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and ways to improve your writing so
let’s go
don’t use text speak okay so the first
tip to improve your writing is don’t use
text speak text speak by that I mean for
example like BRB or lol or those kinds
of words the words that you use on the
internet like SNS or in text messages
with your friends those very short like
slang words ttyl or LMAO or those sorts
of acronyms do not use those in your
formal writing if you are writing a
letter a business email whatever do not
use those the only one that you can use
in a business email so not in a letter
of recommendation not in a formal letter
but the only thing you can use that sort
of text speak ish is the acronym fYI
which means for your information you can
use fYI in a mail to your colleagues and
an email to your colleagues or your
co-workers but usually it’s with
somebody you have a good relationship
with you can say fYI in those cases
other texts speak other acronyms like
that don’t use them you you will sound
immature you will sound too casual not a
good idea
use proper punctuation the next hint is
to use proper punctuation proper
punctuation punctuation for example we
have commas we have periods semicolons
colons apostrophes quotation marks
parentheses all of these are punctuation
marks the little points in our writing
that tell readers where to stop reading
or how sentences are connected using
proper punctuation in your writing will
help your reader understand you and if
your reader understands you well and
you’ve used proper punctuation you will
also look a bit smarter too if you’re
not using proper punctuation like for
example if you forget to use an
apostrophe in a word it’s gonna look
kind of bad honestly for example if you
use the word your y ou you
Jeffie ar e if you leave out the
apostrophe if you just write y ou u ar e
it looks lazy
it looks lazy so make sure to use proper
punctuation to avoid appearing lazy so
don’t forget your little periods commas
semicolons all that don’t repeat the
same vocabulary words the next tip is
don’t repeat the same vocabulary words
don’t repeat the same vocabulary words
she says repeating the same sentence but
don’t repeat the same vocabulary words
means if you are using like an adjective
a specific adjective in a sentence
don’t use that same adjective in every
other sentence like try to use different
adjectives to describe your points if
you are always using exactly the same
words to describe your point like if for
example I want to write about cake if I
want to write an article about cake and
I just say this cake is delicious this
cake is so delicious
I loved this cake because it was
delicious this was so delicious it’s
boring for the reader to read the same
word every single sentence or and also
you’re not really communicating very
much if I just use the word delicious to
describe a cake the reader doesn’t
understand why the cake is delicious
so give more detail when you’re sharing
your opinions of course this time it’s a
very simple opinion about delicious cake
but use a variety of different
adjectives support your arguments with
statements that use different vocabulary
words so don’t always say the same word
to describe something try to use a lot
of different vocabulary words and think
a lot about different adjectives you can
use if this is difficult for you there
is a tool you can use the English word
for it is thesaurus thesaurus so many of
you know what a dictionary is a book or
a resource to check the meaning of a
word but you can also use what’s called
a thesaurus with a thesaurus you can
search for synonyms words which have the
same or similar meaning as other words
so if I look for the word like delicious
I might get let’s see some synonyms for
the word delicious might be yummy tasty
delectable for example so there are a
whole range of other words that you can
use if you find that you are using the
same word in every sentence try to find
a different word you can use a thesaurus
to help you do that
so avoid using the same word in every
sentence or avoid using this repeated
vocabulary words avoid use of very and
really ok the next tip is to avoid the
use of very and really by this I mean
instead of saying to go back to my kik
example the cake was very delicious the
cake was really delicious very and
really are sort of lazy words of course
they’re very very useful uh-huh they’re
very very useful when we’re speaking
casually and when we’re thinking quickly
but if you’re writing and you have some
time to think about what you’re writing
instead of using a word that’s common
like delicious and just attaching very
like this cake is very delicious what’s
a different word that means very
delicious
so can I replace very and delicious with
one different word like scrumptious
for example this cake is scrumptious
scrumptious means very delicious it’s
only one word so if you can do this if
you apply a word that means the same
thing as very or really plus another
word it’s going to level up your
vocabulary and you’re going to reduce
the number of words in this sentence so
if I say this cake is very delicious or
if I say this cake is scrumptious
scrumptious has a much stronger meaning
than just very delicious so avoiding the
use of very and really can level up your
speech quite significantly so give it a
try use transition words and phrases the
next tip is to use transition words and
phrases use transition words and phrases
so transition words are words and well
and phrases we use to move from one idea
to the next idea so continuing in my
cake example if I want to introduce my
scrumptious cake and then I want to move
on to a description of the store that
sells that cake I might use a transition
phrase or
is some kind of sequence phrase to help
me do that so if in paragraph a I’m
