Speak English Beyond the Basics
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hi everybody my name is Alisha and today
we’re gonna be talking about 15
questions that you should know so these
are 15 questions that not necessarily
you need to know how to ask them perhaps
you know some of the questions already
but you will probably also hear these
questions as well so we’ll practice a
few different answers for these
questions too so let’s get started do
you like American food the first
question is do you like American food
you will probably be asked this question
do you like American food you can either
say yes or no or you can give a specific
example someone says do you like
American food yes I love Philly
cheesesteaks I would recommend saying
yes or a little or or or you can just
say I don’t know what do you recommend
have you been to the United States
the next question is have you been to
the United States have you been to the
United States so someone asks you have
you been to the United States you should
reply with either yes I have or no I
haven’t or maybe no I haven’t yet but I
want to when you want to ask someone
this question you can say have you been
to Japan have you been to Egypt have you
been to China whatever you can use your
own country when you ask this question
how are you how are you when someone
asks how are you don’t say I’m fine
thank you and you please don’t say that
please say something more natural like
good great I’m good how are you
something like that is much better than
I’m fine thank you and you be a little
more genuine in your reply also when you
ask this question maybe one point to
help you sound a little more natural
when you ask someone else don’t like
trying to say how are you how are you
instead of how are you or and make sure
your intonation is correct I’ve had a
few people ask me how are you like a
little - moon yeah with this question or
like how are you but how are you should
be the intonation with this how are you
how are you it’s a little bit more
natural how long have you been studying
English how long have you been studying
English how long have you
studying English great question to know
the answer to your answer should be I
have been studying English for
blah-blah-blah years or bla bla bla
month several more weeks but if that’s
too much for you you can just use the
time how long have you been studying
English six years how long have you been
studying English two months so just pick
the time if the whole sentence is quite
long for you how old are you
we don’t really go around asking people
how old they are like just the first
time you meet them necessarily
especially if they’re older much older
than you like in particular it’s
sometimes considered rude to ask
especially women how old they are so
just be careful with this question but
if you’re about the same age group you
know maybe you’re at an event or a party
or something and you just want to check
how old the other person is you can use
this phrase when you reply to this just
say I’m plus the number to make a really
simple response so how old are you I’m
15 how old are you I’m 42 whatever the
answer is just stick five in front of it
not i but i’m i am but use the
contracted form to sound more natural
i’m number if you want to make a full
sentence you can say i’m number years
old don’t forget that s in years i’m a
million years old what did you say
what did you say if you couldn’t quite
hear something that someone else said
you can use this question to confirm
sorry what did you say it’s a little
nicer than just saying what what did you
say or what did you just say sorry what
did you say I couldn’t hear you what’s
this what’s this when you don’t know
what something is what’s this when
you’re out for dinner you’re out for
lunch or something and you find a new
food or you just you’re curious just say
what’s this to reply to this question
just say it’s bla bla bla
what’s your name what’s your name of
course you should know how to ask this
question and how to answer this question
what’s your name is a little more
natural than what is your name again
contracted form will help you sound much
more natural so what’s your name someone
asks you you can just give your name
Alicia that’s fine you can say Alicia
you can say I’m Alicia that’s fine too
you could say my name is or my name’s
Alicia either any of those are fine in
more formal situation a business
situation I would I would use my name is
Pablo and while I shake hands or
something what’s your phone number
the next one is what’s your phone number
I would not ask this question right away
like maybe you’ve met the person a few
times but you would like to contact them
whether it’s because you’re romantically
interested in them or because you want
to be better friends with them but just
that if you meet someone for the first
time and you’re like what’s your phone
number like a little it’s a little too
much so use this question after you’ve
met the person a few times and you know
you want to become better friends when
you want to give your phone number just
say it’s and the number that’s fine just
it’s blah blah blah or my phone number
is blah blah blah with the number 5 5 5
1 million and 5 to 6 when is your
birthday so maybe you want to plan a
birthday party for example or it’s just
another fun question the first time you
meet someone when did your birthday so
when you want to tell someone your
birthday just give the month and the
date mmm
January 15th August 42nd that’s a real
day if you want to make a full sentence
