Learn English Business Language in 2 Hours
wanna speak real English from your first
lesson sign up for your free lifetime
account at English class 101.com
hi everybody my name is Alisha and today
I’m going to talk about prepositions of
time I’m going to talk about a few
prepositions we use when we’re talking
about time and time periods so let’s get
started okay so the first preposition of
time I want to talk about is on we use
on for days for example on Sunday on
Monday on Tuesday and we use on for the
weekend like on the weekend or on
weekends these are the two cases where
we use on as a preposition of time I
like to something something on Sunday I
like to something something on weekends
we use on in these two cases the second
preposition of time I want to talk about
for today is at so we use at when we
want to talk about a time and buy time I
mean o clock like 7 o’clock at 9 o’clock
at 10 o’clock we can also use at with
a.m. and p.m. like at 2:00 a.m. at 7
p.m. we use at to talk about a specific
point in time a specific number for
example we also use at with the
expression at night at night I like to
something something at night are usually
something something at night we always
use at in this case then I have one more
here the weekend you’ll see I used the
weekend for on here but in British
English I speak American English in
British English you might hear at the
weekend instead of on the weekend so at
the weekend is something you might hear
depending on where you are or depending
on the people with whom you study but
for me I prefer to use on the weekend ok
let’s talk about in next so we use in
for a lot of different cases as you can
see we use in four months like
September in October in November we use
it for seasons like in summer in spring
in fall we use it for expressions like
in the morning in the evening in the
afternoon as well in the morning in the
afternoon we also use in for periods of
time so minutes hours and years for
example so in five minutes in three
years in a few seconds if you want to
talk about a period of time you can use
in to explain that so we use in for a
lot of different cases the last thing I
want to talk about though is a situation
where you don’t need to use a
preposition at all when you use this
plus weekend like this weekend or this
morning or this evening or this month
this September this October you do not
need to use a preposition in this case
we’ll practice in just a moment but this
is a very common mistake if you use this
before one of these expressions you do
not need to include a preposition so
please be careful okay so with this
information I want to try a few example
sentences that I’ve prepared here the
first one is I have to leave something
something five minutes five minutes is a
period of time so we know the correct
preposition is in I have to leave in
five minutes is the correct answer here
next
what are you doing something something
December December so we know December is
a month we should use in in this case
what are you doing in December of course
by the way with this sentence we could
say what are you doing this December to
be very specific but in this case for a
preposition we should use in okay next
sentence I’ll meet you at the restaurant
6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. is a time a time so
we know that we should use at at 6:00
p.m. that’s
p.m. okay next your plane leave
something something two hours so two
hours again is a period of time a period
of time
therefore we should use in your plane
leaves in two hours is the correct
sentence here okay next they’re going to
France something something this summer
here is a big hint word this therefore
no preposition is needed in this case
they’re going to France this summer no
preposition here okay next he’s meeting
us in the station something something
noon so noon I’ve used the word noon
here but noon is a time
it means 12:00 p.m. yeah so because it’s
still a time we should use at at noon is
the correct sentence here
okay next can you meet me at the cafe
something something 2 p.m. so 2 p.m.
here we have another time at 2 p.m. is
the correct answer here ok
next I like going hiking something
something weekend’s weekend so we
learned over here that we use on to talk
about weekend’s weekend’s in this case
multiple weekends so I like going hiking
on weekends is the correct answer in
this case finally it’s hard for me to
wake up something something the morning
the morning so we saw here morning is
used with in hmm so in the morning is
the correct answer for this sentence so
with a little bit of practice and as you
use these phrases not just with a single
preposition but as you use these in
longer sentences and as part of phrases
it will become easier to remember which
is which and which one you should use at
which time so I hope this was useful for
you thanks very much for watching this
episode if you have any questions or
comments please let us know in a comment
below this video thanks very much for
watching and see you again soon right
today we’re going to
talk about prepositions of location and
movement so let’s get started okay so
the first preposition of location I want
to talk about is at we use at to talk
about exact specific locations so some
examples of this are at the supermarket
at the table at her desk
this means a person or an object is at
that specific place so for example I’m
at work
right now I’m at the office these are
specific points where people or objects
can be located so please use at to talk
about a specific location okay so let’s
go on to the next preposition of
location for now in we use in when we
want to talk about in closed locations
so locations which are surrounded or
when we’re surrounded by something else
something else is all around us or we
are enclosed within something so some
examples of this are in the pool we are
enclosed or surrounded by the pool in
the closet completely enclosed by the
closet in your bag your items are
enclosed by your bag and in the water so
when swimming in the ocean for example
we say in the water I’m in the water
for example now I’m in the office I’m in
a room I’m in my home city for example
so these are different ways we can use
the word in when we are enclosed or
surrounded by something please also
remember that in is used for countries
and cities I live in Bangkok I live in
Europe for example so please remember to
use in for countries and cities as well
as for locations that are enclosed or
when you’re surrounded by something else
okay so let’s talk about the next
preposition of location the next
preposition is by we use by when we want
to express something is near something
else near or close to something else so
for example by the park or by the coffee
shop by your computer by the table these
mean near something else we don’t know
exactly is it maybe next to in front of
behind we don’t know but it means simply
near something else so for example I’m
by the whiteboard right now I’m by a
chair I’m by a table these are ways we
can use by to express near or close to
okay so the next preposition I want to
talk about is a preposition of movement
actually the next two are prepositions
of movement the first one is in two so
in two is something we use to express
movement from an open location to a more
closed location so for example in to the
bank
walk into the bank or into the
refrigerator put food into the
refrigerator or into the suspects home
the police moved into the suspects home
in each case in two shows moving from an
open location to a more closed location
so because in is here you can imagine we
are moving to an enclosed location we
could say jump into the pool for example
or go into the closet put something into
your bag or go into the water so in this
way we can kind of think of in and to
being closely related but two shows us
the movement the relationship that
there’s some movement happening there
okay so let’s talk about the opposite
then of into which is out of so because
we use in to to talk about movement from
a more open place to an enclosed space
out of is used to talk about movement
from an enclosed space to a more open
space so for example out of the house or
out of the washing machine taking
clothes out of the washing machine out
of your purse take something out of your
purse so moving yourself moving a person
or moving an object from something that
is enclosed to a space that is more open
we use out of in this case okay so now
we know about five new prepositions of
location and movement
let’s try some example sentences okay
the first one she’s sitting something
something the table the table so here we
have the table I talked earlier about
this at the table with at yeah however
we can use by the table as well at the
table and by the table have slightly
different meanings though both are
correct at the table means she is
sitting in a chair directly in front of
the table she’s sitting at the table by
the table however could mean she’s next
to the table or she’s just near the
table by is a little bit less clear at
is very clear here to be very clear say
she’s sitting at the table to be less
clear maybe she’s somewhere near the
table used by okay so the next example
sentence is our company’s headquarters
is something something la la la meaning
Los Angeles here so we have a city name
yeah a city name Los Angeles we know
that we should use city names with in so
the answer here is in in LA okay the
next one he lives something something at
the supermarket so the supermarket is a
place and here we have the verb lives he
lives we know it’s not in because people
do not live in supermarkets probably not
at he lives at the supermarket also
doesn’t make any sense people do not
live at supermarkets however we can use
bye-bye so he lives by the supermarket
to mean he lives near the supermarket
okay so next one when we walked
something something the bank it was
raining okay so here we have the verb
walked and we have the bank so there’s a
motion happening yeah walking and then
the bank the preposition we should use
here it’s probably in two though out of
it could also be possible when we walked
into the bank
it was raining when we walked out of the
bank it was raining both sentences are
okay in this case it just depends on the
action you want to communicate
okay next one I need to run something
something the supermarket for milk okay
so here there’s an objective for milk
this person wants to buy milk so they
need to run something something the
supermarket so let’s use into moving
from outside the supermarket to inside
the supermarket a more enclosed space
into into the supermarket okay
next one is I have to be something
something the office until 6:00 p.m. so
here we have a specific location the
office the office so office is an
enclosed space yes which means we can
use in I have to be in the office until
6:00 p.m. but with work and with office
spaces we can also use at it’s an exact
location I have to be in the office or I
have to be at the office until 6:00 p.m.
