5 Grammar Rules myths your teachers HAVE BEEN LYING about
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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
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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
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soon for another lesson
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you
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