you can say my birthday is month date
where are you from
the next word the next question is where
are you from this can refer to your
country or your city mmm but I feel like
prop more stuff and it refers to your
country so where are you from
your answer should be I’m from places
I’m from China I’m from Japan I’m from
Vietnam I’m from America
whatever I’m from where did you learn
English the next question is where did
you learn English where did you learn
English if you’re speaking great English
you can say I learned English at English
class 101.com yes you did cuz you’re
watching no anyway where did you learn
English in this case in the case of like
these videos I learned English online or
I learned English from and then the
school name or the program name so I
learned English from English class
101.com for example if you studied
English at university you can say I
learned English at university or I
learned English from my friends perhaps
where do you live where do you live
depending on the situation where you’re
asked is this can mean your country like
I live in America I
in China sometimes it’s about the place
in the city where you live sometimes
it’s about the country where you live so
you can kind of feel I think which
question which type of question is being
asked where do you work where do you
work is talking about your job you can
use the pattern I work at company name
or I work for company name either is
fine I work at ABC company I work for
ABC company either is okay but you know
if if you have answered with the wrong
information the other person will just
ask you like oh I mean where is your
office or oh I mean which company do you
work for use the force for this one
where is the bathroom where is the
bathroom very important question where
is the bathroom in American English
where is the bathroom or where is the
restroom is more common than where is
the toilet using the word toilet is a
little bit too direct in American
English so I recommend bathroom or
restroom so those are 15 questions that
you should definitely know know how to
ask these questions and know how to
answer these questions they are very
useful and very important for everyday
conversation thanks very much for
joining us thank you very much for
subscribing if you haven’t subscribed
yet please be sure to do so so that you
can check our fun stuff every week with
that we will see you again next time bye
if you are a baby watching this video
please contact us because you are
amazing
really yeah
Thunderdome in my stomach that’s going
at the end of my videos I’m sure steak
hi everybody my name is Alisha welcome
to know your verbs in this episode we’re
going to talk about the verb see so
let’s get started
so the basic definition of C is to
perceive with your eyes so this really
means to use your eyes to get
information you use your eyes to look at
things to maybe understand things to
gain knowledge by looking at things by
using your eyes focusing your eyes on
things you can learn things or gain
information gain knowledge so this is to
perceive but the basic the basic
definition though is just to perceive
with your eyes to use your eyes to
perceive to gain information to gain
knowledge okay let’s see the
conjugations for the verb C C C’s saw
seen seeing
let’s talk about a few additional
meanings of the verb see first one to
form a mental picture of to form a
mental picture of means to use your mind
to create an image so see has the
meaning of creating an image in your
mind for example I can see my childhood
home clearly it was one story and had a
big yard what do you see when you close
your eyes
so in these example sentences we’re not
actually using our eyes to see something
in this use of the word see we are
imagining it and in our minds we are
making a picture so we’re not actually
using our eyes to see these items
instead maybe there are things we saw in
the past and we are imagining them
mentally we are creating a mental image
of something so when I say I can see my
house clearly my childhood house it
means in my mind I can form a clear
image of the house in my mind in the
question what do you see it means when
you close your eyes what’s the mental
image that appears in your mind so see
is used to create mental images to refer
to creating mental images here next is
to examine or to watch so in this use of
the verb see there’s sort of the nuance
of an expectation we want to use our
eyes to watch something as it changes or
to examine a change as it happens to
examine a behavior let’s see how the
team does in today’s match I can’t wait
to see what the neighbors do when they
realize we bought a pool in the example
of let’s see how the team does in
today’s match we are talking about using
our eyes our actual eyes perhaps if we
are actually watching the match if we go
to the game where we see the match on TV
perhaps we are using our eyes however if
we don’t go to the match and we read the
score from the game or we hear on the
radio something about the game where we
hear the results of the game we can
still use the verb
si si has this nuance of examining
something so we’re expecting some
results so let’s see in this case
doesn’t only mean using your eyes to
examine it can mean to examine maybe the
results of an hour are the results of
something to examine the outcome of
something in the second example sentence
let’s see how the neighbors react we see
the same thing so it’s the same it’s the
same sort of nuance we are expecting a
reaction we are going to watch for a
reaction from the neighbors when they