both are correct here okay next I forgot
to take my phone something something
your bag okay so take this take motion
here is a really good hint there’s an
action happening so there’s a very good
chance we are moving something from a
from an enclosed location to a more open
location so I forgot to take my phone
out of your bag out of your bag is the
correct answer here finally I want to
get something something town so town is
yes it’s a location like in my town or
at my town however a big hint here is
get get we use get to reflect movement
sometimes and this phrase is a good one
to remember
get out of town get out of town
so get out of town means leave town go
to a different place outside of town so
I want to get out of town is the correct
answer here okay
so those are a few prepositions of
location and movement I hope that this
was useful for you if you have any
questions please be sure to leave them
in a comment below this video thanks
very much for watching this lesson and
we will see you again soon I wanna speak
real English from your first lesson sign
up for your free lifetime account at
English class 101.com
today I’m going to talk about say tell
and speak I’m going to talk about the
differences between when we use these
and also give some examples of how to
use them as well so let’s go okay the
first one I want to talk about is say
say so we use say when we want to have a
very neutral feel to what we’re talking
about we use say when we report speech
we’re reporting information reporting
something we heard reporting something
someone else said to us so as I just use
the past tense of say is said please be
careful it is not say IDI say IDI it
should be said the spelling changes said
he said she said we said they said okay
so when we want to report speech we can
use the past tense like I’ve just done
for example he said dinner was delicious
this is a past tense statement so maybe
previously before the conversation
someone he said this statement dinner
was delicious think of this like a quote
dinner was delicious he said dinner was
delicious another example you said you
were tired you said you were tired so
again before the conversation the other
person said he or she was tired but here
to report you said you were tired and we
use the past tense say said to do that
okay one more with the present tense
then remember we use the present tense
when we’re talking about general facts
or things which are always true regular
actions so in this case I’ve used
present tense I said I never say mean
things so here I have present tense this
is a general fact in this case I never
say mean things so again a very neutral
way of talking about verbal
communication okay so that’s how we use
say an introduction to how we use say
then let’s talk about how to use till we
use tell a little bit differently from
the way that we use say so we use tell
when we want to show kind of a one-way
nuance there’s sort of one-way
communication happening so by that I
mean that someone is passing new
information or giving new information to
another person something I do not
already know I’m having someone tell me
someone is going to tell me new
information so we use this in past tense
a lot the past tense of tell is told he
told me she told me they told me this
gives us the nuance of new information
something I’m learning something I’m
hearing for the first time I can use
tell or told in past tense also one
point about to tell the object in many
cases is a person so by that I mean
after the verb
till the item coming after it in the
sentence is usually a person so the
person receiving the information so
please tell me please tell her please
tell him the person indicated here or
the group of people indicated here after
the verb tell that’s the person or the
group of people receiving the
information learning the information
okay so let’s see I told you to call me
here I have the past tense I told you to
call me so you this is the receiver of
the information I told you to call me I
asked you to call me here okay so this
is the report some some command we can
use tell and told to give commands I
told you to call me I gave you the new
request to call me in other words okay
one more a request this time can you
tell me where the bathroom is so here
tell me so this is a request for
information can you tell me where the
bathroom is I don’t know where the
bathroom is please give me new
information please tell me where it is
okay here we also use
present tense yeah so when your geek
when you’re making a requests please
make sure to use the present tense can
you tell me something one more why
didn’t you tell me
the party was cancelled another question
why didn’t you tell me
so you didn’t give me new information
about the party why why didn’t you tell
me
bla bla bla we can use this pattern for
if you miss information or if someone
forgot to tell you something if someone
forgot to give you information that you
needed you can say why didn’t you tell
me bla bla bla to make a different
sentence you could say why didn’t you
tell her or why didn’t you tell them why
didn’t you tell our boss some other
examples a positive sentence could be
why did you tell him why did you tell
her for example if someone tells a
secret so we can use tell to give new
information to pass new information
along okay so that’s tell so the next
verb that I want to talk about today is
the verb speak so will you speak to mean
a conversation yes so speak has the
nuance of a conversation but it has the
nuance of a more formal tone we would
use speak in more formal situations like
a business meeting or a work setting for
example or for maybe a more serious
conversation but we can use speak with
either with or two so I mean speak with
someone and speak to someone so the
difference between these two is very
very small if you say speak with my boss
it sounds like you expect a conversation
with your boss speaking with someone
sounds like there’s information passing
back and forth between the two of you
speak to your boss sounds more like for
example you’re going to say a lot of
things you’re going to give a lot of
information and your boss will
participate a little bit but there’s
more nuance of giving information than
passing information back and forth so if
you want to make a more conversational
nuance use with speak with someone if
you want it to sound a little more one
side
a little more one way you speak to
someone okay so we also use speak four
languages like I speak English I speak
French I speak Japanese I don’t speak
German I don’t speak Thai so please you
speak four languages as well the past
tense of speak is spoke please be
careful it is not speak to please use
spoke the past tense is spoke I spoke
English every day when I lived in
America for example so please use spoke
as the past tense here also the past
participle form is spoken spoken so
we’ll see that in a little bit maybe
okay so some example sentence is you
should speak with or to your boss so
here you can choose with sounds more
conversational to sounds a little more
direct you should speak with your boss
you should speak to your boss okay
past tense sentence I spoke with my
manager I spoke with my manager we
shared information last have you spoken
to HR have you spoken to HR here’s a
present perfect tense sentence I’ve used
spoken here okay good so that’s a nice
maybe a wrap up of a few different verbs
that are commonly confused when talking
about speech let’s go to some example
sentences all right
the first example sentence is my friend
something something me my cooking was
bad okay my cooking was bad this is
probably new information for a person
another hint we have me there’s a person
here in the object position of the
sentence so we can guess this should be
the verb tell however we have this hint
my cooking was bad was bad a past tense
so we should use the past tense form of
tell told here okay next one they
something something I have to work
tomorrow so here I have to work tomorrow
this is maybe just information it sounds
like somebody passed some information to
me so if I want to think of this as like
reporting speech I would use the verb
say in the past tense
so I know this should not be tell
because there’s no object here I know it
should not be speak because there’s no
width and there’s no two here either so
I know this should be they said I have
to work tomorrow
of course this sentence could be they
told me I have to work tomorrow it
sounds more like a command in that case
here they said I have to work tomorrow
it’s very neutral and just a simple
report of speech okay next one he really
needs to something something with his
client so here is a big hint word we
have the word with here and we also have
client here which shows maybe a business
or a work setting therefore we can guess
the verb should be speak he really needs
to speak with his client okay great next
one have you something something your
mother the news the news so here news is
a big hint new information new
information and we have a person a
person in the object position a person
is going to receive new information so
have you told your mother the news is
the correct sentence here so have you
told bla bla bla is actually a really
good sentence for you to remember have
you told your mom about that have you
told your dad about that have you told
your dog about your new park I don’t
know so anytime you want to pass
information or ask a question about
information being passed
please use tell to do that like we’ve
done here have you told someone okay
let’s go to the next one we something
something about this at the last meeting
so again meeting here is a big hint that
it is a work or a more formal situation
we see that this is the last meeting so
something that has finished already
so let’s use past tense spoke we spoke
about this at the last meeting we spoke
about this is the last meeting here I
have introduced something slightly
different from this speak with or speak
to if you want to mention a topic rather
than about a person we can use
about a topic speak about something hmm
we spoke about this at the last meeting
we can use speak to introduce a topic as
well so please note that this is an
option okay let’s go to the next one you
always bah bah bah nice things nice
thing so always here I have a word which
indicates a regular action something
that is always true we talked about an
example over here though I used never
here however the grammar is still the
same we should still use the same
grammar nuance the same grammar point
here so let’s use the present tense say
you always say nice things
so someone always says positive things
or someone always makes very positive
comments like for example everybody in
the comments on these videos everybody
always says very nice things we can use
always say to talk about something that
a person always says ok finally the same
thing he always something something the
truth ok now this is tricky I’ve used
always here
I used always in the previous one as
well but the thing I want to point out
is this the truth at the end of the
sentence there’s a set phrase in English
we don’t use say we actually use tell
with the expression the truth he always
tells the truth so the expressions tell
the truth and the opposite tell a lie we
always use the verb tell with this you
might hear I sometimes hear non-native
speakers of English they say a lie or
say the truth but this is not natural
please be sure to use tell the truth or