talking about my scrumptious cake and
how much I enjoyed it and the chocolate
flavors and the amazing frosting I could
use a transition phrase for example by
the way if you’re interested you can
purchase this cake at ABC store for
example so in that case my transition
phrase was by the way a very casual
transition phrase depending on the kind
of thing you’re writing you can use
different transition phrases if you’re
writing an academic paper for example
when you want to add information you can
say additionally moreover furthermore
you can also use plus if you’d like to
add information in addition is another
one that you can use so when you want to
add information there are some
transition phrases or some ways to give
more information you to describe a
sequence you can say next then following
that you can use your words like 1st 2nd
3rd 4th depending on the sequence you
can say subsequently or consequently as
well so think about the relationship
between the points you’re introducing
think about all these different
relationships how do you want to connect
these ideas so instead of just listing
your points each point trying to think
about how to connect those points
naturally so depending on what you’re
writing the words you use will change
which is fine but just think about the
way you’d like your reader to understand
your information and choose transition
words and phrases accordingly organize
your writing
intro body conclusion ok the next one is
a tip about organization so the next tip
is organize your paper or organize your
writing into an introduction a body and
a conclusion so these are the 3 basic
elements of an academic paper or of an
essay perhaps an article as well
introduction is as it sounds it’s
introducing the main points what are you
going to talk about what is your opinion
what is your argument we introduce that
in the introduction then next part is
the body of the paper in other words the
main points the your real arguments
everything you would
like to say about the things you
introduced in your introduction this is
where you get into the details of that
so the body of the paper is typically
the longest part of the paper or the
longest part of the essay so there’s a
lot of information in the body section
finally the conclusion the conclusion of
the paper concludes or finishes the
paper in the conclusion you will
summarize your points from the body of
the paper and you should connect those
points to the items you introduced in
the introduction of your paper so all of
these elements these three elements
should connect together so if you are
finding that it’s difficult to organize
your thoughts or you don’t know how to
approach your paper or this item maybe
even an email you’re writing you can try
to separate it into three sort of
categories introduction body conclusion
so introduced idea explained idea
summarized idea this can be very helpful
in writing avoid use of second person ok
the next hint is avoid use of second
person second person this is going to
take a little explanation so in English
writing we have three sort of ways that
we can write we can write in
first-person which means for example I
went to the store I wanted to buy
something I met a friend so first person
I am the person sharing the story
sharing the information in second person
which is kind of rare actually except in
very casual styles of writing the
subject of the sentence is you like you
go to the store you buy some milk
you call your friend this is kind of
rare we see this in childrens books and
like I say in sort of informal articles
online third-person style writing is
using he/she and character names like he
went to the store she called her mother
they needed to see a doctor so there are
these three types of writing in English
language so first person second person
third person generally when you are
writing especially an academic paper you
will use first person or third person to
do that if you’re writing something
formal you should probably not use
second person sometimes you’ll see like
a person describing and
for example like you should submerge the
item in water or you should bake this at
350 degrees using you is fine in casual
situations when you’re giving
instructions for example if you find it
in a recipe fine it kind of sounds a bit
more casual very informal not so
important however if you find that you
are using you-you-you in an academic
paper it sounds a bit too casual too
informal so please avoid use of second
person so reminder second person is the
subject of the sentence is you you so it
sounds like you’re kind of commanding
the other person commanding the reader
or giving advice to the reader or
telling the reader what to do
it sounds very odd so avoid use of
second person in your writing consider
the tense you’re using the next tip is
to consider the tense you’re using
consider the tense you’re using so I’m
just going to talk about two tenses here
really present tense and past tense so
we can use the present tense and the
present continuous tense really to
explain a story or to tell a story like
it’s actually happening so if I say like
I go to the store I see a friend of mine
she’s buying milk for example if I use
the present tense and I use the present
continuous tense it sounds like the
listener or if it’s in writing it sounds
like that’s actually happening it’s
easier for the listener or the reader to
kind of experience the story in that
moment so if you want to create some
tension in your writing if you want to
create some excitement you can use the
present tense and its associated tenses
to kind of heighten the energy level if
you use past tense however you might
create more of a rapport nuance so for
example when you watch the evening news
or you read the newspaper you might find
