5 Grammar Rules myths your teachers HAVE BEEN LYING about

[Music]

hello everyone and welcome back to

english with lucy today i am going to

talk to you about five strict english

grammar rules that natives don’t always

follow yes that’s right your teacher may

have been lying to you quickly before we

get started i would just like to thank

the sponsor of today’s video it is i

talky and if you haven’t heard of I

talked you before it’s a huge online

database of both native and non-native

teachers who give one-to-one video

lessons 24 hours a day seven days a week

you can learn English and over 130 other

languages from anywhere in the world any

time as long as you have a stable

internet connection

it’s an incredibly affordable way of

learning a language much cheaper than an

offline tutor or a language Academy so

many of my students message me and ask

me how they can meet and talk to native

speakers well I talk he is a really good

option because not only do they have

qualified teachers they also have

community teachers who will practice

conversation with you they’ve given me a

special offer to pass on to you you can

get $10 worth of I talkie credits in

your student wallet 48 hours of making

your first purchase of any amount all

you’ve got to do is click on the link in

the description box and sign up right

let’s get started with the lesson

alright let’s start with the first rule

of English there are no rules that’s

just a joke there are many rules but we

don’t follow all of them and that is

what this video is about I just thought

that was a lovely example of how

confusing language is let’s be serious

now the first rule that we like to break

and the rule that doesn’t always apply

many teachers will tell you that you

should never ever end a sentence with a

preposition

well I’m about to prove your teachers

wrong there are quite a few situations

in which you can end a sentence with a

preposition now if you can remove the

preposition from the end of a sentence

without it changing the meaning of the

sentence then you should do that but

what about situations in which the

meaning has changed oh let’s talk about

phrasal verbs these are verbs made of a

verb and at least one preposition keep

up run down get up put on often

sentences that use phrasal verbs end

with a preposition for example I think

you should get up or I hope you can come

over both of these sentences end with a

preposition and it can’t be avoided if

we remove the preposition the meaning

will change and we can’t really

rearrange it to avoid the preposition

being put at the end sometimes it’s even

okay to end a sentence with the

preposition even if you aren’t using a

phrasal verb you might be able to

rewrite these sentences to avoid them

ending with a preposition but it’s not

always necessary you might be over

complicating things an example does

anyone know where he came from I could

rewrite the sentence to say does anyone

know from where he came but it would

sound so unbelievably old-fashioned does

anyone know where he came from is

perfectly fine right rule number two the

rule I want to debunk you should always

say someone and I not someone and me

this one is close to my heart because I

had it drummed into me when I was at

school both by my teachers and my mother

and my teachers and my mother were

misinformed at school let’s take a look

at four sentences all regarding the zoo

Lucy and I went to the zoo with Tom Lucy

and me went to the zoo with Tom

I went to the zoo with Lucy and I and

Tom went to the zoo with Lucy and me two

of these sentences are incorrect and two

of them are correct

the question of whether to use I or me

comes down to whether you’re using the

word as a subject or an object in the

sentence both words are pronouns but I

is a subject pronoun and me is an object

pronoun native speakers you can be

forgiven for getting confused with this

I never learned this at school so out of

the first two Lucy and I went to the zoo

with Tom would be correct because I is

the subject of the sentence you can work

this out by removing the extra bit the

Lucy and bit does it work on its own I

went to the zoo with Tom or me went to

the zoo with Tom well me went sounds

very very wrong so it’s I went however

in the second two sentences it is the

opposite

remove Lucy and again in those second

two sentences Tom went to the zoo with I

sounds weird

so it’s Tom went to the zoo with me Tom

went to the zoo with Lucy and me in this

case me is the object of the sentence so

so many native speakers will always be

taught to say someone and I when

actually in many cases someone and me is

the correct version number three a big

rule that came up recently after I used

one of these in a title of my videos it

is that you should never split an

infinitive many teachers will tell you

this because they are simplifying things

a little bit but in reality we do split

infinitives so infinitives are the two

word forms of verbs like to run to laugh

to play when you split an infinitive you

put something normally an adverb between

those two words for example to quickly

run to carefully read to playfully dance

so often it’s a case of it just sounding

better when we

an infinitive it sounds more natural for

example I’m going to quickly run to the

shop this sounds better then I’m going

to run to the shop quickly but in some

more complex cases moving the adverb can

actually change the meaning of the

sentence take a look at this sentence

I’m going to really kiss him when I see

him if I say I’m going to really kiss

someone it means then it’s going to be

quite a kiss a big kiss a very strong

one if I say I am really going to kiss

him when I see him rather than talking

about the strength of the kiss

I’m almost conveying a sense of

determination it’s only a slight

difference but it does change the

meaning now some sentences actually