tell a lie we always use tell in these
cases so please be careful of that ok
but we’ve talked about a lot of
different ways to use these three verbs
and I hope that it’s a little bit more
clear now when to use them especially
say until many people have a little bit
of confusion between these two but speak
is also quite useful as well thanks very
much for watching this lesson and I will
see
you again soon bye hi everybody my name
is Alisha and today I’m going to talk
about the difference between some and
any so let’s get started okay the first
point I want to talk about with some and
any is how to use some and any in terms
of where to put these two words in a
sentence so we use some and any in the
same position in a sentence we use some
and any before the noun or before a noun
phrase so please be careful don’t use
some or any after the noun you should be
using some and any before the noun okay
so given this let’s take a look at how
to decide whether you should use some or
you should use any in your sentence all
right
first I want to talk about some we use
some in positive statements so these are
statements that do not have a negative
in them we use them for positive
statements a few examples here are I
need some butter here some is before the
noun in the next one we have some food
some comes before the word food the noun
a positive statement third they had some
good ideas so good ideas is used as a
noun phrase here good ideas some comes
before that noun phrase so these are a
few examples of positive statements we
can use some in positive statements
that’s the first point I want to make
second point I want to make is here it’s
about requests we use some in a couple
of different question patterns one of
them is making requests when we want to
make requests we can use some in the
request for example can I have some time
off we use some here because it’s a
request making a request to your boss
for example in this case we should use
some can I have some time off second
will you give me some space will you
give me space this is another request we
can tell will you give me this is a very
good hint that someone is asking for
something else a request should you
some finally can he take care of some
things for me can he take care of some
things for me in this case it’s asking
for someone’s help in a situation so
it’s a request we should use the word
some great ok so the second point I want
to talk about is using some four offers
to make offers we should use some again
offers like requests are a question this
is a question pattern where we should
use the word some to make the question
so in the first example would you like
some wine we use some here in the
pattern would you like this is a really
good pattern to know would you like some
bla bla bla
would you like some wine would you like
some beer would you like some a few
other things we’ll see in just a moment
but we should use some here because it’s
an offer type question one more example
do you want some cheese so these two
patterns would you like and do you want
they really are expressing the same
thing the difference is in the level of
formality
would you like is more formal than do
you want these two questions really they
have the same point there’s they’re
offering something but the the level of
formality is what’s different here okay
last one do you want some more time do
you want some more time so here again
and offer a more casual offer with do
you want and again we have some plus
more time so please make sure to use
some before the noun or before the noun
phrase and use it in your offer
questions as well as your request
questions so those are the two types of
questions I want to talk about today
when we’re using some also please
remember we use it in positive
statements as well okay so with that
let’s continue on to any I want to talk
about any next any is sort of the
opposite in terms of statement making
from some we use any in negative
statements so for example I don’t have
any
here I have don’t do not the negative
here I don’t have any money therefore is
correct we should use any in a negative
statement another example they didn’t
get any new clothes
they didn’t again here’s our negative
they didn’t did not so we should use any
before our noun phrase which is new
clothes here
finally we didn’t make any cookies here
didn’t is in the negative form again a
past tense statement plus any before our
noun here in this case cookies so please
use any when you want to make a negative
statement okay the last point I want to
make today is about questions we use any
with questions yes but we do not use any
in requests and offers we just learned
that we use some to make requests and
offers so in other questions like
information questions asking for
information not for a request not for an
offer but asking for information for
example we use any in these cases so
let’s take a look the first sentence do
we need any salt so this is an
information question yes or no do we
need any salt we should use this here
this is matter request this is not an
offer so any is the best choice for this
sentence in the next example we have
does he have any markers again this is
an information question the person
speaking is asking for information not
making a request and not making an offer
so we should use any here okay so the
final example here is did she give you
any tips so our noun phrase here is tips
and he comes before that and we notice
also this is not a request this is not
an offer so we should use any it’s an
information question we’re asking for
information so let’s keep this in mind
we use any four questions which are not
requests and not offers think about it
as asking for information only you’re
not making a request for help not making
a request for
an item but if you’re looking for
information you should probably use any
to make your question okay so let’s take
a look at a few examples sentences that
I’ve prepared the first one here is do
we have blah blah blah
milk so here I’m looking for information
I’m not making a request I’m not making
an offer I want information so I should
use any in this case do we have any milk
is the correct sentence here the next
one can I have love Oh black cake here
I’m looking for something I’m looking
for cake I want cake I’m making a
request I know that requests are paired
with some so I’m going to use a sum in
this sentence can I have some cake is
the correct sentence the correct
question the next one I really need
something something money I really need
something something money so this is a
statement not a question and there’s no
negative here so we should use the
positive sum I really need some money is
the correct sentence here all right
let’s take a look at the next sentence I
don’t have a baa-baa pets here is a
negative and we see this is not a
question so we know we should use any
because we use any for negative
statements this don’t do not shows us
that we should use any here okay next
one do you want something something
pizza so here we have a question and it
looks like this is an offer so there’s
this do you want pattern which we talked
about right here do you want so we
should use some this is an offer
question do you want some pizza making
an offer you should use some next
sentence wanna get bubble bought food
after work again we have a question and
we have this pattern wanna get wanna get
this is a very very casual form of do
you want to get do you want to get we’ve
dropped do you want to and we use the
very casual wanna here so it’s again an
offer question want to get some
food after work okay
next sentence he doesn’t have blah blah
blah friends so a statement yes but we
see a negative here doesn’t or does not
is the negative form so we know that we
should use any in this pattern in this
sentence he doesn’t have any friends
okay final question here maybe a
difficult one
are you sure you don’t want dessert
are you sure you don’t want dessert so
this isn’t quite an offer it’s like a
very very soft offer yes but this person
is sort of asking for information are
you sure you don’t want dessert they’re
asking for a yes or no kind of and
there’s a negative here there’s a
negative don’t I do not so it’s a good
idea in this sentence to use any are you
sure you don’t want any dessert this
sounds a little bit negative you’re sure
you don’t want any dessert if you want
to make a straightforward offer like
would you like some dessert that’s okay
it sounds a little bit better because
there’s a negative here with don’t to
use any in this sentence this is a
little bit tricky but I think it’s I
think it’s okay to use alright so those
are a few basic points about when to use
some and when to use any please remember
some is used for positive statements
requests and offers any is used for
negative statements and questions which
are not requests or offers like
information questions want to speak real
English from your first lesson sign up
for your free lifetime account at
English class 101.com
hi everybody my name is Alisha and today
I’m going to talk about the difference
between for and since I’m also going to
talk about how to use a go so let’s get
started okay the first thing I want to
talk about is the word for we use the
word for before a period of time so
before a period of time can mean minutes
it can mean years it can mean days
seconds hours a period of time or
length of time we use the word for
before that phrase to talk about the
length of time that something happens so
for example for 10 minutes we use it
before 10 minutes
for 5 years 5 years as a length of time
for a day a day is also a length of time
for a lifetime one one whole lifetime a
person’s whole lifetime can be a period
of time we use four before in this case
there’s also four an eternity and
eternity we can use this to mean a very
very long time it’s sort of an
exaggerated phrase but for an eternity
means a very very long time these are
all lengths of time then and we should
use the word four before we want to
express them okay so let’s talk about
something a little bit different then
the word since since is used before a
specific point in the past we often use
since with present perfect tense maybe
you’ve seen another video that we did
about the present perfect tense and how
to make present perfect tense sentences
we often use since in present perfect
tense sentences for is also used in
present perfect tense sentences but the
two are used a little bit differently
since is used to talk about a specific
point in the past a specific point in
the past may be where something happened
or something began so for example since
last night this shows us that since last
night
last night something happened or
something started and it’s continuing so
since shows us that something has been
continuing or the effect has been
continuing since a point in the past it
began at a point in the past and
continues or the effect continues until
the present since tells us all this
information another example since 2014
so this is the point in time 2014 is the
year at which something changed or an
action started or the effect of an
action began
so we can use since in this case another
point in time can be a season like
winter since winter since summer since
autumn we can use since before a season
we also have points in time in the day
since this morning since this evening
since last night was my first example
here we can also use morning this
morning this morning today as a point in
