Confusing Words SOMETIME vs SOMETIMES Basic English Grammar
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Hi, everybody, welcome back to Ask Alisha,
the weekly series where you ask me questions
and I answer them, maybe.
First question!
First question this week comes from Isaac
Alexander.
Isaac says, “Hi Alisha, what’s the difference
between ‘everybody’ and ‘everyone’?”
Yeah.
Please see Episode 23 of this series where
I talked about this very question, this exact
same question.
I will try to make sure a link is in the description
where you can find this video.
But if there’s none, then you can find this
video on the channel.
Just a quick search, you should be able to
find this video.
So, please check that video for the answer.
Let’s go to the next question.
Next question comes from Mifta.
Hi, again, Mifta.
Mifta says, “What is the difference between
‘sometimes’ and ‘sometime’ and how
do I use them?”
Let’s start with “sometimes.”
“Sometimes” is an adverb.
It’s an adverb that we use to indicate frequency
of a behavior.
That means how often you do a behavior.
“Sometimes” is one level of frequency
of a behavior.
Examples, “I sometimes eat junk food for
lunch.”
“She sometimes goes jogging in the morning.”
“They sometimes take camping trips.”
So “sometime” is also an adverb but we
use it to talk about unspecified points in time.
That means a point in time that’s were not
specific about.
We’re not clearly saying when we’re just
being kind of open about it.
Examples, “We should get together sometime.”
“They finished the project sometime in the
last month.”
“He said he wants to introduce his girlfriend
to us sometime.”
So, I hope that you can see that “sometime,”
no “S,” is an adverb but it’s used to
talk about an unspecific point.
“Sometimes,” however, is used to indicate
frequency of an action.
Hope that helps you.
Alright.
Let’s go to the next question.
Next question is from Karthikeyan?
Karthikeyan G?
Sorry.
Karthikeyan says, “What’s the difference
between ‘check’ and ‘check out’ and
‘speak’ and ‘speak out’?”
If you’re talking about verbs, “check”
can mean confirm or like look at something
carefully.
Examples, “Can you check these documents?”
“I have to check my house for damage.”
“They checked our passports.”
“Check out” then means to leave a location
and complete a transaction.
So, we use “check out” for example at
hotels or when you’re shopping.
“I’m checking out of my hotel in the morning.”
“You finished shopping and checked out.”
There is, however, a second meaning of check
out which is to look carefully at someone
you find physically attractive.
So, that means you’re looking at the way they’re
dressed, their skin, their hair, their eyes,
the way they speak, the way they walk, whatever.
So, to “check out” is to look at someone
carefully because you find them physically
attractive.
Examples, “I think that girl just checked
you out.”
“He checked her out across the room.”
So, that’s “check” and “check out”
but let’s move on to “speak” and “speak
out.”
“Speak” is used just to mean like to verbally
give information.
It sounds more formal.
We use it in the same way we use “talk.”
Actually, there’s a video on the channel about
the word “speak” but we use it to mean
sharing information verbally.
We also use that for announcements or for
speeches as well like, “You spoke so well
at the conference yesterday.”
Or, “Do you speak to the clients every week?”
The expression “speak out,” however, refers
to raising your voice usually or sharing your
voice usually in response or in opposition
to something that you disagree with.
So, like, “Many people speak out against
gun violence.”
Or, “Some people spoke out against this
new policy.”
So, that means you’re sharing your voice or
contributing your opinion against something.
It can also mean sharing your voice about
an experience you had that’s maybe difficult
to talk about like, “She spoke out about
her experiences,” for example, or “He
spoke out about the time that he was robbed.
We’ve never heard that before.”
I would say its most commonly used to talk
about something you oppose, to oppose something.
So, sharing your voice in opposition to something.
Hope that helps.
Next question!
The next question is from Monica.
Monica says, “What does ‘I hope you step
on a LEGO,’ mean?”
“I hope you stepped on a LEGO,” is a very
casual and kind of like childish funny way
of saying, “I hope a small misfortune happens
to this person.”
So, a LEGO, if you don’t know, is a small
children’s toy.
It’s a block.
We can put them together to make buildings,
to make cities, to make things.
So, a LEGO is very small and, they’re kind
of infamous.
“Infamous” means famous for a bad reason.
Infamous for being very, very painful to step
on.
They’re a small plastic block and if you have
carpet in your house they can easily hide
in the carpet and you don’t see them and if
you step on the corner, it’s really painful
for just a moment.
So, when you say, “I hope you step on a
LEGO,” it means “I hope that some small
misfortune happens to you.”
Like, you don’t want anything serious to happen
to the other person, but maybe they did something
that irritates you or you feel really upset
about something they did.
And so, you hope they have a small misfortune as well, in the same way you had a small misfortune, too.
So, nothing serious but just,
“I hope you step on a LEGO.”
So, it’s actually quite common.
You see it a lot on the Internet.
Next question is from Alexander.
“Hi, Alisha, what does “ur” mean?”
“Ur” can mean “your” Y-O-U-R or “you’re”
Y-O-U-‘-R-E.
It just depends on the sentence, depends on
the situation, depends on which one grammatically
fits the sentence.
Examples, “Ur not my friend.
“Does this answer ur question?”
You’ll see this on the Internet.
Don’t use this in formal business writing,
don’t use this in work emails.
It’s only used among close friends and maybe
online.
So, hope that helps, thanks for that question.
Next question!
The next question comes from Niraj Nisha.
“Hi, what is the difference between ‘apologize,’
‘sorry’ and ‘pardon.’”
First, “apologize” is a verb which means
to say you are sorry for something.
“Apologize” is a verb.
“Please apologize.”
“I want you to apologize.”
“Don’t apologize for that.”
“Sorry” is an adjective that expresses
sadness or regret.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.”
“He doesn’t seem very sorry.”
“Pardon” is a verb.
It sounds like “excuse me” or “forgive
me.”
It’s more formal than “sorry.”
“Pardon me.”
“Please pardon his behavior.”
So, I hope that helps a little bit.
You can always check a dictionary for the
specific different meanings of each of these
words.
So, those are all the questions that I want
to answer this week.
Thank you as always for sending your great
questions.
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Bye-bye.