require a split infinitive which makes

it all the more bananas that teachers

tell you to never split an infinitive

let’s go straight in with an example he

expects the staff numbers to more than

triple over the next five years

you can’t move more than in this

sentence you can’t put it in another

place whilst retaining the meaning this

sentence requires a split infinitive

number four is we should always use

there are instead of there is before a

plural so many teachers will tell you

always use there is an a singular and

there are then a plural this doesn’t

always apply people get very upset about

it in the comment section if I use there

is before what they consider to be a

plural I’m going to explain that used

but I will admit many native speakers

myself included do make mistakes and get

confused with there is and there are

because we speak so quickly that we

don’t give ourselves time to plan

whether there is as needed or there are

as needed so just to cover at the basics

we use there is and there are when we

first refer to the presence or existence

of someone or something there is and

also there are both singular forms

there’s is the reduction

there is there is there’s there’s is

most commonly used in informal speaking

so instead of saying it is fly on my

head we would say there’s or there is a

fly on my head there are is the plural

form of there is and there’s an example

there are two spots on my face now in

speaking and in some informal writing we

sometimes use theirs when it refers to

more than one thing bear in mind that

this use can be considered incorrect in

examinations it’s not uncommon to hear

native speakers make this mistake I

might say there’s many cakes instead of

there are many cakes because I’m just so

used to saying there’s all the time

there’s one Apple there’s two apples it

feels almost natural to me now this is

considered to be incorrect however there

are actually some situations in which it

is considered to be correct to use

there’s then a plural let’s have a look

at collecting phrases one in particular

is a number of a number of would I say

there is a number of cakes for sale

there’s a number of cakes for sale or

there are a number of cakes for sale

well it’s actually really difficult to

work out in a construction like this the

verb is being pulled to their number and

cakes all at once you can work out

whether you should use there is or there

are in this situation by focusing on

emphasis use is if you want to emphasize

the group as a whole there is a number

of group cakes or use are if you want to

emphasize the individual members of that

group each individual cake there are a

number of individual cakes this works

with a number of collecting phrases

like a variety of there is a variety of

drinks at the bar or there are a variety

of drinks at the bar both work depending

on what you want to emphasize now we do

use there are when talking about a lot

of and this is a mistake that a lot of

native speakers make myself included

again we shouldn’t say there’s a lot of

people in the room we should say there

are a lot of people in the room but you

will hear this mistake made now would

the phrase there is two dogs ever be

correct well sort of if two dogs were

included as part of a list sometimes

there are just sounds wrong I wouldn’t

say there are a cat two dogs and a cow

on the farm I would say there is a cat

two dogs and a cow on the farm so that

is a clear example of there is used

before a singular but a singular formed

as part of a list some grammar lovers

will still insist that this is incorrect

but I’m not with them on this one it

just sounds wrong if you are ever in

doubt you can actually rewrite the

sentence to avoid using it there is and

there are and the last rule number five

you should always say if I were rather

than if I was now you will hear a lot of

people making a mistake with if I were

and if I was they will say if I was when

they are meant to say if I were however

again I was brought up to always say if

I were when actually in some situations

if I was is correct and if I were is

incorrect

shaaka now this grammar rule might seem

a little bit complicated at first but

actually it’s not there is a simple

trick that you can use to remember and

you will always get it right you use the

phrase if I were when using the

subjunctive mood this is used to talk

about hike

pathetic all situations for example if I

were richer I would buy a Tesla true

story I would I really would like an

electric car but I need one that will go

over farmland anyway if I were richer I

would buy a Tesla I am imagining a

situation in which I am richer a

hypothetical situation and I’m imagining

what I would do in that situation what

that would mean for that version of

myself now we use the phrase if I was if

we are referring to something that did

actually happen

so we have if I were hypothetical if I

was actually happened reality so we

often use it for reminiscing an example

if I was late for registration when I

was at school it was because my bus

didn’t arrive this isn’t the most

commonly used phrase on earth but it’s

important to know that sometimes if I

was is correct right that’s it for

today’s lesson I hope you enjoyed it I

hope you learned something I really

enjoyed doing the research for this

video it was a quite surprising to see

how much misinformation was spread

around my primary middle and upper

schools don’t forget to check out I

talked e you can get $10 worth of I

talkie credits for free in your student

wallet 48 hours after making your first

purchase of any amount all you’ve got to

do is click on the link in the

description box to sign up

don’t forget to connect with me on all

of my social media I’ve got my facebook

my Instagram my Twitter and my personal

channel Lucy Bella oh I will see you

soon for another lesson

[Music]

you

[Music]

[Music]