realize we bought a pool so we want to
examine their reaction we want to
examine an outcome we can use the verb
si though maybe we use our ears like if
the neighbor says oh my gosh they bought
a pool that’s sort of examining your
you’re waiting for a reaction there we
can still use the verb let’s see the
expression let’s see to talk about that
so let’s see what happens next for
example next one to make sure to make
sure please see that this task is
finished he saw that all the
arrangements had been made in these
sentences the verb si is used to mean
make sure or to confirm something to
ensure something in the first one please
see that this task is finished we could
replace the verb C with make sure please
make sure that this task is finished so
that’s a very clear sentence please see
is just a shortened way of saying make
sure please see that this task is
finished please ensure that this task is
finished we can replace the verb here
the second example sentence is the same
he saw that all the arrangements had
been made so he made sure that all the
arrangements had been made and in these
example sentences si is replacing the
expression make sure or ensure so we can
use C to mean the same thing it’s just a
shorter way of
make sure next to find acceptable or
attractive what do you see in him what
do you see in her I don’t understand
what you see in this restaurant
it’s terrible what are the qualities you
perceive in that person or the qualities
that you can detect in that situation
what are the good points you identify
there we can use the word see to sort of
communicate that quickly and easily so
what do you see in him what do you see
in her is a much shorter way of saying
what do you find attractive about him or
her what do you find appealing about him
or her or what characteristics of that
person attract you to that person saying
what do you see in him what do you see
in her is a much shorter way of saying
what qualities do you find attractive in
that person the same thing in the
restaurant example I don’t understand
what you see in this restaurant means I
don’t understand what it is that you
like about this restaurant I think it’s
bad so instead we shorten it to I don’t
understand what you see in this
restaurant so see means finding
something attractive or interesting or
appealing in some way
now let’s talk about some variations so
some slight changes or some additions to
the verb see that changed the meaning
first is see-through see-through
see-through means to understand the true
nature of something to understand the
real characteristics of something he saw
through my attempts to work with him and
asked me on a date my boss saw through
my lie and scolded me for faking
sickness so here we see the use in the
past tense in the first example sentence
he saw through my attempts to work with
him meaning he saw the true nature of
what I was doing so he saw through my
attempts to work with him and asked me
on a date so in the situation maybe the
person the speaker was trying to spend
time with the he in this situation and
was asking maybe to work together a lot
but he in the situation saw through saw
to the true nature of the speaker’s
request saw the true characteristics or
the actual desire there and asked the
speaker on a date so in this sentence we
understand that there was a different
motivation so something below the
surface of the of the initial action
that was happening so the the other
person in the situation understood the
other motivation the motivation below
the surface motivation and so we use saw
through or see through to communicate
that so I he saw through my attempts to
work with him and he understood there
was something else I wanted to do in the
second example sentence my boss saw
through my lie and scolded me for faking
sickness so again we see in past tense
my boss saw through my lie so saw that I
was lying in other words saw through my
lie so saw the true character of my lie
saw the true nature of my statement and
scolded me so my boss understood I lied
and scolded me for faking sickness so I
got in trouble
because I was faking an illness faking
sickness my boss saw through my behavior
saw the true character understood the
true nature of my of my statement next
is see eye to eye see eye to eye this
means to have a common viewpoint or to
agree we don’t see eye to eye most of
the time I’m glad we see eye to eye
about this so maybe this one is an easy
one to visualize so to see eye to eye
with someone else means you agree with
them you share a viewpoint with them so
you can kind of imagine maybe two people
standing across from one another and if
they see eye to eye
maybe they match their line of sight
matches much in the way that their
viewpoints or their opinions match
exactly exactly so they have kind of the
same viewpoint they can see eye to eye
so they’re there their eyesight maybe
matches their opinions match so to see
eye to eye and we can say I’m glad we
see eye to eye about this meaning I’m
happy we agree about this or in a
negative we don’t see eye to eye most of
the time means we don’t agree most of
the time or we have different opinions
most of the time all right so I hope
that this video helped you level up your
knowledge of the verb see a little bit
if you have any questions or comments or
if you know another way of using the
verb see let us know in the comments
section below the video thanks very much
for watching please make sure to like
the video subscribe to the channel and
check us out at English class 101.com
for more good stuff thanks for watching