time finally I have one more example
since last week so points in time there
are a lot of different points in time
but just be careful length of time uses
for point in time uses since and since
shows us that there’s some action that’s
continuing or the effect of some action
continues until the present so please be
careful period of time point in time for
instance ok so the next point that I
want to talk about is a go there are a
couple of different ways that we can use
a go and the first one I want to talk
about is one we use for past tense
statements or past tense situations so
we use a go to talk about points in time
where actions or changes occurred so for
example three years ago I got a new job
or five minutes ago I ate lunch or two
days ago I saw my friend or two jobs ago
I didn’t have much experience so all of
these statements are used to talk about
a past tense point in time where
something changed or some action
occurred so we use a go in this way with
the past tense to mark a change or
something happening so there’s the
second use of ago that I want to talk
about we can use a go with since and a
time period this is something we often
use in present perfect tense statements
like we talked about here with sense
what I mean by that for example is since
- time period plus a go so for example
since three years ago or since five
minutes ago or since two months ago so
here you’ll see we’re using a
I’m period I know I said to use time
periods with four but this can be kind
of a useful pattern because if you use
the word since on accident but you want
to express a time period instead you can
save yourself by adding a go to the end
of it so if you’re if you’re working on
making a sentence for example and you
you’re speaking and you accidentally use
the word since even though you know you
want to use a time period save yourself
by attaching a go to the end so since
three years ago something has occurred
something has been continuing so because
since is here it shows us like we talked
about with sense here the action or some
effect of that action is continuing from
this point in time so we can use this
pattern as well since time period ago
okay so this is a lot of information
let’s try to make a few sentences I’ve
prepared a few example sentences so
let’s take a look alright the first one
we’ve lived here blah blah blah three
years so how do we know which to use
first we see we’ve we have we have lived
here this is a present perfect tense
sentence we’ve lived here plus three
years so I see a time period here that
means I should use four because we need
to use four before periods of time so
we’ve lived here for three years is the
correct sentence good okay let’s look at
the next one then they’ve been studying
blah blah blah 2014 so here I see a
point in time a point in time a specific
point in time and another really good
hint is the grammar here I see the
present perfect progressive or the
present perfect continuous tense here
they’ve meaning they have plus bin
studying
this shows a continuing action so all of
these give me hints about which one I
should use they’ve been studying since
2014 is the correct answer here next one
he left the office five minutes
something something okay here
we see this is a past tense statement he
left so left is the past tense form of
the verb to leave so we see here a
period of time five minutes yes but
after five minutes is our space meaning
we need to use ago five minutes ago we
always use a go after the period of time
okay next one I’ve been reading this
book bla bla bla last week so again we
see this bin reading this present
perfect continuous tense shows us an
action has been continuing this shows a
continuing action or a continuing effect
so we know we should use since I’ve been
reading this book since last week so
last week as we talked about here is our
specific point in time let’s take a look
at the next example sentence it’s a
little bit tricky it’s a little bit
difficult here we see the same bin
waiting the same present perfect
continuous or present perfect
progressive tense this shows us that an
action has been continuing yes but I’ve
used the word ages here so ages is sort
of a casual expression which means a
very long time that means it’s a time
period this is not a specific point in
time ages is not a specific point in
time it’s actually a time period so we
should use for here you’ve been waiting
here for ages for a long time is what
this sentence means okay last one
they’ve been dating something something
about two weeks something something okay
so here there are two spaces where we
can use a word that should probably give
you a good hint it’ll be this sense and
ago but let’s talk about why here again
we have this continuous form they’ve
been dating dating is the continuous or
the progressive form of the verb to date
so we have about plus two weeks so
there’s a period of time there yeah
in this case then we should use since
about two weeks ago so two weeks ago
they started dating
they’ve been dating since about two
weeks ago we can use both of these
sentences to express the amount of time
they have been dating okay so those are
a few points about when to use for cents
and a go we also talked about some
grammar points that you can use these
words with if you have any questions
about those check out some of the other
videos we’ve made on this channel
especially about the present perfect
tense they can help give you some more
background about those grammar points 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 the 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 talk 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
- and with with the verb talk and with
speak - 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 Eirik 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 Edie 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 like 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 two 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 in 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 10
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 and 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 is 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
its past
what were they something something with
that guy about but we know this should
be a past progressive tense sentence -
what were they is indicate 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 talked
about it last week is the nice sentence
here okay let’s look at the last one
then she’s never Loblaw 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 it’s 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 a
verb accordingly so these are a few
cases where a 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 to thanks very much for
watching this episode
and we will see you again soon right
today I’m going to talk about the
difference between active voice and
passive voice in this lesson I want to
explain a few ways that I think can help
you decide how to choose between active
voice or passive voice this will be
hopefully useful for your speaking and
for your writing skills so let’s get
started okay the first thing I want to
talk about is the active voice English
uses a lot of sentences in the active
voice we like to use active voice a lot
in speech and in writing so we use
active voice when we want to place
emphasis on the subject like the person
or the thing that is doing an action or
causing an action so the emphasis here
is on the subject we know the subject of
the sentence in the case of the active
voice and we want to emphasize that the
person who is doing an action for
example you want to emphasize that you
know who is doing the action use the
active voice so an example could be a
thief stole my bag in this situation we
know a thief stole my bag here the
simple past tense is used and we have my
bag as the object here so everything is
clear everything is known in this
sentence I’m going to talk about a
different style a different way to
explain this sentence in just a moment
but we can use the active voice to
explain a situation like this
another example my coworker deleted an
important file so here’s another
situation we know who did the action my
coworker in this case simple past tense
deleted here shows the action that
happened the action that occurred and
what was deleted an important file here
so again I’m going to talk about a
different way to explain this sentence
in just a moment but these are a couple
ways we can use active tense or active
voice rather when all the information is
known some more simple sentences I ate
dinner again the subject the verb and a
and what was being eaten here in this
case I ate dinner very simple sentence
here he took me to a movie so we know
the subject the action who is receiving
the
action in this case it’s me here she
made dinner again very very simple
sentences we can make simple sentences
in just three words for example with the
active voice it’s very very easy to use
active voice we just need to know the
subject what they did and who received
the effect or who that action occurred
to to put it in a strange way
so we can use active voice to explain a
lot of things in a very very short way
but sometimes active voice is maybe not
the best choice so let’s take a look at
passive voice and see if we can compare
a few things here when we talk in the
passive voice or when we write in the
passive voice we do it because we want
to place emphasis on the object of an
action something which is receiving the
action we want to place the emphasis on
that or we use it when the subject is
unknown or unimportant so to give a few
examples let’s look here my bag was
stolen here my bag this is the thing
that an action has occurred to so and
you can think of it like the bag is the
one or is the object that is receiving
the action here my bag was stolen my bag
was stolen so we have to use a different
grammar to explain in passive voice so
the difference here my bag was stolen
the difference between this sentence and
a thief stole my bag is that we don’t
have a clear doer of the action we’re
not talking about specifically who stole
my bag but rather the important point
here is that my bag was stolen it
doesn’t matter who or we don’t know who
stole the bag but I want to emphasize
this situation in this case passive
voice is much much better than active
voice because I don’t know the subject
perhaps let’s look at one more example
an important file got deleted so here
you’ll see got we use God a lot this
past tense got to a rather past
participle got in in passive voice a lot
it gives kind of
more of a nuance of something negative
occurring it gives sort of the feeling
that a negative outcome has happened as
a result of the situation so you might
see got deleted or got plus the verb in
this case so here I’ve used got deleted
I’ll show you one more in just in just a
second so here an important file got
deleted let’s compare this to the active
voice my coworker deleted an important
file in the active voice I know who
deleted the file my coworker deleted the
file in the passive voice however I
don’t mention my coworker so maybe I
don’t know who deleted the file I don’t
know who completed the action who did
the action so I can drop that name I can
drop my co-worker I can drop the name of
the person who did the action I want to
emphasize the situation the the file the
important file got deleted that’s what I
want to emphasize in this case I should
