting up

early so yes you can use it

in present tense but it’s probably going

to be used in a situation where the

speaker is expressing a desire or some

kind of need for a new behavior for some

kind of new behavior to be learned if

it’s in a conversation a speaker might

say like ah don’t worry about your new

job you’ll get used to getting up early

so it’s you’ll get used to in that case

it’s a future tense expression like you

are going to get used to getting up

early through this job or another way of

saying that is you will become

accustomed to getting up early through

this job so to get used to something

means to take time and practice to get

accustomed to something to become

accustomed to something we use it all

the time when we’re learning new things

like you’ll get used to learning English

or you’ll get used to speaking English

or you’ll get used to talking in front

of a camera all of these different

things that take some time and practice

to do we can describe those with get

used to or once we’ve become accustomed

to them got used to 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 Assuan

hi us when Oswin says what’s the

difference between do you didyou and are

you when I ask questions ok first let’s

talk about do you and also does he or

does she

so this do and does pattern we use these

do and does patterns

when we’re making simple present tense

questions like do you have a pen or does

he exercise everyday or do you know my

bag is so we’re asking these simple

yes-or-no questions with a simple

present tense verb so we could answer

yes or no to all of these questions so

let’s compare this then to did did so

did is just the past tense of do we use

did in the same way as do but when we’re

asking simple past tense questions for

example did you just call me or did he

forget his wallet or did we buy enough

food so these are all simple past tense

questions we don’t conjugate the verb

that comes after do rather we conjugate

did so did is the past form of do

finally let’s compare this with ru or

for example is he or is she when we

begin sentences with is or are we’re

typically using them with an adjective

or with the progressive tense verb so

we’re asking simple questions again

yes-or-no questions but the thing that

follows is or R is an adjective or is a

verb in the ing form as in is he

sleeping or are you okay or is he at the

office

so these yes-or-no questions don’t use

simple present tense verbs in the part

that comes after the is or R so to recap

do and does are used in present tense or

past tense with simple present tense

verbs and ru or is he is she are used

with adjectives and with verbs in the

progressive form so these all are ways

of making yes-or-no questions but the

grammar and the structure of the

sentence just changes a little bit 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 Anderson C’s

again hi Anderson Anderson says hi

Alicia I’m a bit confused with the

difference between the present perfect

and the present perfect continuous if I

want to say that I live in some place

and have lived there for some time which

one should I use okay you can

either for example I have lived in

Portland for three years and I’ve been

living in Portland for three years so at

base these two sentences have exactly

the same meaning they mean exactly the

same thing the only thing that changes

here is perhaps the situations in which

we might use these let’s take a look at

the first example here to begin with

let’s imagine that you’re at a

going-away party a farewell party for

yourself it’s your party you are leaving

the city of Portland you might say to

your friend at the party I have lived in

Portland for three years it’s been great

to live here but I’m excited about my

next step so in that case present

perfect tense not using the continuous

sounds quite normal because you want to

talk about this period of time you’ve

spent in Portland it started three years

ago it continued till now at this party

in Portland right now and so you want to

emphasize like yes this has been a

continued experience up until this point

in time but it would sound strange to

say I lived in Portland for three years

because actually at the party you’re

still in Portland maybe you have a few

days or another week or so so it would

sound strange to use simple past tense

here we don’t want to use the continuous

tense here because the continuous tense

really emphasizes that something is

going to continue after the conversation

perhaps so in this case just using

present perfect tense without the

continuous form sounds the most natural

let’s compare this then to another

situation in this situation you are in

Portland and you’re at a networking

event for your job you meet someone

there and you’re talking about like

basic things where you live and so on

you might say I’ve been living in

Portland for three years it’s a great

place to live so in this case we’re

using the present perfect continuous we

choose this it sounds most natural

because we want to emphasize that we are

going to remain in Portland I’m going to

continue the condition of living in

Portland so this sounds a little bit

more natural and it sounds like it’s

more emphasis

on my continued presence in Portland

which we want to emphasize here because

we might be making a new business

connection so in sum these two sentences

communicate exactly the same thing yes

but there are just some small

differences that depend on the situation

and that’s the reason that we might

choose to use simple present perfect

tense as opposed to the present perfect

continuous so try to keep these sorts of

situations in mind when you’re choosing

between these two 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 Nene young I