this episode of know your verbs and
we’ll see you again soon bye
we’ll see you again soon we end every
video on this channel almost with see
you again soon but of course I don’t
actually see you you see me we imagine
you we have we form mental images in our
minds of all of you watching in the
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thousands of you guys that’s kind of
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hi everybody my name is Alisha in this
lesson we’re going to talk about some
expressions you can use to talk about
your abilities so I’m going to introduce
some expressions you can use for the
past for the present and for the future
these are just a few examples of some
ways you can talk about the things you
can could and will be able to do so
let’s take a look with a few examples of
each pattern okay
let’s start with the first one I can
plus a verb so here the subject in the
sample pattern is I but we can replace I
with for example he or she or it or they
the same is true for all of the other
patterns I’m going to introduce in this
lesson so we use I can plus a verb as
sort of the basic most simple way to
express something we are able to do so
example sentences I can speak English
my verb here is speak in this case so
this could be something many of you can
use another example here I’ve changed
the subject to she she so she can my
verb is run she can run 5k 5k beating
five kilometres in 30 minutes so these
are just some simple very basic ways to
express something we can do we are able
to do of course we can use the negative
for this I can’t speak English I can’t
speak Chinese for example or she can’t
run 5k in 30 minutes we can make the
negative with this pattern too so this
is maybe the most basic way to express
something you can do you are able to do
let’s look at another one this
expression is I know how to plus a verb
I know how to do something so we can use
the same verbs we used in the first
pattern in this pattern if you like for
example I know how to speak English is
fine however we
you know how to do something for
something that requires like study or
something that requires maybe a process
there are rules for that thing so a
sentence like I know how to run 5k it’s
not quite so natural because running
isn’t really necessarily a topic of
study running requires practice yes but
it’s not really something we study so we
use know how to do something for
something we have learned how to do so
not necessarily physical practice of
something but we have learned this thing
so some examples I know how to use
Photoshop so Photoshop is a piece of
software something we can study
something we learn how to use another
example he knows how to bake cookies so
here this is something we need to study
in other words so there’s a process to
baking cookies he knows how to bake
cookies so please keep in mind as we see
in this example when we change the
subject from I 2 for example he she or
it the following verb no needs to change
we need to modify the verb so it has an
S at the end he knows how to bake
cookies so don’t forget this s however
this verb does not change he knows how
to bake cookies so we don’t need to
modify this verb we’ll only modify the
first one which is attached to the
subject okay so this is for a process
something we study to become able to do
now let’s talk about a couple of past
tense examples so these two are maybe
present tense expressions let’s talk
about some past tense example sentences
the first one when I was a kid I could
and our verb so here I’ve said when I
was a kid you can change this of course
when I was a student when I was an
elementary school student when I lived
in a different City
for example so this part can change to a
different time
in your life however here I’m using the
past tense could I could so this implies
this suggests that maybe this action is
not possible for you now let’s look at
some examples so when I was a kid I
could swim all day long so this sentence
sounds like now I can’t really it’s it’s
just a simple expression with past tense
I could I could
so maybe the speaker is going to share
some more information about their
current ability but here I’ve used when
I was a kid again you can change this to
like when I was in swimming club for
example I could swim all day long so
there are a lot of different variations
you can use with this pattern anyway
let’s look at another example when you
were a kid so maybe if a parent wants to
talk to their son or daughter about
their childhood they can use this
expression so when you were a kid you
could sleep for 12 hours straight so
it’s 12 hours straight means 12 hours
non-stop so you is my subject here when
you therefore was in my example pattern
changes to were when you were a kid you
could sleep for 12 hours straight so
again this is a past tense expression
let’s look at one more past tense
expression maybe you’re familiar with
used to used to so I used to be able to
do something so where the action is a
verb here so here we have used to so
maybe you know I used to followed by
just a simple verb so like I used to
cook every day or I used to exercise
every day here we introduced I used to
be able to this expression allows us to
explain an ability we had in the past so
let’s look at some examples I used to be
able to speak Spanish here’s my verb to
speak Spanish
used to shows a long time ago in the
past I had this ability but now I do not
so remember the nuance of used to is
that something was true in the past and
it is not true