use the passive voice this sounds much
much better if I want to emphasize the
important file if however I want to
emphasize my coworker
for example I’m angry with my coworker I
could say my coworker deleted an
important file in this case the emphasis
is my coworker in this sentence the
important file is the emphasis so this
is a really key point between the
difference between active and passive
forms ok let’s look at a few more
examples so next one your lunch got
eaten so again I’ve used this got here
yeah I’ve used got plus eat in the past
participle form of the verb so as I
talked about in this sentence got
deleted we use got to show kind of a
negative outcome something we didn’t
want to happen necessarily this is very
common in passive voice so your lunch
got eaten by whom we don’t know somebody
ate this person’s lunch but we don’t
know who did the action so we can omit
that person and we can simply emphasize
your lunch your lunch here this is the
focus of the sentence your lunch got
eaten ok let’s take a look at one more
sentence their window was broken their
window was broken we don’t
know how the window was broken maybe it
was a person maybe it was a burglar
maybe it was bad weather maybe just a
strange accident we don’t know how or
who broke the window so we can omit we
can remove any identifying information
about who or what completed the action
instead we focus on the window their
window was broken this is the focus of
this sentence finally let’s look at one
more flowers were delivered to the
office in this sentence we don’t know
where the flowers came from who ordered
the flowers we don’t know any
information about the situation but we
simply want to report something we saw
at the office for example we can use the
passive temps to do that the flowers
were delivered to the office so in in
each of these sentences we don’t know or
it’s not important who did the action or
what did the action but we want to
emphasize the object of the action we
want to emphasize the the person or the
item receiving the action in this case
in active voice however we want to
emphasize the person doing the action of
the thing doing the action so please
keep this in mind when you’re trying to
choose between active voice and passive
voice if it’s a known subject or if you
want to emphasize that subject more
strongly than the item receiving that
action use the active voice if you don’t
know the subject or if you want to
emphasize the object of the action use
the passive voice I hope that those were
a few good points I hope that those are
a few helpful ways to help you remember
how to use active voice and passive
voice but if you have any questions or
comments let us know in the comment
section or try to make a few sentences
if you like thanks very much for
watching this episode and we’ll see you
again soon bye today I’m going to talk
about uncountable nouns I’m going to
talk about a few points related to
uncountable nouns and some words we can
use with uncountable nouns I’m going to
talk about the ways we can use units to
count parts of uncountable nouns and I’m
going to talk about some quantifiers and
some questions which we can use with
this grammar point
so let’s get started okay so the first
point here about uncountable nouns
uncountable nouns are nouns we cannot
count so count a bowl means able to
count this prefix on means not the
negative so not countable nouns we
cannot count we cannot use one two or
three to count numbers of these nouns
with uncountable nouns we can use some
determiner so determiners are for
example or an or the this that my his
and so on with uncountable nouns we can
use for example this and that and we can
use possessives like my his her our and
so on however we cannot use a or an with
uncountable nouns this is because a and
an are used for the singular forms of
nouns and we don’t have a singular or
plural form necessarily for uncountable
nouns so we cannot use or an because
these two articles are used for singular
forms so please be careful of this some
determiners like this and that are fine
and possessives are okay but not a or an
okay also when you want to make a
general statement you should use no
determiner no determiner so know this
know that know the or whatever unless
you want to make a statement a general
statement about a specific group or a
specific object a specific mass entity
for example we’ll talk a little bit
about this later okay so let’s take a
look at some common uncountable nouns
then I’ve also included here though
they’re units so by units I mean ways to
count the parts of these nouns so we
cannot count these nouns because they’re
sort of they’re thought of as like a
mass they’re thought of as kind of a
group or yeah a group or an assembly of
many many different parts so we don’t
count the the group itself the mass
itself however we can count the parts
within that group so let’s take a look
at the first example maybe the most
one time so time is an uncountable noun
we don’t count one time two times or
three times we don’t do that however we
count parts of time measurements of time
so for example all of these are
countable nouns seconds minutes hours
days weeks months years decades
millennia these are all the countable
nouns we use to couch the parts of time
we cannot count time we can count the
parts of time only let’s look at one
more example money so money we cannot
count money one money to money three
money we don’t you do that instead we
count the parts for example cents
dollars yen pounds euro pesos for
example we use the currency the type of
money and the denominations the pieces
are the parts within that that that
currency to count so we cannot count
money but we can count the the type of
money we can count currency amounts okay
another couple that are fairly common
are beer and wine so drinks for example
we don’t count beer necessarily as a
group we can say one beer to refer to
one drink of beer we can say that
however but in general for liquid when
you see a lot of liquid we don’t say one
beer to beer instead we counted by the
serving so for example with beer we use
glasses pints half pints mugs kegs
growlers these are a few ways that we
can count beer these are all countable
nouns a similar rule applies to wine we
don’t say really one wine two wines we
can use that to mean one single drink
but there are sometimes different ways
that we need to explain one so we use
these words glasses or bottles or
decanters so we use decanter of wine
bottle of wine in these cases not one
wine or two wines make sure to say like
bottle or decanter to refer specifically
to the type of measurement you
another very common example is clothes
so clothes is kind of a category of
items it’s a type of item there there
are many different kinds of clothes so
we count for example shirts sweaters
socks shoes hats pairs of pants we don’t
say one clothes too close three clothes
instead we count these smaller items
inside the category of clothes okay
just a couple more examples food is
another very very big one so food itself
we don’t really say one food to food
three food instead we count inside food
for example snacks drinks salads
appetizers pizzas breadsticks cakes
whatever so the the food the dish itself
we couch the dish but not food as a
category finally air is another one we
don’t count air with numbers we can
count parts of air but if you want to
know we can use for example molecules to
talk about components pieces of air if
you like so these are just a few
examples of uncountable nouns and some
of the units we can use to count the
parts within those uncountable nouns ok
next let’s head over to how to make a
few questions so similar to countable
nouns we can use uncountable nouns to
make information questions to make
requests to make offers but one key
point here is when you’re asking a
quantity question with an uncountable
noun you need to use much so when you’re
using a countable now and you should use
how many plus the plural form if you’re
using an uncountable noun you need to
use how much plus here now how much time
how much money how much beer for example
there’s no s to add at the end there’s
no plural form that we need to think
about just the uncountable noun and any
other information how much beer did you
drink how much time do you have for
example so please use much when you’re
making a question with an uncountable
noun a second do you plus a verb any
plus your uncountable noun so we
change this verb in the sentence
depending on what we need but this is a
general information question like do you
need any time or do you need any new
clothes for example so we just use the
uncountable noun here at the end of this
phrase to make an information question
another common pattern would be a
request so can I have some bla bla bla
can I have some wine can I have some
food of course you can use a unit here
if you like if you want to be specific
but if you want to be general mmm like
can I have some more time on this
project we can use an uncountable noun
in this sentence pattern as well of
course there are many different sentence
patterns but these are a few questions
that might be helpful for you ok let’s
look at the last thing for today
quantifiers quantifiers so we use
quantifiers to talk about amounts of
nouns in this case I’m going to talk
about some quantifiers we can use to
talk about the amounts of uncountable
nouns so we can use first at the end of
the spectrum here at around like zero
I’ve kind of made a scale here from zero
a like know of something there’s no
amount there’s zero of something to a
lot of something 100 at the other end
I’ve made kind of a scale of a few
quantifiers so here we can say no I have
no time we can use don’t plus a verb
plus any like I don’t have any time hmm
also is over here at the zero part we
can say I have almost no time meaning
very very little time for example so
very little and almost no would go about
here here we can say not much I have not
in parentheses because you just need to
use the negative form I don’t have much
time or I don’t need much to drink for
example so we can use much here but we
need to use a negative in this case we
can also use hardly any with uncountable
nouns so I have hardly any time to work
on this project or I have hardly any
wine in my refrigerator for example we
can use a bit of
mm I have a bit of beer to drink a small
amount so I have a small amount of time
this afternoon if you’re free we have a
decent amount of so oh there’s a decent
amount of time this afternoon if that’s
better for you we can use some as well
Tom again is kind of vague it’s not so
clear the quantity with some but if you
just want to refer to having some have
it making it available you can use some
so like we might say I have some clothes
I want to throw away we can use lots of
and a lot of so I drank a lot of beer
last night or I drank a lot of wine last
night might be a common sentence you can
hear we can use quite a lot of quite a
lot of so I have quite a lot of time
this weekend let’s do something we have
the casual tons of and a bunch of too so
I have tons of time or I have a bunch of
new clothes to try on for example and we
can also use all all so you could say
who drink all the beer or who ah let’s
see there’s another example mmm someone
took all my clothes for example we can
use all with uncountable nouns as well
so again these are just a few examples
of some expressions you might hear with
uncountable nouns you’ll see - as with