that it’s written in past tense
it’s just reporting information what
happened so simple past tense is used
past tense and the other associated
tenses in past tense are used so when
you’re writing consider what do you want
the reader to feel or what do you want
the reader to
are you writing a report maybe you
should just use past tense are you
writing about general facts then if
you’re writing about a general fact you
should probably use present tense but if
you want to create like a fiction story
for example and you want your reader to
experience the story and kind of feel
enthusiastic or energetic about your
story present tense and maybe continuous
tense and with present would be a better
choice so just think about which tense
you’re using for your writing consider
appropriate vocabulary the next tip is
to consider appropriate vocabulary
consider appropriate vocabulary so
depending on the type of thing you’re
writing there are words that are good to
use and there are words that are not so
good to use if you’re writing an
academic paper for example don’t use
casual words don’t use curse words in
your paper don’t use anything that could
be interpreted or could be understood as
informal if you’re writing something
very casual on the other hand it’s fine
to use casual words it’s fine to be
informal to be a little bit funny and it
might sound strange if you do use
informal words or extremely polite words
so consider the appropriate kinds of
vocabulary words to be using depending
on what you’re writing
learn to use references okay the last
tip is maybe the most difficult tip the
last tip is learn to use references
learn to use references this is
especially important if you are writing
academic papers or if you are writing
something you’re going to publish in
like a journal or maybe even a magazine
using references means you are using
references reading references and
writing about them and including what’s
called a citation in your writing so
you’re taking a piece of something that
someone else has written putting it in
quotation marks perhaps depending on the
way you choose to cite it and then
adding a reference list at the end of
your document to show which documents
you referenced which documents were
important to you in making your argument
so if you can use references
you’re writing to support your argument
it can be a very very good tool so if
you have just kind of an opinion piece
you want to write an article even for
the internet for example it can be very
very helpful to support your argument
with links to other references with
links to other information about your
opinion
so yes I’m its most important it’s most
focused on in academics
in academia really but if you’re writing
even for the internet learning how to
reference properly learning how to
include others works properly in your
work can be extremely valuable so try
that out it’s it’s a big topic it’s a
difficult topic but learning how to use
references can really help you improve
your writing ten phrasal verbs for
eating and drinking so let’s get started
drink up the first phrasal verb is drink
up drink up drink up is a happy is a
cheerful phrase we used that means let’s
start drinking or let’s enjoy drinking
or please drink so you can use it when
everybody gets their drinks you can say
alright our beers are here let’s drink
up it means it has the nuance of drink a
lot like you can also use it like as a
challenge to someone like someone who
loses a bet or loses like an argument
you can say drink up is kind of a
challenge it’s sort of like a friendly
command for drink so in sentence our
beers are here everybody drink up take
down the next phrasal verb is take down
take down as in take down and order take
down is a phrasal verb that these staff
like waiter or waitress will use at
their restaurant they may come to your
table and say can I take down your order
they may also say can I take your order
of course but to take down is like to
take your order and write it down on a
notepad for example in a notebook so
take down your order you might hear this
so in a sentence when you’re ready I can
take down your order ring up the next
word is ring up ring up we use ring up
to mean total to total something to
total a bill to total the amount of
something at a restaurant or shopping -
for example so again this is a word that
waitstaff the staff the restaurant may
use so when you finish your meal they
will ring up your bill they will ring up
your total and you will pay that amount
at the end of your meal so in a sentence
I’ll ring up your bill at the cash
register set down the next phrasal verb
is set down set down so we use set down
for items which we are carrying and then
we set or we place on a table so usually
there’s like a downward motion if you’re
carrying something like you can use it
for a backpack if you want to like to
set down - to drop something to leave
something but to put it int like on a
table to put it in a place specifically
there so we can use set down at a
restaurant like please set the plate
down on the table or can you set down my
drink over there or I’ll set down your
order over here so set down means to
place something us something you were
carrying to place it on a table or to
place it on a desk so set it down in a
sentence please set down the plates
carefully cut up the next phrasal verb
is cut up cut up we use cut up to mean
cut but cut up usually means to cut all
of something so if you receive like I
don’t know chicken or beef or pork or
some large item you need to cut we say
cut up to mean cut the entire piece to
cut everything you receive so in a
sentence make sure to cut up steak into
small pieces for example it’s easier for
children to eat or I take a long time to
cut up my meat for example so cut up
means cut everything cut into the next