now I used to also please consider the
pronunciation here so not used to but
native speakers connect the D and the T
sound at the end of used and - so it’s
not used to but used to used to there’s
just one sound there used to so think of
it as dropping the D used to I used to
do something one more example she used
to be able to babysit meaning her
schedule maybe has changed now she
cannot babysit so here we have some
expressions with used to to a talk about
a past ability okay
finally let’s end with one example a
pattern that you can use to talk about
future possibilities or future abilities
so you can use this when you want to
make a guess about the future so
something you think you might be able to
do in the future so the base pattern is
in the future will be able to verb so
here I have we in my example we will so
wheel is the contracted form of we will
and I’ve used we in this case we means
all people all people all members of
society we together so some examples of
this in the future we’ll be able to use
AI technology AI so artificial
intelligence AI technology in the future
we’ll be able to use AI technology so
you might wonder why am I using will
here instead of like going to for
example we use will when we’re making a
guess about the future that we can’t
really see so we can’t see what’s going
to happen in the future
and maybe we don’t have such a strong
level of confidence we don’t have a suit
for high level of confidence about our
guests in those cases we can use will so
these are nice to talk about
capabilities things we are able to do or
in this case things we might be able to
do in the future
so this is the sentence you can use to
make a prediction to make a guess let’s
look at one more example said this okay
in the future we’ll be able to travel to
space so here again I’m making a guess
about space travel so I don’t have a
high level of confidence because I don’t
know very much about space travel but I
want to make a guess in the future we’ll
be able to travel to space if you want
to decrease the level of confidence of
your guests you can include I think for
example in the future I think we’ll be
able to travel in space so you can
change the level of your confidence of
your guests by introducing some other
phrases like I think or maybe alright so
these are a few ways that you can
express your abilities in the past the
present and in the future these are just
a couple of different patterns to do
that but please be careful some things
that I’ve noticed are that often
students will mix up the present tense
can and past tense good so make sure to
use a past tense when you’re talking
about your abilities in the past and
make sure to use present tense for the
things you are able to do now so please
keep that in mind okay
so that’s all for this lesson I hope
that it was helpful for you if you have
any questions or if you want to try
making a sentence with one of these
expressions please feel free to do so in
the comment section below this video if
you liked the video please make sure to
give it a thumbs up subscribe to the
channel and check us out at English
class 101.com for some other good study
resources thanks very much for watching
this lesson and I will see you again
soon bye bye
when learning a new language it’s easy
to think I don’t think I’m making any
progress what if I never reach my goals
we all get these thoughts from time to
time but are they worth being scared of
what are the fears language learners
tend
have the most and how can you learn to
overcome them here are the top floor
language learning fears according to our
users number one I’m not good enough to
start speaking it this is a pretty
common fear or misconception that most
learners have here’s how you overcome it
the best way to get good at speaking is
to start speaking from day one you need
to open your mouth and just start
talking if you think you’re not good
enough just focus on the lines you want
to say number two I’m afraid I’ll never
be fluent you’ve got to set small
specific goals make daily goals like
having just a five-minute conversation
as these small goals add up we’ll be
speaking more comfortably number three
I’m not making any progress there are
two things you can do right now use the
dashboard to track your progress our
dashboard shows how much you’ve
accomplished or try a harder lesson on
our website the lessons come with line
by line translations and the hosts
explain everything now you can
understand something you didn’t minutes
ago number four I’m afraid of not
understanding anything I hear this fear
can occur when you hear advanced grammar
and vocabulary and it just goes
completely over your head to beat this
simply read along with our line by line
tool it’s the best way to instantly
understand advanced conversations
translations and scripts are right in
front of you for real-life situations
learn useful phrases such as can you say
it more slowly I don’t understand
there’s nothing wrong with saying that
you didn’t understand something so these
are the top 4 fears and how to overcome
them luckily we also have the perfect
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fears sign up for your free lifetime
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hi everybody and welcome back to top
words my name is Alisha and today we’re
going to be talking about ten ways to
ask for help help me help me ask for
help
let’s go can you can you blah blah blah
so can you give me that pen can you turn
off the fan can you give me a sandwich
for lunch
I forgot mine in this sentence can you