countable nouns we can use some of these
as I’ve marked with a green star here
some of these are okay to use with
countable nouns and uncountable nouns so
if you get stuck you can try to remember
which ones are are okay for both
countable and uncountable nouns for
example lots of and a lot of some is
good almost no is pretty handy pretty
useful as well
another point here I want to mention
this is a problem that many students
have is using much in positive
statements of quantity for example I
have much money I have much time we
cannot use much in this way we should
use I have a lot of time I have quite a
lot of time much is used with negatives
so I don’t have much time for example I
don’t
have much money we can only use much for
a quantity statement with a negative
form so please don’t use much to make a
positive statement about quantity please
be careful this is a very common mistake
all right but those are a few points I
wanted to make about uncountable nouns
today thanks very much for watching this
episode and I will see you again soon I
want to speak real English from your
first lesson sign up for your free
lifetime account at English class
101.com hi everybody my name is Alisha
today I’m going to talk about countable
nouns I’m going to talk about how to
make the plural form of countable nouns
I’m going to talk about a few question
patterns you can use with countable
nouns and I’m going to talk about some
quantifiers for countable nouns so let’s
get started okay so the first point
maybe the most important point first of
all is that countable nouns are nouns
which we can count we use numbers 1 2 &
3 and we can count the numbers of these
nouns they are countable able to be
counted that’s the first point for
today’s lesson second countable nouns
have a singular form single here you can
see single is the base one singular form
and a plural form plural meaning more
than one so the words themselves have a
singular form one of something and a
plural form more than one of something a
couple of notes about singular form and
plural form however singular form nouns
we have to use a determiner so for
example determiners are like articles
like or an or the or we could use this
that my his her for example we need some
kind of determiner something that gives
us information about a singular noun we
must use a determiner with a singular
noun so we have to say a dog or his dog
or my dog we cannot simply say dog in
this with a singular form so please be
careful if you use the singular form of
a noun you need to use a determiner ok
let’s look at the plural form my nose
the plural form here is that no
determiner is required so you don’t
always have to use a determiner here
with the plural form the dogs his dogs
her dogs for example but if you’re
referring generally to a group no
determiner should be used so this is a
very common mistake for example if
talking about all teachers or all
doctors or making a general statement
about a group of people for example no
determiner should be used we should not
use the doctors or the teachers unless
you’re talking about a specific group of
doctors or a specific group of teachers
if you want to make a general statement
about all people are all countable nouns
in one category no determiner should be
used so please be careful okay so these
are two points about the singular form
and the plural form so please be careful
of this okay let’s continue on to how to
make the plural forms of nouns there are
a few different rules to consider here
so first the regular way to make a
plural noun is to just add an S to the
end of the noun so for example dogs we
have an s computers and cars so these
are simple simple plural form nouns we
just add an S to the end of the noun to
make the plural form however there are
some cases where the spelling will
change slightly and the pronunciation
will also change slightly the basic S
sound is still there however it’s an es
sound so it’s noun plus es when do we do
this we do this with nouns that end in X
in ch SS s or SH this is kind of
difficult to remember I think that if
you practice if you read a lot and if
you speak a lot you’ll gradually come to
understand this this is something I
personally never studied as a native
speaker but through practice through
reading a lot too I gradually came to
and
stand which nouns take ES and which
nouns do not but some examples here
foxes Fox ends in X so it takes es in
the plural form classes class ends in SS
so we take ES for the plural form
finally sandwich sandwich ends in CH so
we add es very important so not
sandwiches with a with noe but we need
to use an e in the word sandwiches
please be careful ok finally there is
one more different spelling for plural
nouns here we have noun plus IES if the
noun ends in a why a why we we drop the
Y in the plural form we cut the Y and
add IES so a few examples of this are
countries we have IES know why here we
have candies again know why IES and
copies so know why and IES so these are
three ways to make plural forms adding
es or an es sound or just a simple s so
depending on the noun you would like to
make plural you need to kind of remember
these rules or at least think about them
a little bit and until you kind of get
used to making nouns correctly okay but
I want to go to something a little bit
more challenging which is nouns which
have irregular plural forms so these are
countable nouns but they don’t follow
the s rule we can’t just add s to make
these nouns plural let’s take a look at
a few so one for example is person the
noun person we can say one person
however the plural form is people two
people three people four people please
keep this in mind another very common
one especially for pronunciation is
woman to women and man to men please be
careful of your vowel pronunciation here
in particular woman and women the first
vowel o here does not change in terms of
spelling but in pronunciation it does
change women sounds much different than
this
Giller form woman so please be careful
sometimes poor pronunciation can cause
difficulties in understanding or poor
communication so this is a great
pronunciation point both woman and man
so man becomes men a very clear vowel
sound change there so these two are a
couple to be very very careful of and to
practice as well some nouns however do
not change in the plural form some nouns
for example fish fish does not change we
use fish and fish in the singular and
the plural form if you are curious about
how to know whether you’re reading
something or hearing something about
singular fish or plural fish in most
cases you can guess based on the
situation based on the context if it’s
very very difficult then I suppose the
author might include a number before the
word fish like to fish or three fish but
in most cases this isn’t an issue the
same thing applies to sheep actually
sheep the plural form of sheep is also
sheep there is no change here but we can
count them as two sheep three sheep four
sheep for example okay a few more the
singular form of child becomes the
plural form children please be careful
their foot becomes feet tooth becomes
teeth and one more interesting one mouse
mouse becomes mice in the plural form
two mice three mice four mice so these
are just a few examples of some of the
irregular plural forms you can find with
countable nouns this is not everything
for sure but these are some very common
examples I think okay let’s continue on
to a few question patterns with
countable nouns so the first one I have
is how many blah blah blahs please keep
in mind when you are asking a quantity
question with countable nouns you need
to use how many please do not use how
much with a countable noun we use how
with uncountable nouns so how many plus
an S sound
don’t forget this S sound many people
forget how many pens how many dogs how
many children in that case there’s no s
sound but if you are using a noun with
an S sound please make sure that s sound
is very clear but in any case you need
to use the plural form after how many
okay a couple of other examples maybe
you’ve seen our other YouTube videos
about any and some so here I have an
example do you verb any plural form so
here again there’s that s sound if your
noun ends in an S make it very very
clear when you pronounce it so do you
have any pets for example or do you need
any strawberries for example so here
I’ve got verb and I’ve got any plus s so
this is maybe making an offer or asking
for information
something you need some kind of
information if you’re asking this
question I wouldn’t be an offer but
asking for information this is the kind
of question you might be able to use
with countable nouns finally to make a
request as we talked about in the some
video any in some video can I have some
plus the plural form so can I have some
cookies for example or can I have some
cupcakes for example so again please
make sure your s sound is very clear at
the end of this sentence all right the
last thing I want to talk about for this
lesson is quantifiers so quantifiers we
use with the plural form please do not
use quantifiers with the singular form
we use quantifiers to talk about amounts
how much or how many of something for
countable nouns we’re going to talk
about how many of something we have or
don’t have for example so we can use
know with a quantifier so I have no pets
for example we can say that or I
have any pets here I have don’t plus
verb plus any so I don’t have any pets
or I don’t need any cupcakes I’m
thinking about cupcakes today so I don’t
need any blah blah blah so we can
replace the verb here with the verb of
your choice there’s almost no almost no
I’ve kind of put this up a little
further on this spectrum from the zero
to 100 so it’s very close to zero so I
have almost no pancakes left in my
kitchen for example so not very many in
other words just above that maybe would
be hardly any hardly any so there are
hardly any children in school today
for example maybe around here on the
spectrum a couple of a couple of the
word couple is here it has the nuance of
two two so there are a couple of dogs in
the park for example just above a couple
of might be a few a few a few in my mind
sounds like maybe three or four for
example like there are a few birds in
the tree outside the office several
sounds to me like more than a few a
larger number than a couple of or a few
so to use several in a sentence for
example there are several clocks in the
office the next one I’ve got some here
I’ve put some tentatively at about 50
some is very very vague some can mean a
small amount or it can mean maybe a
reasonable amount of something but
generally it’s somewhere around here on
my 0 to 100 scale so you can feel kind
of about how much some is yeah so for
example I ate some what did I eat today
I ate some salads last week or something
like that so it’s kind of a vague
expression but we can’t really guess how
many are here but some can tell us just
that maybe more than a few were consumed
in my example sentence so some against
some is rather vague maybe it’s not as
clear as some of
other expressions but you can kind of
figure it out for yourself when you’d
like to use it all right the next one
lots of and a lot of are about in the
same point here on the spectrum so lotsa
means lots of there are there’s a good
number of something so for example I got
lots of letters in the mail last
Christmas so it refers to a good number
of something
next up may be quite a few so quite a
few of something so I got quite a few
