How to use UNLESS Advanced English Lesson
hello hello welcome to today’s live
English lesson here on the speak English
with Vanessa
YouTube channel today we have an
important topic it’s how to use the word
unless I got a lot of questions through
email and YouTube comments about
challenging words and the word unless
seems to be a challenging word so today
we’re gonna break it down I’m gonna ask
you a lot of questions and hopefully by
the end of this lesson you’ll have a
clearer image of how to use the word
unless thanks so much for those of you
who are joining me live we’ve got
friends from all over the world if you
would like to join me live for the next
lesson if you’re watching the replay we
have live lessons every Tuesday and
Thursday at 9 a.m. est that’s the New
York Standard Time so I hope that you
can join me and participate that’s the
goal thanks so much for being here live
from Vietnam thanks so much Alan and
Brazil wonderful Federica welcome
gustavo in honduras so yoshi in japan
hello thanks for taking time from your
busy day everything else that’s going on
to take a moment to improve your english
so let’s start by thinking about a
scenario next week I’m gonna go
strawberry picking with one of my
friends and I’m excited I like
strawberries I like being outside I like
food and fruit but what are some reasons
why I might not go I want you to think
of some ideas write them in the chat box
think about them what are some reasons
why I might call my friend and say oh
sorry I can’t go because
is hmm what are some reasons and then
we’re gonna use your answer to create
our first sentence using our keyword
today so think about this why might I
not go our first answer our first answer
Eduardo says maybe you could be sick
alright great answer
so my first excuse is I don’t feel well
today I feel sick
the ophelia says maybe it’s raining
another great answer it’s no fun to go
outside and pick strawberries in the
rain so maybe it’s raining maybe I’m
sick Oh
mr. gray says maybe you’re an introvert
maybe you really don’t want to spend
time with your friend okay
maybe I don’t like the social situations
maybe your friend is boring Oh someone
says you’re pregnant that’s another
reason maybe my baby comes probably not
this early but it’s possible or maybe I
feel uncomfortable and I decide today is
not a good day these are all great
excuses maybe you feel under the weather
well let’s take one of these how about
let’s just take the rain excuse it’s
raining well I want to go pick
strawberries but it’s raining so how can
we make a sentence using unless and
after we make that sentence I’m going to
explain it and then we’ll talk about it
in more detail I have a couple great
questions to ask you today including a
famous quote but first let me write our
first sample sentence using unless let’s
say I will go strawberry picking here we
have our keyword Oh
it rains oh so we could use any of those
excuses here I’ll go strawberry picking
unless I have my baby
I’ll go strawberry picking unless I’m
not feeling well
I’ll go strawberry picking unless the
world ends so we need to use our keyword
here for some kind of exception I will
do it except for one thing the rain so
that is our key meaning for the word
unless this is gonna be an exception or
except so we’re taking an excuse or an
exception for this thing that I want to
do and you’re gonna see that a lot in
this lesson that after the word unless
this phrase unless it rains is gonna be
an exception
I will go strawberry picking I love
strawberries I can’t wait to eat Sunkist
strawberries fresh from the earth ah
unless it rains this is the exception
unless it rains so before I ask you some
more questions I want to share with you
a famous quote this is a quote I found
yesterday and if you agree if you don’t
agree it’s okay but I thought I’d share
it because it uses our keyword today in
a perfect situation this is from Albert
Einstein and he says nothing will end
war unless the people themselves refuse
to go to war maybe you agree with this
maybe you don’t agree but here he’s
using an exception and this is a great
ample because he’s using the word
nothing at the very beginning and this
word nothing we can imagine nothing
nothing at all
we’ll stop war but he has an exception
unless unless the people themselves
refuse to go to war oh we have some
friends here who agree Julian agrees
Anwar agrees so it’s important to think
about this interesting concept let’s
talk about next
the placement where can you add unless
so far all of our sample statements all
of our sample sentences have used unless
even here as well in the middle of the
sentence
can we add the word unless anywhere else
do we have other options you might know
English grammar and English sentence
structure can be kind of flexible
oftentimes we can add words or phrases
in different areas so what is another
option where else can we add this unless
phrase mmm all right we’ve got a
beautiful answer here from Navjot now
Joe says at the beginning ding ding ding
yes so let’s just move this to the
beginning and see how it sounds unless
it rains I will go strawberry picking a
beautiful that’s great no problem can we
use that for Albert Einstein’s quote
unless the people themselves refuse to
go to war nothing will end war great yes
we can definitely use the unless phrase
at the beginning and you’re gonna see
today that for me I would rather have
the unless phrase in the
it’ll usually at the end of the sentence