hope I said that right hi Nene Nene says

what does can’t help plus the

progressive form mean okay yeah this is

like saying I can’t control this

behavior so a great example is if you’re

watching a funny movie and when you try

to explain your feelings about the movie

you might say I can’t help laughing at

this scene can’t help laughing means I

can’t control the behavior of laughing

you might also hear I can’t help but and

then the simple present tense form of

the verb as in I can’t help but laugh so

I can’t help but laugh and I can’t help

laughing both communicate this loss of

control I’m not able to control this

thing we tend to use this sort of

pattern when we’re talking about

emotions so in this case it’s about

laughter you might also hear it used to

talk about feelings like I can’t help

feeling angry or I can’t help feeling

worried about this situation I can’t

help feeling means I don’t have any

control over this emotion or this action

we tend to use this pattern for like

emotional and mental state verbs we

might use it for some other kind of like

bodily related verbs like I can’t help

watching or I can’t help looking and so

on so it’s like these sorts of actions

that maybe we don’t even think about

doing and that we just do automatically

if we see something interesting or

exciting or if something smells terrible

whatever that is it’s like some

situation where we lose control somehow

for a moment we can express that with

can’t help plus the progressive form or

I can’t help but blah blah blah

some examples can’t help but laugh or

can’t help laughing I can’t help but

feel and can’t help feeling or I can’t

help but look or can’t help looking so

there’s not really a difference in

meaning between present tense and the

progressive tense there but I would say

personally I feel that that can’t help

but present tense sounds a little bit

more formal so I hope that this helps

you understand the meaning of this can’t

help plus the progressive form of a verb

thanks very much for the question okay

let’s move on to your next question next

question comes from Kitty hi cutie cutie

says hi what is the difference between

half 2 and must alright must is used for

official rules and strong advice very

strong personal advice so for official

rules you might see in the airport

passengers must show their passports to

immigration or for strong advice a

doctor might say to a patient you must

stop smoking or you’re going to die so

in these very serious official

situations must sounds very appropriate

must sounds too official for everyday

speech we don’t use it so much for

giving advice or for talking about rules

in everyday speech however you might see

it in something like your company’s

rules like your corporate policy like

employees must wear business shirts to

work for example let’s compare this then

to have two we use half-jew to talk

about our responsibilities and we also

use half two to talk about friendly

advice or rather to give friendly advice

that also sounds a bit strong for

example you have to try this dessert

it’s so good or I have to go to the bank

today so have to for advice sounds

friendly and strong but it’s not used

for very serious things like we did with

must so please keep this in mind when

you’re choosing between these two also

if you would like some more information

about have to end must there is a live

stream about this exact topic on the

channel so please check out our channel

archives for some more information about

this there is also a whiteboard about

this topic coming up soon so please keep

an eye out for that too I hope that this

quick introduction helps you and

definitely check out the other resources

on our channel thanks very much for the

okay that is everything that I have for

this week thank you as always for

sending your questions remember you can

send them to me at English class 101.com

slash ask - Alicia thanks very much for

watching this week’s episode of ask

Alicia and I will see you again next

week bye bye hi everybody my name is

Alicia in this lesson we’re going to

talk about reporting speech in English

I’m going to talk about the verbs we use

and a couple of grammar points that you

can think about so let’s get started the

first type of speech reporting I want to

introduce is reporting statements so

statements are just simple things simple

sentences that people said so this can

be direct dialogue exactly the thing

someone said or it can be a summary of

something someone said so keep in mind

these are not questions I’m going to

talk about questions later let’s look at

the verbs and the other expressions we

use to report simple statements the

first one is the very very neutral said

I said said is the past tense form of

say so we use say and past tense said as

the most basic way to share something

someone else said so we can use this for

direct reports meaning exactly the

things someone said we do this we use

quotes to indicate direct speech or we

can just use it as I have here to

introduce a summary of something in this

example sentence I said I had to work so

this is just a simple summary I said

something similar in the past perhaps

but this is maybe not a direct report of

my speech we can use said in most cases

just to report information this was said

by someone the speaker is here the

subject so I in this case I said I had

to work we could change it - he said he

had to work is fine they said they had

to work so this is the most basic verb

we can use to report speech let’s move

on to a couple of the

let’s look at this told here I’m using

the verb till but I’m using past tense

told so here the speaker is indicated at

the beginning of the sentence he and

then the person receiving the

information in this case me follows the

verb so he told me in this case the

train was late he told me the train was

late so this is a past situation I

received information from him the

information was this he told me the

train was late

so you can change the person speaking

and the person receiving by changing

these two parts on either side of the

verb my mother told my brother to clean

his room for example so keep in mind

when you use the verb tell or in this

case past tense told the idea is that

it’s more one-way communication it’s not

really a conversation in this case he

told me so meaning information is coming

this way only I’m not sharing

information with him really he’s just

sharing something with me it’s one way

so we use told to communicate that of

course we could use said here he said

the train was late

using tell or in this case past tense

told just makes the feeling of one-way

communication stronger he told me ok now

I want to go on to some very casual

expressions that you see for reporting

direct speech especially in American

English the first one is this was all

was also I’ve used this in past tense

here you may hear this in present tense

she’s all as in this example but was all

is quite common too so was all is a very

casual way of using a verb like said

however we use this to report direct

speech so these quotes show this is

exactly the thing someone said these

little quotation marks in this case she

was all you’re not gonna believe this

so this is the exact

statement the speaker she said in the

past she said exactly this we know this

because we’ve used this reporting

expression and in this case in the

written words we see that the quotation

marks here so when you’re speaking or

when you’re listening for this

you won’t hear she was all you’ll hear

she was all so she was all you’re not

gonna believe this

it’s quite fast she was all she was all

so sometimes this W sound is very

difficult to hear you might just hear

she’s all she’s all in which case it

sounds like present tense but in both

cases the basic meaning of just

communicating speech remains so don’t

worry too much about catching this W

sound so this she’s all is fine to

understand what’s going on another one

that uses this same was pattern is using

like another very casual way to report

direct speech so in this case who is

speaking my mom so my mom was like you

can’t go out this weekend so in this

sentence to these words here are exactly

the words my mother said but we use was

like here so you’ll notice that these

two expressions was all and was like

well they’re very very casual they’re

used to kind of report something that’s

maybe shocking or surprising or maybe a

little bit gossipy in this case maybe

the speaker is complaining so it’s very

very casual situations that we use these

expressions and my mom was like so again

this w sound my mom was like this kind

of disappears a little bit we can also

use it in present tense my mom is like

but my mom was like is good for a clear

past tense report okay so we use the

next pair went and go to report speech

very casually so you can see here there

is past tense went present tense go we

use them in the same way again just as

with was all and was like we use these

to communicate direct quotes these are

exact quote

things people actually said so they went

we’re leaving so again we could say they

said we’re leaving

but using went again has this sort of

very casual maybe gossipy like there’s a

little bit of exciting information there

perhaps same thing with go so I go fine

I’m leaving too so we use these two

together in very casual situations that

have kind of a quick conversational feel

about them we can say these things very

quickly in a pair they went we’re

leaving so I go fine I’m leaving too

so having this kind of went and go match

together feels very natural I think to

native speakers same thing here

she was all and my mom was like using

these together in the same kind of

dialogue rapport sounds quite natural

I think but generally using a mix of all

of these two rapport statements is a

really good idea if you use the exact

same expression to report report report

all the time it sounds a little bit

unnatural kind of stiff okay so these

are all four statements these are all

four statements let’s look at two

patterns for questions now so here I

have the past tense asked and inquired

used here I chose these two just because

asked is kind of the casual or the

everyday verb we can use for questions

inquired just sounds more formal it’s a

more formal way of saying asked so some

examples of this are I asked about the

menu and I asked if there were any

vacancies these are two common patterns

I asked about some topic or I asked if

and then there’s some kind of inquiry

point here I asked if there were any

vacancies here same thing we can do with

inquired he inquired about the company

so we see this same about plus a topic

point we can also with the verb asked

use a direct quote - so for example I

asked what are you doing that’s also

okay we can use ask with

a direct quote you can also use it with

inquired as well if you like but perhaps

this one is a little bit more useful for

everyday conversations and everyday

questions so throughout this lesson I’ve

talked about using the past tense and

the present tense for reporting but

what’s the difference so I want to talk

a little bit about that here to finish

that so past tense and present tense

both used to report speech both fine to

report speech here I’ve used simple past

and simple present tense you might also

hear progressive tense in the past or in

the present tense but the difference

between them

present tense if you use present tense

it feels like the story is happening now

so if I’m using present tense to report

speech and maybe to share the points in

the story as well it sounds like the

story is happening now it’s present its

present tense it’s happening in the

present so if I want my story to feel

kind of lively and more exciting I can

use present tense to tell my story

if however past tense is used it sounds

more like just a simple report it’s like

you’re just telling facts what happened

there’s not really like a feeling of

excitement necessarily it’s just simple

reporting so we see past tense and

simple past tense story reporting in the

news for example so in the news it’s

simple reports affect what happened on

that day you’ll see simple past tense

used in English news reports so this is

kind of a key difference that you can

think about when you’re telling stories

and you’re reporting information as well

all right

that’s everything for this lesson I hope

that it was useful for you if you liked

the video please make sure to give us a

thumbs up subscribe to the channel if

you haven’t already and check us out at

English class 101.com for other good

study tools of course please feel free

to drop us a message in the comments as

well thanks very much for watching this

episode and I will see you again next

time bye hi everybody my name is Alisha

in this lesson I’m going to talk about