send me your email address so very
simple requests you can use can you blah
blah blah with them could you give me a
hand with the next expression is could
you give me a hand with blah blah blah
meaning I need you like I need
physically I need your hands to help me
maybe or I need something I need you to
help me with something could you give me
a hand with this computer could you give
me a hand with this furniture so it’s
you can use it to talk about like moving
something heavy or you can also use it
for like a task like could you give me a
hand with this report I don’t know this
information so you can use it for your
physical tasks or for mental tasks too
could you give me a hand with something
in this sentence could you give me a
hand moving this sofa can you show me
how to the next expression is can you
show me how to can you show me how to
bla bla bla this means please teach me
something so can you please show me how
to use this computer can you show me how
to use this software can you show me how
to book a ticket so these are all ways
to ask for help with how to do something
this is a very useful expression I think
can you help me out with the next
expression is can you help me out with
can you help me out with something
so before we talked about can you give
me a hand
with this is very similar can you help
me out with some tasks you can use it
for physical activities or mental
activities here so can you help me out
with this project can you help me out
with cleaning this house I don’t know in
this sentence can you help me out with
my homework I need help
the next expression is I need help
bla bla bla so you can use the
expression I need help
that’s fine but if you want to be
specific which I recommend I need help
bla bla bla I need help with my homework
I need help doing the dishes I need help
cleaning the yard I need help
something something something very clear
very direct it’s a little bit casual I
suppose but yet you can use this in most
situation where you need help
this sentence I need help making dinner
tonight could you the next expression is
could you so the first expression we saw
in this lesson was can you you can also
use could you to me
could you sounds a little bit more
formal than can you so can you love wha
is it’s a good kind of neutral everyday
way to ask for help could you sounds
just a little bit more polite a little
bit more formal so could you please send
me that file could you please stop
smoking here in this expression could
you send me the project files will you
so the next expression is will you so
this is used kind of for light maybe you
just thought of something you just
thought of something you need help with
so it’s probably a small task or a small
favor that you need so for example will
you get some milk at the store on your
way home it’s like something you just
thought of for the future so will you
help me with my homework will you give
me a moment of your time it’s something
very small very quick so in this
sentence will you let me know when
you’re free how do I the next expression
is how do i how do I
is somewhat similar to the earlier
expression we talked about can you show
me how to love love law but this one is
how do I and how do I get to the beach
from here how do I get to the station
how do I turn on this computer how do I
make new friends how do I study English
all of these are ways to ask for help or
ask for advice ask for directions
this is a very nice and easy to remember
way to ask for help how do I something
help the next expression is just help
so I’ve here sometimes students say
please help me or just help and I want
to point out that these expressions are
usually used in emergency situations for
example there’s an accident or there’s a
dangerous person near you or maybe
you’re injured or hurt some emergency so
please help me alone
sounds to a native speaker maybe like a
serious situation or an emergency
situation help is similar to so of
course if you’re an emergency situation
absolutely you should use the words help
and please help me or just help me as
well too but be careful because they
sound very serious I don’t recommend
using them for like light casual
everyday situations where you need help
instead please use one of the other
expressions we talked about in this
lesson so help is great for emergencies
but maybe only for emergencies so yeah
in a sentence maybe for example in the
kitchen there’s there you have a small
accident in the kitchen you can shout to
your roommate or your family member help
me and they’ll come running if something
to check and see if you’re okay I need
your help with
the next expression is I need your help
with blah blah blah the expression I
need your help with sounds like you are
required for this task I need you maybe
you have special knowledge or special
experience with this thing or you are
better equipped like you can do a better
job than I can with this task so I need
you for some reason so I need your help
preparing this information I need your
help
reaching that tall glass like that’s
really what I like I’m short so if I
need something up high I might say to a
tall person I need your help reaching
that glass up there you can use this yes
someone is better at doing something
than you are you can say I need your
help with both above in this sentence I
need your help with this project that’s
the end so those are 10 words and 10
phrases really that you can use to ask
for help if you have any other ways
you’d like to ask for help or if you
have any questions about this video or