but here unless is in the middle of our
sentence but it’s no problem to add it
at the beginning in fact a lot of people
do that I do that sometimes
and there’s no difference in the meaning
so today as we practice this feel free
to practice using unless at the
beginning
feel free to practice using it in the
middle and you’ll be using it naturally
so I want to continue to challenge you
by asking you some questions first
ask you the question and see if you can
answer it using unless without without a
sample sentence from me yet and then
I’ll give you a sample sentence and it
will be your test can you do it can you
answer it alright my first question I
wrote here is oh you you have great
thing happening to you you have a flight
booked to go to New York tomorrow
morning woohoo great you can travel you
have a flight booked to go to New York
tomorrow morning what might stop you
imagine the situation of me picking
strawberries it’s a great thing it’s
exciting I’m looking forward to it
you’re looking forward to going to New
York but still something might stop you
what might stop you from going to New
York so you can think about my previous
sample sentence and try to insert the
ideas from this question or you can
simply write your answer and then I’ll
give you some feedback because you’re
pretty excited about going to New York
not much is going to stop you but
something might stop you Oh
Rodrigo says maybe I don’t have a visa
ooh great thing visas are mostly
necessary unfortunately kind of annoying
but you know visa Dickens says unless
SiC Abdul says unless it’s cancelled
ah unless it’s really cold there so
let’s create our sentence using some of
those ideas I will or we can always say
Eyal we can make it a contraction all go
to New York hmm that thought thought
thought that unless we can insert a lot
of your answers here unless ah I don’t
have a visa unless what’s another excuse
Oh unless there’s bad weather sure maybe
your flight is delayed or you feel
worried about traveling but not much is
gonna stop your trip because you’re
pretty excited so if you don’t have a
visa you can’t go so let’s say I will go
to New York tomorrow unless I forget my
visa so nothing is gonna stop you but
here is our
exception this phrase is our exception
unless I don’t have a visa now sometimes
when teachers try to explain the word
unless they say that you need to have a
positive thing plus a negative thing so
I will go to New York unless I don’t but
this is true maybe 80% of the time it’s
not always going to be a negative
situation it’s just an exception to
whatever is happening in your sentence
it’s just an exception but often times
it will be the opposite a negative thing
or maybe if the beginning
the sentence is positive it might be or
at the beginning of the sentence is
negative it might be positive so
oftentimes you’re gonna have a positive
part and a negative part not always but
it’s a good thing to keep in mind let’s
think about a second question this is a
second test question and let’s imagine
you’re going on a blind date tonight
personally I’ve never been on a blind
date I’ve been dating and married to my
husband for a long time since I was 17
18 years old who so I have had no time
or interest in going on a blind date but
let’s imagine that you are going on a
blind date
tonight what are some reasons why you
might leave early mmm maybe you’re gonna
go have dinner together why might you
leave in the middle of dinner in the
middle of the date what are some things
that might be wrong let me know think of
some creative answers and think about
our sample sentences that we’ve used in
the past we’re using typically typically
something positive and then our
exception is gonna be something negative
hmm what is a reason why why you might
leave early we have a great question
what’s a blind date a blind date means
that you’ve never seen them before
you don’t know hardly maybe you don’t
know anything about them but your friend
said hey this guy is really nice why
don’t you go on a date with him and he
calls you and you go on a date and you
haven’t really been friends before so
it’s an unknown situation kind of crazy
but some people enjoy it so what are
some reasons why you might
leave early oh we have a great answer
maybe the date wasn’t what I expected
unless you don’t like Thai food oh maybe
the food isn’t any good maybe he’s not
friendly oh maybe you feel sick and
there’s some weird feelings with your
with your stomach great answer
how about Oh bad breath
really clever thanks Rodrigo unless the
guy has bad breath
so let’s write our sample sentence using
this idea and see how we can use unless
so here we’re going to use our positive
statement I’ll stay I’ll stay at dinner
with him I’ll stay unless he has bad
breath important so we’ve got our
keyword here and our exception statement
I’ll stay unless he has bad breath so as
you’re writing your sample sentences I
recommend writing a full sentence don’t
just write this final part because when
we’re speaking we’re gonna use the full
idea oh I’ll stay unless he’s really
rude unless he doesn’t like cats unless
what is your exception hmm oh we can
also use this there’s a great comment
here in the chat box using this in the
opposite way let’s imagine you’re really
picky picky means that you don’t like
this you don’t like this you don’t like
this you don’t like this I only like
this you’re really picky so let’s
imagine that that is you so let’s say