borrowing and lending expressions I’m

going to share some sample requests you

can use for borrowing and lend

and I’m going to introduce some time

expressions you can use with these

requests to make more specific questions

so let’s begin okay first I want to look

at a category for expressions you can

use when you want something so you want

to receive something in other words

let’s look at the first sentence here

then

so it’s will you lend me your car here

we’re using the verb lend and the person

receiving the item follows the verb lend

so in this case me who is receiving it

me I am receiving it the item I’m

receiving your car comes after the

person receiving it so in this case lend

is used but let’s look at the kind of

opposite of this question can I borrow

some money

so here the verb borrow is being used

but the person receiving in this case

money the person receiving the item is

the subject here can I borrow some money

so here we’re not saying can i browse

some money from you you can include can

I borrow some money from you that’s okay

but here it’s understood we understand

the speaker wants to borrow money from

the listener so this is a key difference

when the verb used is lend the person

receiving the item is the object of the

verb however when the verb is borrow the

person receiving the item is the subject

so this is something to keep in mind

let’s look at some other examples here

I’m not using the word lend and I’m not

using the word borrow here I’m using use

can I use some item for a minute so this

specifically includes a verb what am I

going to do I’m going to use the item so

can I use your pen for a minute can I

use your computer for a minute can I use

your phone for a minute for a minute

means a short period of time literally

it means 60 seconds but this indicates

just a short period of time about a

minute perhaps another one if you don’t

want to use a

or can you can also use just a simple

please statement so this is not a

question but please lend me something

something something so please lend me

your car please lend me your pen this

sounds quite formal actually please lend

me keep in mind though we cannot use

please borrow we can’t say please borrow

me that’s incorrect we can only use lend

here please lend me something okay let’s

go though to the next category here

which is borrowing and lending for

someone else

so in these sentences I’ve included you

and me as the basic pattern however if

you’re talking about someone else or you

want to ask person a for something for

person B how do you explain that let’s

look at these examples first similar to

this will you lend person your item so

this is very similar to this pattern

here I’ve replaced me with person here

so will you lend your classmate your

pencil will you lend your teacher at the

paper so something you want comes at the

end of the sentence here and the person

follows the verb right here we can do

the same thing when we’re using the verb

borrow as we did in this example

sentence here we’ve replaced I in the

original sentence with person so can

person borrow your item so again because

we’re using borrow the person receiving

the item is the subject of the verb so

can my roommate borrow your car can my

parents borrow your house for the

weekend for example so just keep in mind

that these two verbs always follow this

same rule about the positioning of the

subject and the object and the person

receiving or giving the item let’s look

at one more example though this is quite

a complex situation because the person

lending the item and the person

receiving the item are not participating

in the conversation the speaker and the

listener are talking about some other

group of people for example here I

wonder if person a

can borrow item from person B so here we

need specifically to describe who is

person a and who is person B they’re not

participating in the conversation so I

wonder if my dad can borrow a tool from

my uncle for example so these two people

are not participating in the

conversation but we’re discussing the

possibility this is how we would do it

this is one example of them all right so

just to recap them these are kind of the

simple requests that I’m using and that

you can use when you’re doing borrowing

and lending conversation practice so can

I will you and please you’ll notice

please is not made as a question please

it’s just a statement can i and will you

are actual questions there so just

remember

can I borrow will you lend because the

subjects of the sentence indicate

different people are receiving and

giving the item also just to review as

well this is a key point from this

lesson when you’re using the verb lend

the person receiving the item is the

object of the verb as in here please

lend me your car will you lend me your

car me is the object here when you’re

using the verb borrow the person

receiving the item is the subject of the

verb as we saw here can I borrow some

money I is the subject I am receiving

the money in this case okay so with that

I want to look at some time expressions

that you can add to your request so I

talked about it in this point here can I

use something for a minute that’s an

example of a time expression we can use

to make our requests a little more

specific so I’ve used two kind of

patterns here the first group uses for

the second group uses until so remember

we use for for a period of time a time

period a length of time in other words

here for a minute I talked about before

for a bit is a casual way to say a short

period of time

for a sec a sec is short for a second a

second also a very short period of time

literally not a second one second but

very short period of time here

specifically for a week and for a year

so these are just some examples of

lengths of time you can use to add to

your request in the other group until

here we see some situations that might

happen that would cause the speaker to

return the item they have borrowed or to

return the item they have been lended so

can I borrow your car until I get a new

one for example or can I borrow your

calculator until I find mine so these

sentences or rather these time

expressions show for example can I

borrow your calculator until I find mine

means at the point in time I find my

calculator I will return your calculator

to you so until I find mine shows that

another one until I can pay you back

this would be used for money so we

talked about here can I borrow some

money until I can pay you back it’s

quite a risky question perhaps but until

I can pay you back is one example here

are some more specific ones with time

until tomorrow so until this point in

time until the test so again a specific

point in time so we can use until and

for with our requests for borrowing and

lending I hope that that helps you make

some more specific questions anyway

those are all the things that I want to

talk about for this lesson if you have

any questions comments or would like to

practice making sentences or requests

please feel free to do so in the comment

section of this video of course if you

like the video don’t forget to give us a

thumbs up subscribe to our Channel and

come check us out at English class

101.com for other good study tools

thanks very much for watching this

lesson and I will see you again soon bye

hi everybody welcome back to top words

my name is Alisha and today we’re going

to talk about ten past perfect

continuous patterns so before we start

today’s episode of top words this is

just a

a review of a grammar point so using

I’ve been I’m going to use I’ve been to

introduce each of these so for a little

bit of grammar review this means I have

been plus a progressive form of the verb

meaning I started at some point in the

past and it continues to the current

point in time when we are speaking so

all of the sentences all of the patterns

I’m going to introduce in this lesson

follow that pattern then I’ll try to use

some example sentences with different

subjects as well so let’s look I’ve been

thinking all right the first sentence is

I’ve been thinking I’ve been thinking so

something that you started thinking

about in the past and you have continued

you may be started thinking I don’t know

two weeks ago and you thought about the

week ago and you thought about a few

days ago so and now you’re thinking

about it you can say I’ve been thinking

you could say I’ve been thinking thought

that thought and continue to a new idea

you can say I’ve been thinking about and

then you continue with the gerund form

of the verb so like I’ve been thinking

about changing jobs I’ve been thinking

about moving to a new apartment we use

the gerund form they’re moving so

another example sentence I’ve been

thinking about starting a new hobby I’ve

been worrying the next pattern is I’ve

been worrying I’ve been worrying so

something that you thought about in the

past that caused you to worry and you

continued to worry about until the

present time I’ve been worrying about

bla bla bla I’ve been worrying about my

brother my mother says she’s been

worrying about me for a long time or my

boss has been worrying about this

project so always this has been or have

been plus worrying about something I’ve

been worrying about something okay

in another sentence I’ve been worrying

about you all night I’ve been wanting

then the next pattern is I’ve been

wanting I’ve been wanting so wanting

means something you started like you

wanted it for the first time in the past

like I think I used this in a live a

live video I said I’ve been wanting to

see that movie like I’ve been wanting to

see the new Blade Runner I think I said

that means I started wanting I for the

first time I thought I wanted to do that

or I wanted some object and I didn’t get

it at that time maybe the next day and

the day after that and the day after

that I still wanted that thing so I can

say I’ve been wanting that I’ve been

wanting that so for example in my

sentence I’ve been wanting to see that

movie for a long time or he’s been

wanting to take a day off for ages or

they’ve been wanting to travel the world

for 50 years something like that in

another example sentence yeah I’ve been

wanting to see that movie I’ve been

studying the next pattern is I’ve been

studying I’ve been studying this is a

pattern that’s probably very useful for

many people who are watching I’ve been

studying means you started studying in

the past and you continued to study for

a number of years or a number of months

or maybe just a few days I don’t know

I’ve been studying so this is a pattern

that you can use actually all of these

are patterns that you can use with for

and since before the period of time or

the length of time so for example I’ve

been studying English for three years or

she’s been studying accounting her whole

life or they’ve been studying gardening

for the last six months for example so

talking about a thing you have studied

for a period of time you can refer to

that continuously with the progressive

form or the continuous form in another

sentence I’ve been studying English for

a year I’ve been hearing about ah the

next one the next pattern is I’ve been

hearing about I’ve been hearing about

this is useful for gossip or for news

maybe you can use it to talk about like

a new restaurant or a new bar or just

something interesting some interesting

little piece of information

you continue to hear about so you heard

it once or maybe you heard about it

again a few days later something that

here and there you you heard about a few

times you can say I’ve been hearing

about

bla bla bla like I’ve been hearing about

this new restaurant that opened recently

or I’ve been hearing about the upcoming

policy changes at work or he said he’s

been hearing about some bad weather

that’s gonna come this summer but

something that you’ve been hearing

something that you heard news about in

the past multiple times you can say I’ve

been hearing about

bla bla bla in a sentence I’ve been

hearing about our new manager okay I’ve

been listening to next one is also may

be useful for your studies but um I

think useful for your hobbies it’s I’ve

been listening to I’ve been listening to

so something that began and again began

in the past continues to the present

that happened regularly so this can mean

like music that you like or maybe a news

program or a podcast that you enjoy or

maybe I don’t know even this video

series for example so I’ve been

listening to that artist for many years

or he’s been listening to his boss’s

advice for the whole day or she’s been

listening to her mother shout for three

hours I don’t know but these are things

we’ve we are we have listened to

continuously for a period of time I’ve

been listening to something else

continuously in another sentence I’ve

been listening to a lot of jazz lately