emails last week we could say towards
the end here we have tons of and a bunch
of these sound rather casual tons of and
a bunch of again very very large
quantity so I ate tons of sweets last
weekend or I bought a bunch of CDs last
weekend for example so a very very large
quantity and finally we can use the word
all with countable nouns like for
example maybe all the children went to
school today or all the women in the
room left suddenly so we can use all
with countable nouns just again please
make sure to use the plural form with
these so all of these are some examples
of quantifiers we can use with countable
nouns you’ll see too I have green stars
on some of these just a note the ones
with green stars we can use these with
countable and uncountable nouns so I
know sometimes it’s difficult to guess
is it a countable noun is it an
uncountable noun what quantifier should
I use I don’t know these are a few that
you can use with both countable and
uncountable nouns so if you’re stuck if
you can’t remember you can try using one
of these like lots of and a lot of some
these are very very useful ones I think
so try to keep these in mind a couple of
these in mind so if you have trouble
remembering which ones are for countable
nouns and which ones are for uncountable
nouns you can remember this okay so
that’s just a quick introduction to
countable nouns
I hope that this was useful for you if
you have any questions or comments or
want to try to make a sentence please
feel free to do so in the comment
section below this video
hi everybody my name is Alisha today I’m
going to be talking about the verb to be
so in this lesson I’m going to talk
about the use of the word to be and I’m
going to introduce a few example
sentences as well as give some
explanations about some questions that
you guys have had about the different
uses of the verb to be specifically
different conjugations of the verb to be
so let’s get started okay so the first
point I want to mention about the verb
to be is that B expresses a state or a
condition this is some point about the
way a person is or a characteristic a
feature of a person an object a
situation so we use B to talk about
existence existence existence is like
the base level of the verb the base
meaning of the verb so maybe you’ve
heard the very famous Shakespeare
expression the expression from the
Shakespeare play Hamlet to be or not to
be this is a very famous expression
which uses the verb to be but here this
is this famous speech comes from the
characters kind of internal monologue or
the character’s thoughts about whether
to be to be alive to exist or not to be
to not exist to be dead so in this case
yes we are using the verb or the verb is
used to mean existence to mean alive or
not alive however in modern English
today we use the verb to be in many many
cases not referring to being alive or
not alive but we use it as a linking
verb so to be and the negative form is
used to connect the subject to its other
information this is the purpose of a
linking verb we have a subject and some
other information
about the subject we use the verb to be
to link those two things together so
I’ve prepared a lot of examples and some
conjugation review points that I hope
can help show some of these the ways we
can use the verb to be as in modern
American English let’s take a look first
at the present tense so please remember
that depending on the subject of the
sentence the conjugation of the verb to
be is going to change so if the subject
of the present sentences I will use M if
the subject is he she or it will use is
if the subject is u we or they we use R
so please keep these in mind of course
the negative form we add not after this
so I am NOT he is not you are not for
example let’s look at a few simple
examples here
the subject he for he I apply is the
conjugation is he is my brother so here
is my subject he extra information my
brother and is this is my linking verb
it connects the information together
another example the neighbors are noisy
please be careful I’ve noticed that many
people forget that they’re actually
using a plural when they talk about
neighbors or parents for example this
little S here the neighbors the people
who live next to me this is a plural
subject so we should apply the same rule
we use for they they are in this case
the neighbors are noisy here is another
example the computers not people here
but multiple objects the computers that
S sound is it marks the plural form so
we have to use the same conjugation rule
the computers they are essentially they
are all broken here one more you are not
my friend so here we have the subject
you and the negative not my friend you
are not my friend so in each of these we
are connecting the subject with some
other information using
conjugated form of the verb be okay I
also want to mention the infinitive form
this two plus B so I talked about to be
a little bit here to be meaning
existence we can use to be in modern
English as well so meaning there’s no
change to the verb but we use it in a
few situations referring to existence
referring to a situation so let’s take a
look at a few examples so here I have I
want her to be my boss I want her to be
my boss meaning she is not my boss now
but in the future I want her to be I
want her to be in the state of being my
boss I want her to become my boss
however we don’t say become I want her
to be my boss so this is maybe a desire
I want for a future situation where a
person her in this case is is desired to
be to exist in a condition as this
person’s boss okay let’s try another
example this is a very very common
example please tell him to be on time to
be is used here before the expression on
time so on time means the correct time
so for example if the meeting begins at
one o’clock he needs to be in the
meeting room at one o’clock so to be in
this case means be in a condition be in
the state of on time at the correct time
so this is a very common one tell him to
be on time please be on time
meaning you in your condition your
status in the day should be on time so
this is a great one to remember here’s
one more example again about time it’s
very commonly used for time for
schedules didn’t they tell you to be
here at 8 o’clock so again to be meaning
exist here to bring yourself here you
need to exist
here at 8 o’clock didn’t they tell you
that so again to be refers to your body
your person here existing hmm so I need
to be here to make these videos or I
need to be in the studio to do a live
stream every week I need to be somewhere
so we use B to talk about our body’s
position or our body’s location where we
exist we can use to be with that ok so
I’ve already started talking about a few
different prepositions actually I
mentioned I need to be at the studio or
I need to be in the office for example
there are a few common prepositions that
we can use with the verb to be so
because to be refers to our existence
refers to our location for example we
can use it with a few prepositions like
in or at so I can say I need to be in
the office I need to be at the office
both are okay to use with the verb to be
because they talk about or they help us
express our existence our condition
where we are located we can also use
width to talk about people like I want
to be with my family this weekend or I
want to be with my husband or my wife
later or I want to be with my friends
every day for example so we can use with
along with the verb to be so these are a
couple of common prepositions you’ll see
with the verb to be and its various
forms okay so let’s continue on to a
couple different grammar points let’s
talk now about the past tense we can use
a to be in past tense just remember
again the verb does conjugate here it’s
I was if the subject of the sentence is
I he she and it was he was she was it
was and with you we and they we use were
you were they were we were here I’ve
used it as an I was late to work past
tense
the neighbors were noisy so again
as I talked about with the present tense
example Nabors is plural so the rule for
they applies here they were noisy same
thing here I used the same sentence just
in past tense the computers were all
broken one more she wasn’t very friendly
so a negative form and please remember
that you can use the contracted form
instead of was not we can use wasn’t it
sounds a lot more natural she wasn’t
very friendly so please keep in mind the
past tense forms as well the past tense
form and the negative forms - all right
let’s continue on to a couple different
points I want to talk about the
continuous or the progressive form a
couple patterns some of you have sent in
questions about the the use of the word
being in in sentences like these like
what’s the difference between including
being and know being in in an example
sentence so let’s take a look in a
couple examples we use being in this
progressive form to express a temporary
state so if you’ve watched any videos
about the continuous form or the
progressive form you know we use it
sometimes to talk about a temporary
state something that’s not always true
but for now it is true the same rule
applies to being so if we can imagine
the blue line here is a present tense
statement present tense remember it’s
something that’s always true it’s a
general fact the red line here is a
temporary situation so here I have past
present now in the future so let’s look
at these two example sentences my
brother is annoying my brother is not
really nice my brother my brother is
annoying is a present tense sentence so
this is a general fact for an example a
general fact always true my brother is
annoying I have an adjective here my
brother is annoying however in this
sentence my brother is being annoying
right now my brother is being annoying
means in this point in time only for
this short period of time only right now
my brother is being he’s in the
condition his status his existence is
annoying right now if I said my brother
is annoying right now it’s okay
but being annoying it sounds a bit more
natural to a native speaker my brother
is being annoying right now let’s look
at one more example my computer is not
cooperative I’ve used the negative not
cooperative so this is a little bit of a
funny sentence it suggests maybe my
computer can think for itself
so cooperative meaning my computer is
not working very well in other words but
here I’ve used the adjective my computer
is not cooperative so maybe I have an
old computer so every day in this
sentence in a present tense sentence my
computer is not cooperative it doesn’t
work very well however if I want to use
being here I can say my computer wasn’t
in past tense maybe my computer wasn’t
being cooperative today so in this
sentence we see today only my computer
was not being my computer was not
functioning my computer was not existing
in a cooperative state its condition was
not cooperative for me in that day so
here I’ve used being my computer wasn’t
cooperative today is okay as well but we
can use being it sounds it kind of
emphasizes the existence it emphasizes
that temporary condition here so this
sounds really nice my computer wasn’t
being cooperative today try to use this
if you like so again we use this for a
temporary situation keep that in mind
being bla bla bla being before your
adjective in this case so that’s one
point I wanted to mention let’s move on
to a couple more may be difficult or
advanced points I wanted to share and I
want to introduce a few examples here -