ways to ask for help please leave it in
a comment and let us know about it if
you liked this video please make sure to
hit the thumbs up button and also
subscribe to our channel if you haven’t
subscribed already thanks very much for
watching this episode of top words and
we will see you again soon bye wanna
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hi everybody my name is Alisha welcome
back to English class 101 comms YouTube
channel today I’m going to talk about
the difference between speak and talk to
commonly confused verbs so let’s get
started okay the first verb I want to
talk about is the verb talk we use talk
in casual speech in everyday
conversations if you want to talk about
a simple topic or a casual discussion
with friends or you just want to report
a conversation that happened or a
discussion that happened you can use
talk to explain this simply and casually
in most everyday conversations I use
talk you’ll hear talk a lot when you are
listening to conversations about
discussions on the phone we use it to
explain phone conversations a lot we use
it to explain simple meetings with
people friendly interactions over coffee
for example talk is used in most
everyday situations so if you’re
reporting on something that’s pretty
casual you should use the word talk to
explain that also if the person you are
talking to is not someone who you have a
professional relationship with it’s
pretty good to use talk in that case if
you use speak you might sound a little
too formal we’re going to talk about
this in just a moment though so please
try to keep in mind that talk should be
used in everyday conversations to report
everyday conversations and in more
casual situations okay we can also use
talk the verb talk with to or with by
this I mean we can say I want to talk to
someone or I want to talk with someone
these are for me very very similar we
use them in very similar ways if you
want to be extremely specific I would
say that perhaps there is a small nuance
of a difference between talking to talk
to and talk with if I say I want to talk
to someone maybe it could be a more
one-sided conversation like I want to
talk to
my friend I expect my friend is going to
talk to me as well but I feel like that
has a little more of a one-sided
conversation feel then using talked with
if I say I want to talk with my friend I
want to talk with you about it with to
me sounds a little bit more like doing
something together with someone else so
again this is a very very small
difference and perhaps this is just my
style and how I like to use these words
but for the most part we can use them
interchangeably we can use them in the
same way and you’re not going to really
have any communication problems
depending on the words you choose but
just for your information this is how I
sometimes use too and with with the verb
talk and with speak to as I’ll explain
later okay finally about conjugations
for the verb talk to make the past tense
of the verb talk talk is in Eric I’m
sorry start again okay finally about
conjugations with the verb talk to
conjugate the verb talk into the past
tense and the past participle we simply
add edy to the end of the verb so talk
becomes talked
this makes past tense and past
participle so a very easy conjugation
for the verb talk so we’re going to use
this in some example sentences later
let’s take a look though at the verb
speak okay so we talked about we talked
about how the verb talk is used in more
casual situations everyday conversations
everyday discussions speak however is
used in more formal situations if you
want to create a more formal nuance or
to have a more formal tone when you
speak with someone use the verb speak so
I just used the verb speak to sound a
little bit more formal in this
explanation for example if you would
like to sound a little more formal try
using the verb speak instead of the verb
talk this is really useful in business
situations at work you can use this in
business emails as well or in any kind
of writing where you would
to sound a little more formal this is
more polite than talk as you might have
guessed so talk has a more casual nuance
speak has a more formal nuance about it
as with talk we can use this with - or
with so speak to someone or speak with
someone I want to speak to my boss I
want to speak with my boss like I talked
about with talk we can use the - pretty
much in the same way very very similarly
I would say there’s a very small nuance
again talk - might sound a little bit
more one-sided one person is reporting
information perhaps and with perhaps
sounds more like an exchange of
information but again this is a very
small difference and perhaps just a way
that I think about how to use - and with
with these verbs but you can use them
essentially in the same way speak to or
speak with someone finally there’s one
other key difference between speak and
talk and that is about languages when
you are explaining your language ability
for example I speak English I speak
Japanese I don’t speak Chinese
we should always use the verb speak
please don’t use the verb talk to
explain your language abilities so a
sentence like I talk French is not
correct please use I speak French speak
is the correct verb to talk about your
language abilities or to talk about your
inability as well so please be careful
there lastly a couple conjugation points
about this verb then so speak in the
past tense speak is an irregular verb
speak becomes spoke in the past tense
spoke so please be careful here also to
make the past participle form speak