I’ve been talking a lot with the next

pattern is I’ve been talking a lot with

I’ve been talking a lot with or you can

say I’ve been talking a lot to it’s also

all right but I’ve been talking a lot

with means over an extended period of

time or maybe recently there’s a person

or a group of people or an organization

perhaps you have had many conversations

with you

spoken to that person many times so for

example he’s been talking a lot with a

counselor recently or they’ve been

talking a lot with upper management

about the future of the company for

example or I’ve been talking a lot with

my neighbors lately it’s been great so

talking a lot with is another pattern

that’s useful in this grammar point I

think in a sentence I’ve been talking a

lot with my parents this month I’ve been

living next one is a commonly confused

when I think the next one is I’ve been

living I’ve been living here or I’ve

been living in city or country name for

or since blah blah blah so I’ve been

living in the USA for 87 years or she’s

been living in that city for three

months or they’ve been living here for

almost a year

I think so been living a lot of people

say like can I say like I have lived

here for one year or I’ve been living

here for one year they mean the same

thing really like especially with the

verb to live like I have lived here for

five years and I’ve been living here for

five years they’re to me they’re very

similar in meaning I think I’ve been

living here I feel both there they’re

both perfectly acceptable

really I would I would use either like I

would say I’ve lived here for five years

or I’ve been living here for five years

if I suppose the continuous nature is a

little bit stronger with the continuous

tense but they really communicate the

same idea so you can use either to talk

about the place where you live really so

one more example I’ve been living in

Bangkok for three years now I’ve been

working next pattern is I’ve been

working I’ve been working this is one

you can use to talk about your job or

perhaps a project that you’re doing so

you can use I’ve been working at a

certain company you can say I’ve been

working as plus a job title with your

extra information so I’ve been working

as a teacher for 18 years or I’ve been

working as a doctor

for three months for example you can say

I’ve been working on plus a project name

like I’ve been working on a new

promotion or I’ve been working on a new

book for example so depending on the

preposition that you use after this

expression you can change sort of the

information you want to present

so to recap I’ve been working in ABC

company for five years I’ve been working

as a doctor for five years or I’ve been

working on a new project for five years

so these are a few patterns that you can

use with the verb working here to talk

about a continuous thing in your past

and your present as well so in another

sentence I’ve been working in this

department for six months I’ve been

planning the last one is I’ve been

planning I’ve been planning so this

refers to perhaps a future plan

something that you started thinking

about in the past but it has not

happened yet maybe something that you

are planning even now but you started

planning it in the past so this is

something maybe it has not happened yet

it’s going to happen in the future so

I’ve been planning a birthday party for

my friend or he’s been planning to find

a new job or they’ve been planning a

month-long vacation for example so

something it hasn’t happened yet but

it’s going to happen in the future we

can use I’ve been planning they’ve been

planning she’s been playing in another

sentence I’ve been planning a barbeque

all summer so those are ten past perfect

continuous patterns I hope that those

are helpful those are a few examples of

some ways that we use at least in

American English the past perfect

continuous or the past perfect

progressive tense so I hope that these

are helpful for you as you kind of build

some sentences and kind of get a feel

for the way that some of these verbs are

commonly used of course if there’s

another pattern that you like to use

with the continuous or the progressive

tense please let us know in the comment

section if you like the video please

make sure to give it a thumbs up it

helps us a lot

check us out at English class 101.com

for some extra resources and of course

subscribe to the channel if you haven’t

already thank you very much for watching

this episode of top words and I’ll see

you again soon

hi everybody welcome back to top words

my name is Alisha and today we’re going

to talk about ten expressions for

business emails let’s go to whom it may

concern the first expression is to whom

it may concern to whom it may concern

this is a very classic email opener so

it may sound a little bit old-fashioned

to some people but this is used when you

don’t know the name of the person you

are right into so perhaps you’re writing

to a company or you’re writing just to a

general enquiries email account and you

don’t know who to address your letter to

you don’t know anything about who is

going to receive the email but you can

use the Express

to whom it may concern' meaning in other

words this message is for the person

related to this inquiry I don’t know who

they are but this is a polite way to

begin that message to whom it may

concern in a sentence to whom it may

concern at ABC company didn’t I’m

writing today regarding the next

expression is I’m writing today

regarding I’m writing today regarding

this is a formal way of saying I’m

writing today about blah blah blah so

you can introduce the purpose of your

message with this expression I’m writing

today regarding an inquiry I have or I’m

writing today regarding a problem with

my order I’m writing today regarding a

recent video that I saw on your channel

for example so in another sentence I’m

writing today regarding an order we

received recently would you be available

the next expression is would you be

available would you be available would

you be available is an expression that

we use to ask about someone else’s

schedule so we want to know what their

schedule is like at a specific day or at

a specific time usually for like a

meeting or perhaps for a conference call

something that you need to do with that

person we use would you be available

it’s a more polite way to ask instead of

are you available would you be available

sounds a little more formal so like

would you be available for a meeting

next week or would you be available for

lunch tomorrow these are much more

polite ways to ask for someone’s

schedule than just can you meet me so

try to use would you be available in

your business emails in a sentence would

you be available for a meeting next week

would it be possible for you to the next

expression is would it be possible for

you to so would it be possible for you

to is a very polite way to make a

request so you want something from the

other person but you need to request

that politely so would it be possible

for you to send me that file or would it

be possible for you to meet me tomorrow

would it be possible for you to call our

clients in the morning for example so

you’re making a request of the other

person something you want them to give

you something you want them to do for

you would it be possible

for you to verb phrase alright in

another example sentence would it be

possible for you to send the updated

files we’d like to request the next

expression is we’d like to request we’d

like to request so here you can see I’m

using this we’d we’d like we’d like so

not we like but we’d like meaning we

would like so this is a formal request

we would like to request bla bla bla in

this case I’ve used we’d just for an

example but we can use I’d like to

request too if you’re writing on behalf

of your company or on behalf of your

department for example you can change

I’d - we’d if you like so we’d like to

request a new copy machine for example

or we’d like to request a maintenance

person come visit us for example so when

you’re making a request this is another

way to do that we’d like to request Bob

Loblaw so it’s a it’s a polite but

direct request that you can make in

another example sentence we’d like to

request your attendance at the seminar

next month we’d like to inquire about

the next expression is we’d like to

inquire about we’d like to inquire about

this is when you have a question this is

something that you can use if you have a

question about a specific detail or

something that you just don’t know the

answer to so this is an expression that

you can use to ask a question so we’d

like to inquire about your menu or we’d

like to inquire about your prices we’d

like to inquire about your plans for the

next quarter for example so you can use

this just to introduce a question in

your email in another example sentence

we’d like to inquire about a recent

purchase if you can be so kind as to the

next one is if you could be so kind as

to this is an interesting one if you

could be so kind as to verb phrase if

you could be so kind as to send me that

file or if you could be so kind as to

return my call at your earliest

convenience this is quite a polite

request if you could be so kind

meaning kind to me as to as to so in

other words you are so kind you will do

this thing for me this is sort of the

level of formality

this expression so if you could be so

kind as to order me a pizza I don’t know

so of course that’s a very casual

situation but if you are trying to make

a formal polite request you could try

using this especially towards the end of

an email I feel this is good so in an

example sentence you could say if you

could be so kind as to email the data it

would be greatly appreciated I look

forward to hearing from you again soon

so the next expression is I look forward

to hearing from you soon or I look

forward to hearing from you again soon

so you can include again if you are

already in touch with that person if you

are already contacting that person you

can drop again if you are not in touch

with that person if you’re not

contacting that person so this just

means you are expecting a response and

maybe you are happily expecting that

response I look forward to hearing from

you I look forward to receiving a

response from you soon is what this

means this is very nice at the end of

your business email in a sentence thank

you for all your help I look forward to

hearing from you again soon I look

forward to working with you the next

expression is I look forward to working

with you I look forward to working with

you this is an expression that you can

use when you are introduced to a new

colleague or a new client or you have

just begun a new partnership with

someone this is a very positive

expression that you can use to end an

email as well I look forward to working

with you very positive very nice it’s a

good way to begin a business

relationship I feel in a sentence I look

forward to working with you on this

project

sincerely warm regards best the last one

is actually a few different ways to

close your message or a few different

ways to end your message so some of my

favorites are sincerely warm regards and

best sincerely is typically very good

for more polite situations or where you

don’t know the other person will warm

regards is maybe for a kind of friendly

yet business maybe like a business

casual email you could use warm regards

so it has kind of like a warm feeling

like you recognize that there’s a good

relationship and you want to express

that you can use warm regard

another one you can use is best so best

means like my best are like all the best

like I wish you the best sort of but in

one expression I like to use best

actually

so best Alicia for example or sincerely

Alicia or sincerely Megan whoever you

are so you can choose the level of

formality so sincerely is quite polite

if you don’t know the other party warm

regards is kind of a business casual

feeling best is fairly casual but just

straightforward and direct so in an

example sincerely Alicia that’s

everything for this episode so those are

ten expressions for business emails I

hope that those were useful for you and

I hope that you can use them right away

in your business emails and another

polite email and writing related

situations if you have any questions or

if there’s another expression that you

like to use in your business emails

please let us know in the comments if

you liked the video of course as always

please please please give us a thumbs up

subscribe to us as well if you haven’t

already and you can check us out at

English class 101.com

for more good resources - thank you very

much for watching this episode of top

words and I will see you again soon

sincerely Alicia hi MA very professional