phrasal verb is cut into so - cut into
means just to make one slice into
something usually we use
cut into four like the first slice like
we use it maybe to check that a
something is properly cooked sometimes
so like to cut into a chicken or to cut
into turkey we usually use this for the
first slice so the first experience like
when I cut into the chicken all the
juices came out it looked delicious I’m
excited to cut into my Thanksgiving
turkey this year or I’m really looking
forward to cutting into that steak later
it looked great so cut into is kind of
that first cut that initial cut where
you can see maybe what the what the meat
looks like or you get you get a sense of
how the rest of your meal is going to
taste so cut into the first slice I want
to cut into my dinner later stop up the
next phrasal verb is stop up
stop up so to stop means to soak with
liquid to soak with liquid to stop up
therefore is like to to soak to soak
liquid from like a bowl or from a cup or
something but we use this with bread
usually so if you’re eating soup for
example and there is leftover soup in
your bowl you can take bread and soft up
soak up the liquid from your soup with
bread so to stop up liquid so to soak
and pick up something is the image here
so to stop up bread so for example I
like to stop up my soup with bread or I
like to stop up extra sauce with a
biscuit for example so usually there’s
some bread and some sauce or liquid we
use with this phrase cool down the next
phrasal verb is cooled down cooled down
means to let something become lower
temperature naturally so to let
something cool down really means to
allow something to gradually go to a
lower temperature if you make a pie for
example it’s very hot when it comes out
of the oven so oftentimes the recipe
will say allow to cool down and serve
for example so meaning after the pie is
taken from the oven you
should let the temperature cool you
should let the temperature come down
before eating so to cool down is like
reducing the temperature but just
naturally over time so in a sentence
make sure to let your mashed potatoes
cool down before you try to eat them
heat up so the next phrasal verb is heat
up heat up we use heat up usually to
talk about microwave use or oven use so
it’s taking a cold food or maybe a
frozen food usually just a cold food
kept in the refrigerator put it in the
microwave and turn it on to heat the
food to make it warm again
so to heat up is like to move the heat
level up to increase the temperature of
the food we use the phrasal verb heat up
to do this so for example I like to heat
up my pizza before I eat it my leftover
pizza or you should heat up yesterday’s
soup it would be really good to have
that tonight or maybe we should heat up
something quick for dinner tonight so
heat up means to increase the
temperature of a cold thing chow down so
the next phrasal verb is sort of a slang
expression it’s Chow down chow down
means like to eat really excitedly it’s
it’s not a phrasal verb I personally use
very much but you can use it to express
your enthusiasm for something so it’s
typically used for like sort of junk
food type things or like really really
um everyday foods like in in the USA
it’s like sandwiches or hot dogs or like
something you might get it like a
sporting event will say like I want to
chow down on a sandwich later or I want
to chow down on some pizza after this so
to chow down is like enthusiastically
eats like you’re not thinking about
being polite you’re not worried about
looking nice while you eat you’re just
enjoying eating very enthusiastically so
like oh let’s chow down on some pizza
later for example so or for example like
we’re gonna chow down on some barbecue
this weekend it’ll be great and phrasal
verbs for sports and exercise so let’s
go
long the first word is go long go long
we use this word when we’re playing
catch or when we’re throwing a ball so
go long means we combine the word go
with the word long meaning run far away
from me run a long distance away from me
so go is travel move and long is a long
distance away so go long will usually
shout this before we pass a football for
example or before we throw a ball go
long means I want to throw this a long
distance so please run far far away and
I will throw the ball to you it’s a nice
one in a sentence
I’m gonna pass this next one to you so
go long try out for the next phrasal
verb is try out for try out for we use
try out for to mean audition like in
sports but to audition for a team to
apply to be a member of a team when you
do that you usually have to show your
sports your your sports sporting
experience or you have to show your
athletic ability so to try out for is
like a test to join a team like I want
to try out for the volleyball team next
year or she says she’s going to try out
for golf next year or have you thought
about trying out for the swim team for
example so to try out for a team to try
out for a sport this is how we can use
try out for work up the next phrasal
verb is work up as in work up a sweat
work up a sweat
we use work up a sweat to mean cause
your body to sweat because of exercise
so by doing something active like doing
sports or running for example anything
active with your body we cause our
bodies to sweat and we use the
expression work up a sweat to express
that we use work because we are working
and we are moving our bodies we’re
active we are working our bodies our
bodies are working they’re moving
they’re functioning so we use work up a
sweat our bodies are working and the
temperature may be increases so our body
starts
to try to cool us down so we say work up
a sweat to describe this in some example
sentences mmm I try to work up a sweat
at least twice a week or how often do
you work up a sweat or it feels really
good to work up a good sweat now and