I’ll leave so here we’re using something
negative
before the date started you already have
negative thoughts hmm
so you’ll say I’ll leave unless and in
the chat box I’m sorry it already went
by I didn’t catch your name unless he
has a Ferrari all right well thank you
this is this is not true for me maybe
it’s true for you or maybe it isn’t true
but it’s a funny statement so let’s use
this to talk about something negative
here I’ll leave ah unless he has a
Ferrari and then I’ll stay maybe it’s
not the good beginning of a solid
relationship but maybe that’s not what
you’re interested in I’ll leave unless
he has red hair
I’ll leave unless he does something
wonderful so we have two ways to use
this and typically we’re using a
positive then a negative thing or a
negative plus a positive thing not
always gonna be the case but
occasionally let’s talk about our final
question my final question is Oh your
friend wants to improve their English or
maybe you do what kind of advice can you
give them this is a little tricky I want
to give you a sample sentence here to
give you some hints the beginning of
this sentence your friend wants to
improve their English so what kind of
advice can you give them and you can
give them advice using a lot of
different sentence structures not even
using today’s keyword but of course
today we’re practicing unless so I want
you to be able to use unless as much as
possible how can we construct a sentence
using unless to give advice hmm how
about if we start
with something negative let’s say you
won’t improve unless hmm how can we
finish that sentence I want you to think
of some great ideas you won’t improve
unless so we need some positive things
what can they do because maybe your
friend uh says well I don’t really know
what to do I just had some English
classes when I was younger but now I’m
kind of lost what should I do and you
can say oh stop right there don’t waste
your time
you won’t um improve unless and those of
you here in the chatbox said unless you
practice every day crate answer Malena
unless you watch Vanessa’s YouTube
channel well I’m glad it’s useful to you
guys here unless you start working hard
Oh beautiful answer you won’t improve
unless you enjoy it thank you for saying
that I think that’s a really important
point working hard is great but you have
to also be motivated so you have to
enjoy it do something that is enjoyable
for you you won’t improve unless you
enjoy it we’re using our exception here
unless you enjoy it you won’t improve
unless you talk more with native
speakers all right you won’t improve
unless you stop being lazy oh great
Lucas says you won’t improve unless you
watch Vanessa’s classes well I’m glad
it’s useful to you
you won’t improve unless you practice as
much as possible important practice as
much as you can work hard and enjoy it
and I hope that’s what these lessons are
I hope they’re enjoyable to you and
motivate you so we practiced a lot of
different examples today lots of lots of
them and before we go I want to say a
final statement all together using
today’s keyword so wherever you are
around the world let’s say this
statement together you can write it in
the chat box I’m not going to write it
down so I want you to listen carefully
think about it say it out loud and mean
it
from the bottom of your heart make it
sincere and honest
are you ready it’s kind of a funny
sentence we’re gonna say I’ll or I will
I’ll keep studying English unless the
world ends and this means as you can
imagine this means that I’ll always
study English well unless the world ends
your exception the only thing that’s
gonna stop you from learning English is
the world ending and we probably have
bigger problems at that time anyway so
let’s say this all together to keep your
motivation to bring us together no
matter where you’re living let’s say it
together
I’ll keep studying English unless the
world ends so for you I hope that you’ll
continue to study continue to learn
English and you’ll continue to learn
unless the world end someday so keep it
up keep up the good work and if you
would like to continue studying with me
unless the world ends then I have a
couple recommendations feel free to
watch the other lessons on my youtube
channel there’s a lot of recorded live
lessons there’s a lot of expression
lessons tips and ideas for books you
should read movies you can watch how
you can use certain expressions like
today how to use the word unless these
tips are for you for free so enjoy them
use YouTube it’s a great resource and if
you would like to get more English from
me immerse yourself in English then I
recommend reading my free ebook 5 steps
to becoming a confident English speaker
in this book you’ll know what is the
best path for you and I hope that it
will guide you so that you don’t feel
lost with all of the options on the
internet there’s a lot of options so
this book will help you to know what are
the steps for you to becoming confident
and when you read this free ebook the
good news is you’ll be immersed in
English even more because I’ll send you
to free English lessons every week
through email so I’ll explain more ideas
about expressions explain more cultural
ideas include stories include ideas that
will hopefully motivate you and help you
to stay interested unless the world ends
so thank you so much for learning with
me I hope you have a beautiful day and
enjoy English unless the world ends see
you later everyone have a wonderful day
bye