that’s our job to be very professional

on the internet that’s recording okay

business emails the musical by English

class 101.com to human main concern I’m

writing today regarding a request I’m

gonna stop hi everybody welcome back to

top words my name is Alisha and today

we’re going to talk about ten words for

the airport let’s go

check-in the first word is check-in

check-in so to check-in this is a verb a

phrasal verb to check-in means to check

into your flight to essentially say yes

I am here I’m going to get on the plane

I am checking in we can use the same

expression for hotels actually to check

in to your hotel to check in to your

flight so to check in means to confirm

you are going to fly on the plane in a

sentence check in for international

flights is two hours before departure

immigration the next word is immigrant

immigration so this is passport check

essentially when you are traveling

internationally you may need to well you

do need to show your passport to the

immigration staff so they are checking

the people who are coming and going in

and out of the country that processed

that area of the airport that area may

be of border control as well is called

immigration we call it immigration in a

sentence

make sure your passport is ready when

you go to immigration customs the next

word is customs customs is the next word

so customs is the part of the airport or

the international travel experience

where the items you have purchased or

the items you are bringing into the

country may be the amount of cash that

you have on you or it may be any

dangerous items or any kind of like

specific items that you need to declare

that you need to announce you are

carrying those things are checked that’s

the place in the airport where that sort

of thing is covered so there’s usually

there’s usually a form that you fill out

when you enter a country and it’ll say

do you need to declare anything so to

declare means to announce there’s

something you are carrying or something

you need to explain to the people who

are in the country to the border staff

the custom staff in the country you are

going to so that whole area of the

airport of the travel experience is

called customs customs in ascendance do

you have anything to declare with

customs departure gate the next

expression is departure gate departure

gate so depart means to leave a place

your departure gate is the gauge the

airport gate from which you leave the

airport your departure gate the place

your plane leaves from in the airport is

called your departure gate your

departure gate all right in a sentence

my departure gate is a five baggage

claim okay next one the next expression

is baggage claim baggage claim so bag or

baggage meaning your luggage your

suitcase and claim so claim means you

say that’s mine in other words to claim

something to retrieve something to pick

up something

baggage claim suit

case pickup is essentially what it means

baggage claim

so you might hear baggage claim carousel

so carousel is that that machine that

goes around in a circle and it moves

bags and move suitcases that’s a baggage

claim carousel in the airport baggage

claim in a sentence pick up your luggage

at baggage claim carousel number three

currency exchange the next expression is

currency exchange currency exchange so

currency means type of money currency so

yen is a currency dollar is a currency

euro is a currency type of money and

exchange so for example if you need to

change yen to euro you do it at a

currency exchange location where you can

change your money to a different type of

money so if the country that you’re

coming from has different money than the

country you’re going to which is likely

the case you may need to change your

money at a currency exchange location so

in a sentence I need to stop at a

currency exchange disc boarding pass the

next expression is boarding pass

boarding pass your boarding pass is a

piece of paper or now I suppose we have

them digitally on our smart phones a

boarding pass a boarding pass is the

documentation digital or physical that

shows the flight attendants that shows

the staff from the airline that you are

allowed to get on the plane that you

have a seat you are allowed to board the

plane so boarding means getting on the

plane and pass means permission so

boarding permission essentially allowed

to get on the plane paperwork is what

you could think of this as so a boarding

pass very important of course in a

sentence do you have your boarding pass

seat assignment the next expression is

seat assignment seat assignment so seat

meaning of the place where you sit your

chair your your assignment then is the

place that the airline has chosen for

you to sit the seat the airline has

chosen for you is your seat assignment

or maybe you chose your seat assignment

but that’s the place you are supposed to

sit on the airplane in a sentence I’d

like to change my seat assignment first

class business class so the next

expression is first

or business class so these refer to a

couple different levels of service on an

airplane the basic level of service is

called economy service or we also call

it coach coach so Koecher economy is the

basic level after that would be business

class which usually has slightly larger

seats maybe a little bit more delicious

food maybe more drink options for

example and then there’s first class

which is the highest level of service

and is also the most expensive level

service so a first class business class

economy class these are the three levels

on an airplane so it’s typically

considered a nice experience to fly

business class or first class somewhere

in a sentence

are there any seats available in

business class layover

the next word is layover layover a

layover is a period of time between two

flights presumably at an airport so if

you are flying for example from like I

don’t know from Singapore to London

maybe maybe you have to transfer at an

airport you fly from like Singapore to I

don’t know

Los Angeles maybe or like Chicago maybe

and then you have to wait there for your

next flight to London your connecting

flight that period of time between your

two flights is called a layover so

typically people want to have a short

layover a fairly short layover so they

have time to transfer to their next

flight or maybe they want to take a

break from being on a plane so a layover

typically a short layover is good

typically long layover ZAR bad but you

might have a cheap flight if that’s the

case so a layover is the period of time

between two flights in a sentence I have

a long layover in Bangkok so those are

10 words for the airport I hope that was

useful for you of course if there are

some other words or other phrases that

you have heard or that you find useful

please let us know in the comments if

you liked the video give us a thumbs up

subscribe to the channel and check us

out at English class 101.com for some

other good resources thank you very much

for watching this episode of top boards

and I will see you again soon bye bye

in a sentence pick up your luggage at

baguettes and baguette cells

[Laughter]

bag is selling to call it from now on

bag of sell claim seven oh my god pick

up your luggage at baggage claim Karen

sorry hi everybody welcome back to top

words my name is Alisha and today we’re

going to talk about ten words to express

appreciation so let’s go Thanks

the first word is thanks thanks thanks

is a very casual very common way to

express your appreciation for someone

it’s so easy to use Thanks Thanks

so if usually for something small

someone else has done for you or has

given to you just say thanks so in a

sentence yeah thanks that really helped

thank you the next expression is thank

you thank you so thank you is like a

step above Thanks so thanks is the most

casual one I think and then thank you is

like the next step up thank you thank

you so you can again use this in casual

situations and in more polite situations

if you’re ever unsure if you ever don’t

know you can just use a thank you as

your default as your basic greeting

thank you in a sentence thank you for

the book thanks a lot the next

expression is thanks a lot thanks a lot

so with this expression please make sure

to use thanks a lot we don’t say thank

you a lot we say thanks a lot so please

be careful with that

thanks a lot so this is a little bit

casual we use thanks here but to express

a little bit more a little bit of a

stronger appreciation you can say thanks

a lot thanks a lot in a sentence thanks

a lot for all your help this week I

really appreciate it

the next expression is I really

appreciate it I really appreciate it so

this expression is a little bit more

formal I really appreciate it so we’re

using the word appreciate which means

like to show to express your

appreciation to Express

a thankful feeling a grateful feeling so

to say I really appreciate it expresses

a strong feeling so I really appreciate

it is for a slightly more formal a

slightly more polite

situation in a sentence thank you for

the support I really appreciate it

you’re a lifesaver the next expression

is you’re a lifesaver you’re a lifesaver

so a lifesaver is this word actually

refers to a piece of equipment used to

save people who are drowning so there’s

there’s like a circle and inflatable or

like a floating circle that people can

catch if they’re like drowning or having

trouble swimming in the ocean and a

lifeguard can throw them of lifesaver

something it’s a round thing that floats

so the person can hold on to it or put

it around their body but that’s called a

lifesaver in this expression you’re a

lifesaver

means in other words you saved my life

similar to the way that a lifesaver

would save like a person drowning so

you’re a lifesaver means you really

helped me a lot you saved me from

something terrible you did something

really great for me you’re a lifesaver

so in a sentence you found my keys

you’re a lifesaver I’m so grateful the

next expression is I’m so grateful I’m

so grateful so this is one that you can

use for more serious situation so maybe

you receive a nice gift or maybe you get

a special honor or maybe you receive

some kind of recognition in a more

formal situation you can say I’m so

grateful I’m so grateful in a sentence

your recommendation got me into college

I’m so grateful your kindness is greatly

appreciated your kindness is greatly

appreciated your kindness is greatly

appreciated this is one you might use to

finish a formal letter you could use

this perhaps to finish a formal speech I

suppose - or to end a more formal

discussion I suppose but your kindness

is greatly appreciated kind of implies

that you want to receive something from

the other person or they have given you

something so maybe if you receive a

donor

of money for example or if you receive a

lot of like volunteer support you could

say your kindness is greatly appreciated

so it’s a formal and sincere expression

in a sentence thank you for the donation

your kindness is greatly appreciated you

rock the next expression is you rock you

rock so this is a very casual expression

it means like you rock this rock means

like you are awesome you are great you

are cool I think you’re awesome amazing

fantastic so it’s a very casual

expression it doesn’t directly mean

thank you but rather you are awesome I

think you are great so it’s a compliment

we can use this expression as a

compliment when someone helps you or

someone does something for you that’s

great

you really are happy about that and you

appreciate that you can say you rock or

you can substitute with any of the other

words I just said you’re great so we can

use you rock or you’re amazing or you

are awesome those those are pretty good

casual expressions to tell somebody you

think they’re great

and to give them a compliment that means

thank you so in a sentence you already

finish the paperwork you rock thank you

so much the next expression is thank you

so much thank you so much so this sounds

like a very positive yet casual and

strong way to express your appreciation

to emphasize it even more you can draw

out that so sound thank you so much if

it’s too much of an extension though it

will sound insincere if you say thank

you so much it doesn’t sound so sincere

so kind of think about how long you want

to make that sound thank you so much is

pretty good so you can express casual

strong appreciation with this phrase

thank you so much in a sentence all

right this birthday cake is amazing

thank you so much Cheers

the next expression is cheers Cheers so

I included cheers on this list because

it’s a word that you might hear in

British and perhaps Australian English

it’s a word that means sort of like

thank you in advance

for something we don’t use this word

very much in American English in u.s.