first present perfect tense we’ve talked
about the present perfect tense in some
other videos before but let’s review
when your subject is I
we use have been when this subject is he
she or it it has been he has been she
has been it has been when we use you we
and they its have been you have been
they have been we have been so we can
use this as we’ve looked at in the past
I have been studying here’s our our
present perfect form the past participle
form been I have been she has been
working they have been living and then
some questions have we been sleeping or
where have you been living for example
here you’ll see we use been the past
participle form of the verb here in
present perfect tense
so maybe many of you are familiar maybe
this kind of pattern is okay for you but
let’s kind of look at a few examples
that are a bit more difficult or a bit
more advanced like the past perfect
tense so here in past perfect tense we
need to change from have as we’ve done
with present perfect to have the past
tense so here all of these are going to
be the same verb I had been he had been
you had been we keep the verb be with
bin here but we can actually change all
of these sentences I just talked about
and past perfect or sorry present
perfect to the past perfect tense just
by changing the verb have here so for
example I had been studying she had been
working they had been living for example
we can make past perfect sentences just
by changing the verb here so please keep
this in mind the verb to be does not
change in this case but we can make some
more complex sentences in this case a
past perfect sentence quite easily
actually with no change to the beaver
alright there’s one more situation or
one more kind of sentence I want to
mention today and that sentences that
use if clauses so if something then
something else these if
then type statements so here’s one
example if more people had come it would
have been a better party it would have
been so here we see there’s an if
statement that introduces a point so
here’s my if clause if more people had
come it would have been a better party
so here I’m talking about a past
situation so at the party maybe not a
lot of people came to the party but if
more people had to come in the past it
would have been a better party so I want
to introduce this because a lot of
people have no problem with the if
clause like if more people had come or
if more people had been at the party
however many people forget to conjugate
the verb in the main clause it would
have been so please don’t forget this
part it would have been don’t forget
you’re would either here let’s look at
one more if you had been here earlier so
here we see the verb to be is in our if
Clause if you had been here earlier you
would have heard my good news in this
case so here the to be verb is in the if
clause in that if clause at the
beginning of the sentence if you had
been here if your body had existed in
this place earlier you would have heard
my good news so here we can see it in
the if clause of the sentence this is a
very useful one if you had been here
earlier you can use this in a surprising
number of situations I think let’s look
at one more if we hadn’t been at the
beach today so here I have a negative in
the if clause so hadn’t been if we
hadn’t been at the beach today we
wouldn’t have seen whales for example so
here I’ve made a kind of complex
sentence with a negative if we hadn’t
been at the beach if our bodies had not
been at the beach if we had not existed
at the beach today we would not have
seen what
it would not have been possible to see
whales so you can use this in the
positive and the negative to make some
very complex sentences just about
existence about where you or where an
object is where your body is so I know
that to be can be a difficult verb to
use but think about the various ways
we’ve talked about in this lesson to use
the verb to be and try to make some
interesting sentences so there are a lot
of different ways to use this verb but
keep in mind it’s so useful as a linking
verb so we’re connecting a subject to
some key information about the subject
and we’re talking about our existence
with this verb so give it a try if you
have any questions or if you want to
just try an example sentence leave it in
a comment and we can check it out
hi everybody my name is Alisha and today
I’m going to talk about the difference
between if and when some of you have
asked questions about this and I’ve
noticed that some people make some key
and maybe dangerous mistakes between
these two words so let’s talk about when
to use them okay let’s talk about when
first we use when when there’s 100%
certainty something is going to happen
so for example with travel plans when
you arrive in the country or when you
get to my house for example or when you
register for classes so 100% certainty
something is going to happen I’ve made a
timeline here as I like to do on a
timeline here the image you can think
about is that when if I’ve used a green
line here it’s going to happen it’s
definitely going to happen we use when
when we know something is going to
happen there’s 100% certainty here this
is a key point it’s going to happen if
on the other hand we use if if there’s
only a chance something is going to
happen there’s only a chance it is not
determined it is not something that has
been decided if is used for H
something will occur if is not used in
cases where we know something is going
to happen or something should happen if
is only used to express chance or
possibility so on the same timeline here
in red I’ve made a dotted line to
express if there’s a possibility in the
future something might happen there’s a
chance in the future something might
happen in these cases we use if so for
example if you lose your student ID card
if you get lost
for example so please please be careful
don’t use if in cases where there’s 100
percent certainty something is going to
happen and on the other hand don’t use
when in cases where there’s only a
chance something will happen
making a mistake between these two words
can destroy relationships or it can just
it can really cause some serious
confusion so I made a few example
sentences that I’ve actually seen some
that are similar to these so let’s take
a look and see why making a mistake
could be really really dangerous or
could really damage a relationship if
you make a mistake with these two let’s
take a look all right so first sentence
ba ba bla we break up what are you going
to do so if you don’t know the word
break up means to end a romantic
relationship - to break up with someone
here let’s think if or when if we look
at this rule if I say when if I’m
speaking to my partner if I say when we
break up what are you going to do if I
choose the word when it sounds like in
my mind to me I’ve decided I know 100%
certain I’m certain we are going to
break up this sounds very very sad and
probably to my partner if my partner
doesn’t know my feelings so if I say
when we break up what are you going to
do it sounds like I’ve decided to end
the relationship that’s probably not
what I want to say in this case
let’s use it if we break up there’s a
chance if we break up what are you going
to do so let’s use if here of course
this is a very maybe serious sentence
anyway but using if shows there’s only a
chance of a breakup when it shows it’s
it’s definite you’ve decided already so
please be careful let’s look at another
very interesting sentence something
something your wallet gets stolen call
me your wallet gets stolen so here if I
use when here when your wallet gets
stolen call me means the speaker expects
the listeners wallet will be stolen that
sounds very very strange a little
mysterious right so if your wallet gets
stolen however it sounds like there’s a
chance maybe the listener is going
somewhere dangerous for example so in
this case if is a much better choice
when it sounds like the speaker has some
secret plan maybe when your wallet gets
stolen sounds like maybe the speaker has
maybe made plans or knows mysteriously
somehow that the listeners wallet is
going to get stolen let’s use if in this
sentence here’s another one bla bla bla
you hear screaming so screaming means
loud terrified voice if you hear a loud
terrified screaming voice don’t worry so
if you say when when you hear screaming
don’t worry or if you hear screaming
don’t worry so I suppose if it’s around
Halloween for example and you’re at a
haunted house you could say when in this
case but if you’re in a regular
situation and someone wants to warn you
of something it sounds a bit strange to
say when you hear screaming don’t worry
but maybe if is a better choice here if
you hear screaming don’t worry like
maybe your friend for example is making
a crazy video outside and they’re going
to shout a lot for example so there’s a
chance you may hear screaming so this
one is probably better for if you hear
of course in some cases
like I said in like a haunted house
situation maybe you could use the word
when when you hear screaming don’t worry
but in most cases if if is probably a
better choice here let’s look at another
one let’s get a beer blah blah blah the
plane lands so this sentence the nuance
here is the speaker is on a plane riding
on a plane in the air right now
because I have the verb lands lands
means to touch the land to stop flying
so here let’s get a beer if or when if
sounds like there’s only a chance the
plane is going to land when sounds like
there’s a 100 percent chance the plane
is going to Lin so it’s probably a
better choice to use when here we know
the plane is going to land unless it’s
an extreme case like a plane crash
hopefully not but let’s get a beer when
the plane lands is a better choice for
this sentence okay next one blah blah
blah he gets fired for this he’s going
to be in trouble
hmm so if we use when here by the way
fired means lose your job lose your job
so when he gets fired for this sounds
like the speaker knows he this person is
going to lose his job here however if we
use if sounds like there’s only a chance
or the speaker does not know whether or
not he is going to lose his job so if is
probably a better choice here of course
if the speaker somehow knows information
they could use the word when in this
case but it’s probably better to use if
to show there’s only a chance that this
person could get fired for this
situation okay let’s look at one more
she said she would text me when or if
she had time to get together this is a
situation where both if and when are
possible so we can use if and we can use
win here the nuance though she will text
me if she has time so
if she has time means there’s only a
chance she has time in other words if we
use when she in this sentence she
expects she is going to have time in the
future she said she would text me when
she had time when she had time so
meaning she expects to have time and
she’s going to text the listener if
however the sentence is if she said she
would text me if she had time means she
in the sentence this person she says she
means there’s only a chance she’ll have
time so please be careful sometimes both
if and when are correct but the nuance
is a little bit different so please keep
sentences like these in mind sometimes
especially in a sentence like the first
example we looked at we can potentially
make really really damaged relationships
if we make a mistake between if and when
so please consider this thanks very much
for watching and we’ll see you again
soon
[Music]