becomes spoken have you spoken to
someone I’ve never spoken with someone
so there are two conjugations we need to
consider for today’s practice spoke and
spoke in past tense and past participle
tense okay so now that we reviewed a
couple points about the difference
between talk
speak let’s take a look at a few example
sentences and maybe we can decide which
verb is a better choice in each of these
okay first one he’s something something
to his manager our hint word here is the
word manager this implies it’s a work
situation so it’s probably a good idea
to sound a little more formal let’s use
spoke past tense he spoke to his manager
of course you could say he speaks to his
manager but we don’t have much other
information here so maybe a simple
sentence he spoke to his manager he’s
nice
let’s see the next one you should ba ba
ba to your parents
so here we have parents and also you
should this this kind of gives us the
feeling that this sentence is maybe a
casual advice situation so how about
talk it sounds more casual so talk
sounds better you should talk to your
parents again
talk with your parents is also okay here
alright let’s look at the next sentence
haven’t they blah blah blah to you about
this so here we have haven’t have not a
negative form here haven’t they blah
blah blah to you about this in this
sentence there’s no clear hint word is
it a casual situation is it a formal
situation so in a sentence like this
because we don’t have enough information
about the situation both talk and speak
are actually okay but we do need to
conjugate the verb correctly so that it
matches this haven’t at the beginning of
the sentence so we can say haven’t they
talked to you or haven’t they spoken to
you about this both are correct in this
case haven’t they talked to you haven’t
they spoken to you it just changes the
level of formality of the sentence okay
let’s take a look at the next one I
really wanted to something something to
you again it’s a little bit difficult to
determine is this a formal situation or
a casual situation I would guess I’ve
included the word really here typically
really is only used in casual situations
or it’s better to use a word like
really in less formal situation so I
think that talk is a better choice here
I really wanted to talk to you hmm nice
all right next one she is something
something with clients at the moment so
here the hint is clients indicating it’s
a business situation or a more formal
situation and here we have the grammar
she is she is this implies progressive
or a continuous grammar sentence so
she’s something something clients gives
us the hint it’s more formal let’s use
speak but again to change it to the
progressive form she’s speaking with
clients at the moment sounds nice
okay let’s look at the next sentence
then what were they blah blah blah with
that guy about okay so here I’ve used
with again we can use to or with but
I’ve included guy as a hint word here
guy sounds a little bit more casual we
use guy in may be more casual
discussions everyday discussions so we
probably want to use talk in this case a
more casual choice here we have we see
it’s past
what were they something something with
that guy about but we know this should
be a past progressive tense sentence to
what were they just indicates something
continuing what were they talking with
that guy about what were they talking
with that guy about great alright next
one you guys should have blah blah blah
about it last week again we see this you
guys you guys implying something more
casual you guys should have so again
this is probably a sentence where we
need to use the verb talk because it’s a
more casual situation we could use the
verb speak if you like but again it’s
going to sound a little more formal here
we have you guys which sounds casual so
mixing casual and formal might sound a
little strange so here for to match our
grammar you guys should have
about it last week is the nice sentence
here okay let’s look at the last one
then she’s never blah blah blah to me so
she’s this is an interesting contraction
be careful it’s not she is never never
is a big hint here yeah we know that
never we use never a lot in present
perfect tense sentences so she’s here
does not mean she is instead this is the
contracted form of she has so here she
has never something something to me in
this sentence we don’t know if it’s a
casual or a formal expression so we can
choose either verb so she has never
talked to me is correct or she has never
spoken to me she’s never talked to me
she’s never spoken to me both are
correct just depending on the situation
and depending on the nuance you would
like to communicate you can choose the
better form or the better verb
accordingly
so these are a few cases where speak and
talk it might be a good idea to choose
one or the other but I would recommend
just keep in mind if you want to sound
more formal please choose the verb speak
if you want to sound a little more
casual use the verb talk in most cases
we will use the verb talk but maybe at
work it’s a good idea to use speak
instead also don’t forget to use speak
to talk about your language abilities
too okay so those are a few points about
when to use speak and talk if you have
any questions or if you want to try to
make an example sentence give it a try
in the comment section below this video
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for more stuff like this thanks very
much for watching this episode and we
will see you again soon bye
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