English in US English we typically use

Cheers when we’re enjoying drinks with

somebody we touch glasses together and

say Cheers when we’re drinking but in

other types of English you might hear

Cheers used to mean thank you in advance

for something so if we agree to maybe do

a project together or we agreed to make

I don’t know to plan a birthday party

together and you say okay well I’ll book

the restaurant and I say okay I’ll send

invitations to everybody Cheers

it means thank you in advance for what

you are going to do for me thank you in

advance so Cheers is a nice casual way

to say thank you in advance for

something in a sentence Cheers see you

at the event tomorrow so those are 10

words to express your appreciation I

hope that those were useful for you if

there’s another word that you’ve heard

of or another expression let us know in

the comments for sure thank you very

much for watching this episode of top

words give us a thumbs up if you liked

the video check us out at English class

101.com for other resources and make

sure to subscribe to our channel if you

haven’t already I will see you again in

the next episode soon bye bye

in a sentence in an expense that’s right

I tried to say expressing in sentences

that ones do you like before it was bag

of sell now it is expense yeah I am this

is how a new language is born surely

alright you are so good at sitting Meg

I saw I was like oh there it is I

haven’t used that much

that’s our running joke telling giving

each other compliments for everyday

actions likes hi everybody welcome back

to know your verbs my name is Alicia and

in this lesson we’re going to talk about

the verb play let’s begin

let’s begin with the basic deaf

of this firm it’s to engage in a game

sport or activity examples we play

soccer every week let’s play a board

game now let’s look at the conjugations

for this verb present play plays past

played past participle played

progressive playing

okay so now let’s talk about some

additional meanings for this verb the

first additional meaning to spend time

doing something fun this use of the verb

is typically used among children we use

this for children and to talk about the

activities of children examples we used

to play with the kids in our

neighborhood do you like playing with

dolls in these example sentences we’re

talking about the activities that kids

do things that kids do like playing with

their friends playing with dolls playing

with trucks playing with cars so when we

use playing with it’s like there’s some

kind of enjoyable activity going on and

it has a very youthful sound to it it

sounds like something kids do a mistake

that I hear adult learners make

sometimes is they say I played with my

friends last weekend as adults we don’t

use the verb play we’ll use it to refer

to a sport or to a game but we do not

use it to talk about spending time with

friends as adults especially American

English speakers we can say for example

I hung out with my friends last weekend

or I got together with my friends last

weekend that’s fine we do not use the

verb play as adults for kids great I

played with my friends when I was little

I played with dolls when I was little

okay let’s go on to the second

additional meaning the second additional

meaning is to perform as a character

this can mean theater it can mean movies

it can mean any kind of performance

examples Keanu Reeves played neo in the

matrix series I want to play a dramatic

role someday so here in my first example

sentence I’ve got Keanu Reeves as my

example Keanu Reeves played neo in the

matrix series so he performed in the

role of neo he performed in the role of

is shortened to played there in the

second example sentence I want to play a

dramatic role someday play means perform

in I want to perform in a dramatic role

someday so this means perform to play

okay let’s move on to the third

additional meaning for the sperm it is

to pretend to be a certain way

to pretend to exhibit a certain behavior

a key here is pretending pretending

examples he’s playing dumb he knows the

answer I taught my dog to play dead okay

so here we see play in the first example

sentence he’s playing dumb

that means he’s pretending not to know

that’s what this sentence means he’s

playing dumb playing dumb is it quite a

common phrase like don’t play dumb means

don’t pretend not to know something in

the second example sentence I taught my

dog to play dead means I taught my dog

to pretend to be dead or I taught my dog

to act like he or she is dead so to play

means to pretend something

so the fourth additional meaning here is

to perform music to perform music

examples the DJ played a lot of great

music last night have you ever played

this on piano so this is quite simple it

just means to perform music like you you

cause music to be heard by other people

so a DJ can play music through a sound

system of course we can play instruments

like playing the piano or playing the

heart playing the flute so we can use

play to mean performing music or like

sharing music some way

alright let’s talk about some variations

for this verb now there are a lot of

variations for the verb play these are

just a few that I’m going to introduce

of course if you want to know more I

highly recommend checking a dictionary

ok let’s take a look at the first one

for this lesson to play something by ear

to play something by ear this means to

do something without a plan it means to

make decisions in the moment so examples

we have no plans for the day we’re just

gonna play it by ear I don’t want to

plan my travels too much I prefer to

play things by ear so both of these use

the expression play it by ear play

things by ear meaning I don’t want to

make plans like I just want to see how

things go if things are feeling one way

I’ll do that if things are feeling

another way I’ll make a different

decision so why do we say playing by ear

imagine then if you play an instrument

maybe this is useful for you but imagine

you’re trying to play the piano and

you’re trying to play a melody you’re

trying to find a melody you don’t know

it but you listen to each note as you

play and gradually you can find the

melody you’re looking for so we call

that playing physically playing

performing a song by ear so using your

ear to listen to the melody and find the

correct melody that way we use the same

idea for our activities so playing an

activity by ear according to our

feelings we make decisions for the next

step to play it by ear let’s go on to

the second variation for this verb it is

to play with fire to play with fire

means to do something dangerous or to do

something that’s a bit risky for example

examples you want to confront the CEO

about her mistakes don’t play with fire

he’s trying to date three people at the

same time he’s playing with fire

okay so both of these share may be a

risky or possibly dangerous situation in

the first example sentence confronting a

CEO about her mistakes that sounds like

it could be dangerous for someone

potentially if they don’t want to lose

their job at the company so the speaker

recommends don’t play with fire in other

words don’t do something risky don’t do

something dangerous suggesting that the

previous point confronting the CEO is a

risky or dangerous behavior don’t do

that in the second example sentence we

see it in the progressive tense he’s

playing with fire by dating three women

at the same time so that could be risky

it could be dangerous he could cause

fights he could cause problems we don’t

know but we’re saying he’s playing with

fire he’s doing something that is risky

or dangerous okay let’s move on to the

third variation of this verb the third

variation is to play up to play up this

is kind of a slang expression this is an

expression that means to make something

seem better than it actually is

so maybe the true level is here but when

we play something up we exaggerate it we

improve it but only with our words it’s

not truly here it’s still here we make

it sound better examples my parents

always play up my achievements be

careful not to play yourself up on your

resume it might cause problems in the

future so here we see play up being used

to describe someone’s life or someone’s

activities being exaggerated so in the

first example my parents always play up

my achievements it means my parents make

my achievements sound better than they

actually are so maybe I had some nice

achievement great but perhaps my parents

make it sound like the achievement is

even better even bigger than it truly is

like as parents do fine but to play up

something means it’s not truly at that

level in the second example sentence be

careful not to play yourself up on your

resume it means don’t make yourself

sound better than you actually are on

your resume because it might cause

problems in the future so to play up

means to improve the apparent quality or

the apparent value of something

but it’s not true okay so those are a

few new ways to use the word play I hope

of course as I said there are lots and

lots of ways to use this word so I

highly recommend checking a dictionary

to see all of them of course if you have

any questions or comments or if you want

to practice using this verb please feel

free to do so in the comment section of

this video of course also if you liked

the video don’t forget to give us a

thumbs up subscribe to the channel and

check us out at English class 101.com

thanks very much for watching this

episode of know your verbs and we’ll see

you again next time hey Mike hi

everybody my name is Alicia welcome back

to know your verbs in this episode we’re

going to talk about the verb use let’s

get started

the basic definition of the verb to use

is to put something to a purpose

examples we used our iPhones to make a

video use your time wisely let’s look at

the conjugations for this verb present

use uses past used past participle used

progressive using

let’s talk about some additional

meanings for this verb the first

additional meaning for the verb use is

to consume to consume like for example

eating or taking all of something and

applying it so that all of it goes away

you’re consuming it somehow examples you

used all the butter we’ve used almost

all the toilet paper so here these are

items which we can gradually get rid of

like in the case of butter in the first

example we eat butter and so we consume

it by eating so it goes away toilet

paper we use for cleaning purposes and

so gradually it goes away we consume it

but we use the word use instead okay

let’s go on to these second additional

meanings the second one is a slang term

which means to take drugs to take drugs

as like a habit examples of this use I

heard he’s using again they haven’t used

in years so here you don’t hear any drug

there’s no word drug being used or no

specific drug name but we use the verb

use to refer to taking drugs so when

someone says he’s using again it means

he’s using drugs again but saying drugs

is quite direct and kind of strong so

instead we say using alone we don’t

specifically say what he is using but it

refers to drugs so this use of the word

use refers to drug use actually okay the

third additional meaning of the verb use

is to exploit a person or to exploit a

situation exploit means to take

advantage of someone or to take

advantage of a situation examples he’s

just using you for money don’t let them

use you for your ideas so in both of

these examples sentences use refers to

someone being taken advantage of for a

different reason so in the first example

sentence he’s just using you for money

it means the he in the situation is

taking advantage of the listener because

he wants money from the list

so he’s taking advantage of the listener

and getting money in the second example

sentence it’s the person’s ideas so one

person has a lot of ideas and a group of

people are taking those ideas from the

other person so taking advantage of

someone or taking advantage of a

situation it has a negative image

let’s move on to some variations of this

verb the first expression is could use

something could use something it means

that that thing might be useful in some

way might be a good idea in some way

examples I could use a break you look

like you could use a vacation so these

just mean that the item talked about

seems like it could be useful or might

be useful so in the first example

sentence I could use a break we see

could this is actually used in the

second example sentence 2 I could use a

break

meaning it would be possible for me to

use a break like that seems like a good

idea to me right now in the second

example sentence you look like you could

use a vacation it means it seems based

on your appearance you need a vacation

it would be useful for you to have a

vacation so could use something means it

seems like that thing might be good for

you so this expression is used tip is

used in positive statements you look

like you could use something it means

that thing might be useful for you or it

might be a good idea for you ok let’s

move along to the second variation which

is to use up to use up so this means to

consume completely to consume completely

in the alternate definitions for this

verb we saw it means to consume to use

means to consume but to consume

completely we use the word use up to

refer to this examples she used up all

of her sunblock at the beach

used up all the wood for the fire so

here you’ll see in both of these

examples sentences I included the word

all she used up all of her sunblock at

the beach we used up all the wood for

the fire

so all shows everything completely

consuming that thing so when you want to

talk about using everything you can use

use up use up she used up all her

sunblock we used up all the wood you can

also exchange verbs here like for

example we drank up all the wine or we

drank up all the beer or we ate up all

the pizza you can use it in a couple

other situations relating to consumption

too but use up is used for like

resources of some kind so those are a

few hopefully new ways for you to use

the word use I hope that you found

something new of course if you know a

different way to use this verb or if you

have any questions or comments please

feel free to let us know in the comment

section of this video of course don’t

forget to give us a thumbs up subscribe

to the channel and come and check us out

at English class 101.com for other

things you can use for your English to

study thanks very much for watching this

episode of know your verbs and we’ll see

you again soon bye might I use the Force

use the Force

that’s obviously the best example

sentence from this lesson when learning

a new language we sometimes have a hard

time with things like procrastination

discouragement or failure but don’t

panic with a good strategy you’ll be

able to overcome these difficulties are

you ready to discover the four habits of

successful learners number one optimise

your time when learning a language it’s

important to dedicate time peer studies

regularly even if sometimes it’s

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family or friends but you can spread out

your learning throughout the day study

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or while you’re exercising our podcast

learning format fits perfectly into your

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number 3 use your language background

many languages share some commonalities

you can find words that look or sound

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background will give you an edge while

learning number 4 study continuously

people are excited when they start

learning a new language the enthusiasm

usually lasts until the first roadblock

this can lead to discouragement and

procrastination but don’t burn yourself

out learning a language is a marathon

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don’t try to learn it all at once break

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learning step by step might feel slow

but it’s an efficient way to learn a

language with patience motivation and

good resources you’ll master the

language do you want to crash your

language learning goals and overcome

setbacks on the road to mastering a new

language in this video you’ll discover

why learning goals are so vital to

learning a new language and overcoming

the inevitable setbacks you’ll encounter

on your way to mastering the language

here are some useful strategies you can

use to crush your goals first switch to

strategic goals rather than general

internal motivations people are

motivated to learn a second language for

any number of reasons including personal

enrichment better career opportunities

or even meeting new people

however unlike simpler goals which may

only take a week or two to complete

learning a new language takes time and

there will be occasional setbacks and

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you need to learn how to motivate

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picture to do so it is vital to set

specific strategic goals with an action

plan second reasons learning goals are

vital to success learning an entire

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conversations with native speakers is

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of time between the time the goal is set

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the problem is that a failure to achieve

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set more realistic strategic learning

objectives that are easier to attain but

still keep you on track to learning here

are some examples of strategic learning

objectives that you might set on your

way to mastering a new language study

for 10 minutes every day complete one

lesson or chapter each week learn 20 new

words each week or even learn one new

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next to learn a new language or

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telling yourself that you want to be

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risk certain failure although altering

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degree of stress at first the added

motivation you get from achieving goals

quickly eliminates any initial

discomfort and the more strategic goals

you complete each day or week the faster

you can achieve your larger goal of

mastering the language the key to

achieving goals includes learning how to

deal with the inevitable setbacks and

failures the great part about setting

smaller attainable strategic learning

goals is that you can occasionally miss

your objective but quickly make up for

it so if you can’t finish a lesson one

week it’s entirely possible to either

learn the lesson the following week or

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specifically strategic objectives help

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with the inevitable setbacks on your way

to mastering a language we’ve made it

simple and easy for you to set and

attain your strategic goals so you can

successfully reach the larger goal of

mastering your target language today’s

topic is how to double your speaking

time in your target language today

you’re going to learn one why it’s hard

for many learners to make progress with

their speaking skills and two how you

can double your speaking time if you’ve

always wanted to speak more of your

target language then this episode is for

you

[Music]

but first listen up here are this

month’s new lessons and resources first

the movies and TV shows cheat sheet want

to be able to talk about your favorite

shows and films this conversation cheat

sheet teaches you 50 plus words and

phrases to help you do just that

second the ultimate listening video

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third 20 phrases you’ll need for the

doctor learn how to schedule

appointments talk about your symptoms

and much more this one-minute lesson

gives you 20 must know phrases fourth

want to be able to handle everyday tasks

in your target language like sending and

receiving mail then this next 1 minute

lesson is for you

you’ll learn most of the words and

phrases you’ll need at the post office

fifth learn how to impress native

speakers with this one-minute lesson

learn how to give natural compliments

like the food is delicious and this is a

beautiful country to get your free

resources click the link in the

description below right now they’re

yours to keep forever okay let’s jump

into today’s topic how to double your

speaking time in your target language

okay let’s get into part one

why is real speaking progress so hard to

make let’s say you’ve studied the

language for a few months and now you

finally have a chance to practice

speaking maybe you have a tutor or a

native speaker friend who is willing to

practice with you you start talking and

your friend helps you improve bits and

pieces of your speaking like

pronunciation and grammar and maybe you

can talk about your day and common

topics but without proper preparation on

both sides the person learning and the

person teaching that’s it you’re limited

to what you can talk about you don’t

know enough of the language to keep

going and they aren’t prepared to help

you speak more of the language so if you

try to have an open-ended conversation

you’ll fall flat at some point you’ll

run out of things to say and talk about

you’ll run out of words and topics and

this is true outside of language

learning you

easy for conversations to die when you

run out of things to talk about a

freestyle approach to conversation is

nice for advanced learners or people who

do serious preparation but it’s not so

great for beginners this is one reason

it’s hard to make real progress with

speaking you run out of things to say

but there is a way to double your

speaking time even if you’re an absolute

beginner even if you’re low on words and

grammar and that’s by adding structure

that you’ll find in our lessons let’s

get into that part to how you can double

your speaking time with our audio and

video lessons let’s say you’re having a

practice conversation with that same

friend except this time both of you have

a list of topics to follow then your

conversations won’t die out as quickly

the point is if you have a structure to

follow like a lesson there’s always

something for you to fall back on and if

you’re already using our audio and video

lessons you get just that so here’s how

you can use our lessons to double your

speaking time 1 make sure to listen to

and review your current audio or video

lessons why

each lesson conversation is based on a

certain topic like talking about the

weather

talking about family ordering food and

so on so by simply taking a lesson you

learn a conversation around a certain

topic lessons will give you a lot of

topics to talk about along with the

relevant grammar and vocabulary which

many beginners might not have think

about it if you wanted to talk about a

vacation you’d need to know where it’s

like vacation cruise and holiday in your

target language you’d also need the

right grammar points to help you express

ideas our audio and video lessons will

provide you with all of these so listen

to the lessons and prepare ahead of time

to use the dialogue presented in the

lesson in other words you can memorize

the lines from the lesson dialogue

you’re already learning conversations in

the lesson so you may as well use them

for yourself and doing this will help

prepare you for future conversations

think about it we often use lines like

where are you from what’s your name my

name is how was your weekend I went out

last weekend

once you memorize these expressions you

can and will use them over and over as

an example imagine you do a few lessons

about the weather you’ll master a few

conversations about it the next time

that topic pops up in real life you’ll

be able to talk about it and three each

lesson comes with cultural insights what

does that mean for you it gives you more

things to talk about with a native

speaker so if you bring up a cultural

point in a conversation with a native

speaker you’ll likely get a good

reaction and extend the conversation

because you’re talking about what they

know best their culture so today you

learn one why it’s hard for many

learners to make progress with their

speaking skills it’s because we tend to

run out of things to say and to how you

can double your speaking time accomplish

this by taking our lessons memorizing

the dialogues and using the cultural

insights today traditional classrooms

are no longer the only or even best

place to learn a new language more and

more people are finding that they can

easily learn a language just about

anywhere they have a few minutes of

spare time including their daily commute

to work according to the US Census

Bureau the average American spends over

50 minutes a day commuting to and from

work or over three hundred hours a year

but rather than simply sitting in

traffic and wasting the time you can

instead use your daily commute to

literally learn a new language in just a

few short months our language learning

program has specialized learning tools

that you can use on your commute to and

from the office to master a language in

your spare time what are some reasons

traditional classroom settings just

aren’t the best option for most people

in today’s fast-paced world difficulty

getting to and from class learning on

someone else’s schedule very expensive

and may cost thousands of dollars to

complete can take years to finally

complete classes and learn the language

the simple truth is the traditional

classroom instruction is simply not a

viable option for most people in today’s

very fast-paced time-starved world now

let’s examine how you can learn a

language faster more easily and at far

less expense than traditional classes

altering your commute to work and back

home again three reasons your daily

commute can help you master a language

in the next year on average Americans

spend more than 300 hours per year

commuting during the commute to and from

work over six hours a week is completely

wasted the time isn’t used to help you

reach any goals or objectives but thanks

to online language learning platforms

with audio books and other resources

that you can access during your commute

you can easily transform wasted time

into progress toward learning a new

language with over 300 hours available

annually your daily commute could

provide you with enough time to gain

significant skills in a new language

each and every year increase your

earning potential while commuting to

work how would you like to transform all

those spare commuting hours each week

into more money for a new car house or

even a dream vacation according to

research someone making $30,000 per year

can boost their annual income by $600 or

more per year by learning a second

language over the course of a lifetime

that’s a significant amount how from

work at home translation jobs to working

overseas there are many ways to leverage

your second language into more money in

your bank account so instead of wasting

your precious time you can make your

commute more productive and eventually

profitable the more languages you learn

the higher your income potential

repetition is key to mastering a new

language not sure if it’s practical to

learn another language while commuting

to and from work each day well not only

is it possible learning in your car on

the way to and from work each day can

actually help you learn and master any

language quickly the simple truth is

that repetition is absolutely vital to

truly internalizing and mastering any

language so if you listen to audio books

or even audio lessons on your commute to

work and then repeat the same lesson

your commute home the information is

more likely to be locked into your

long-term memory our language learning

program has been helping people learn

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language while commuting to and from

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native speaker instructors create new

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mastery of a language second the word of

the day simply exposing yourself to new

information and vocabulary terms helps

increase your fluency and mastery of

your target language so every single day

check out the word of the day and

memorize it during your commute it’s a

quick and easy way to boost your

vocabulary every day third daily dose

mini lessons have a short commute to

work but still want to make progress

towards learning more than just

vocabulary not a problem our daily dose

mini lessons are one minute or less and

are designed to improve your grammar

conversations and pronunciation fourth

all content is available on a convenient

mobile app you don’t need a PC or tablet

to learn during your daily commute

instead all of our lessons tools and

resources are available 24/7 via our

mobile app that means you can access all

of our audio lessons and other tools

during your commute to work or anytime

you have a few spare minutes fifth audio

books and other supplemental resources

in addition to the world’s largest

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our language learning program has audio

books to enhance your understanding and

make it more convenient than ever to

learn a language during your commute the

average commute time of most Americans

is over 300 hours each year and it’s the

perfect opportunity to learn and master

a new language use the dead time during

your daily commute to learn a new

language and potentially boost your

lifetime earnings

whatever your motivation our language

learning program has the tools and

resources necessary to help you learn a

new language each year during your

commute to and from work immersion is

often hailed as the most efficient and

effective way to learn a foreign

language in many ways it’s true with all

the language learning methods out there

nothing else comes close to having to

think and interact with your environment

in the language you’re learning

unfortunately though most language

learners wrongly assumed that the only

way to experience language immersion is

to pack up and move to a foreign country

but not everyone can afford to spend a

summer abroad just to learn a foreign

language luckily there are other ways to

immerse yourself

these methods are less obvious but they

are effective in this video we’ll take a

look at five steps you can take

for the ultimate language immersion

experience at home number one transform

your digital world into your target

language technology is an indispensable

part of modern life we interact with

phones computers tablets and other

electronic devices throughout the day

why not take these interactions and use

them to practice your target language

most devices give you the option of

switching the language of the operating

system switching your phone or laptop

interface to your target language won’t

make you fluent but it will help you

engage with the language in a very

practical way multiple times every day

another way to transform your digital

life is to check which sites you use on

a daily basis and use them in your

target language also a great example of

this is switching your version of Google

using Google in your target language

will allow you to search for things in

that language and you’re more likely to

get results in that language as well

so if you’re looking for a popular band

the show or food something that’s

usually written in your target language

it will actually be easier to find

information about it if you switch your

version of Google of course you can also

change popular social networks like

Facebook or Twitter you can even go to

news sites for your fill of global news

do you like podcasts try listening to a

couple popular podcasts in your target

language number two write out a speech

or conversation

in your target language a surefire way

to increase your ability in a foreign

language is to write out a mock

conversation or speech in that language

pretend you have to give a speech on one

of your favorite topics it could be

anything from sports hobbies or even

your favorite movie genre now take some

time to write out your fictitious speech

inevitably you will hit some roadblocks

but when you get stuck research the

words or grammar points you don’t know

this is a highly effective and practical

way to increase your vocabulary and

it’ll help you practice thinking in a

different language writing a long

connected train of thoughts exposes the

gaps and weaknesses in your language

studying once you know what these are

you’re free to practice them and use

them to continue on with your speech

this is also a great way to learn new

words in the context of your entire

speech context is king when you’re

learning a language learning words in

the context of other words and sentences

helps you surmise what new words mean it

also helps you get comfortable with how

these words are practically used not to

mention context helps you to remember

and recall new information more easily

number three practice with native

speakers there are a lot of great

learning resources out there for anyone

learning a new language however nothing

quite comes close to practicing the

language with a real person if you live

in or around a large metropolitan area

there’s a chance that there are some

native speakers nearby check and see if

your area has any local language

exchanges or language speaking groups

you’re likely to find a native speaker

there if you can’t make a connection

locally you can search online just as

there are language exchanges in the real

world there are also online ones most of

which are free number four connect with

other language learners native speakers

aren’t the only people who can aid you

on your language learning journey

practicing with other learners is also

helpful don’t worry if you practice with

someone who has a higher or lower level

in the language than you if you’re the

more advanced learner you can learn a

lot by teaching someone else as you help

someone else understand difficult words

or grammatical concepts you’ll find that

you start to better understand them

yourself if you’re

learning partner has a higher level they

can be the one to help you overcome the

hurdles you encounter as a beginner

after all what better way to learn them

from someone who as a language learner

has been in your shoes number five

reward yourself in your target language

at the end of a busy day we all love a

little relaxation and me time one of the

most enjoyable and effective ways to

develop your language skills is to kick

back and enjoy the language while doing

leisure activities whether it’s

listening to music watching a movie or

TV show reading a book or even enjoying

a good online video binge even spending

just an extra thirty minutes a day doing

something you love in your target

language can yield some serious

long-term results if you’re a beginner

start with more basic content you might

have to start out listening to simple

songs or even watching children’s shows

after a while though you’ll be able to

dive into the meteor stuff and more

engaging stuff as your proficiency

increases learning a foreign language

doesn’t mean you have to spend your days

straining over grammar rules or

textbooks anyway that you can take your

learning off the page and make it more

enjoyable will help you learn faster

immersion is a powerful way to learn a

foreign language and now more than ever

the immersion experience isn’t limited

to just world travelers with the little

creativity and the right resources you

can experience the language without ever

having to leave your hometown great work

here’s a reward speed up your language

learning with our pdfs lessons get all

of our best PDF cheat sheets and ebooks

for free just click the link in the

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