then yeah root for the next expression
is root for root for we use root for at
sporting events so root for means
support a team so to root for like I’m
going to root for the football team or
I’m going to root for my country’s team
or I’m going to root for my city’s team
root for means support so I like to root
for my college team every year or I like
to root for my college football team
every year that’s true or which team do
you want to root for this weekend work
off the next phrasal verb is work off
work off so we talked about work up like
work up a sweat but here the word is
work off we usually use this to talk
about calories so I want to work off the
Cheesecake I ate for a dessert last
night or I want to work off the burrito
I had for lunch today
work off means a food you ate and we use
the word work off to mean work our
bodies as in work through exercise and
work off so we want to take off from our
bodies the calories we added to it by
eating so example sentences would be
yeah I want to work off the Cheesecake I
ate last night I want to work off all
the pizza that I ate last weekend or do
you want to come with me I’m gonna go
work off all these ice creams I’ve been
eating lately for example so work off
means to exercise with the intention of
taking off or taking away calories from
food so if you’re a dieting or if you’re
trying to become healthy or you just
want to exercise away with some extra
calories you can use the expression work
off to work off a food to work off some
calories okay
cheer on cheer for the next expression
or maybe pair of expressions is cheer on
or cheer for so I talked about the word
root
four and cheer on and cheer for are very
similar we use them in pretty much the
same way so we used cheer on usually
before a team name like I’m going to
cheer on my high school team or I’m
going to cheer on my son or daughter’s
team this weekend we can also use cheer
for I’m going to cheer for my high
school team I’m going to cheer for my
college team because we’re using the
word cheer it sounds like we’re going to
use our voice or use our bodies to
support that team you can maybe see a
great example of this among cheer
leaders
so you see cheerleaders a lot in movies
especially from the USA they’re men and
women actually but they wear a uniform
and their role their purpose is to help
the audience cheer for that team to
cheer for the the team that they are
connected to so a cheer leader is a
person who leads cheering at a sporting
event so to cheer for someone or to
cheer on someone a team we can use cheer
on and cheer for to talk about
supporting with your voice or with some
kind of dance for example so cheer on
and cheer for are really fun things that
you can use to talk about supporting
your favorite teams knockout the next
expression is knock out knock out or you
might see ko as well knock out means -
usually through a punch or through some
kind of physical action to cause someone
to lose consciousness so it doesn’t mean
to kill someone it doesn’t mean someone
dies for example it means to cause
someone to become unconscious so
unconscious it’s like going to sleep but
it’s kind of it’s dangerous like because
of a head injury usually a person goes
unconscious or they they fall asleep it
appears they fall asleep but you see
this in boxing for example a knockout a
KO is someone yeah becomes maybe
unconscious so they fall down for
example and they don’t get back up that
Keio to knock out your opponent so we we
see this a lot in boxing perhaps in
other sports occasionally but I think
primarily it’s used in boxing so to
knock out your opponent or like he’s
going to try to knock out his opponent
in the last round or did you see that
guy get knocked out last night you can
use knockout outside of sports but it’s
usually used for fights like I saw a guy
get knocked out outside a bar last night
so we can use this outside of sports but
it’s usually for like fighting
situations okay
workout the next phrasal verb is work
out work out this is one that many
people seem to struggle with when they
see it so it does not mean it has no
connection to actually working to work
out means to exercise to exercise we use
this as a set phrase workout it means
exercise that’s it so I want to work out
three times a week or I went to the gym
for a workout last night or do you want
to work out with me this weekend work
out means exercise always warm up the
next expression is warm up warm up so
warm
meaning warm your body so increase your
body’s temperature and up meaning to
increase something again so warm
becoming warm and up temperature like
increasing temperature so before you
begin a some kind of exercise or some
activity it’s common to begin with a
warm-up a short kind of easy exercise to
prepare your body to workout to exercise
so a warmup is often included in an
exercise routine warm-up is the phrasal
verb we use so example sentences I like
to do a five-minute warm-up before I go
jogging or what do you usually do for
your warmup
or I think it’s really important to do a
warm-up before you start working out
cooldown
all right the last one for today is
cooled down cooldown is really the
opposite of warm-up so we use warm-up to
explain raising our body’s temperature
before we do a workout
down is used to explain cooling the
body’s temperature after a workout
reducing our energy levels after a
workout for example I think it’s
important to take five minutes to cool
down after your workout or what kind of
things do you recommend for cooling down
after your exercise hi everybody my name
is Alisha in this lesson we’re going to
talk about some expressions you can use
to talk about your abilities so I’m
going to introduce some expressions you
can use for the past for the present and
for the future these are just a few
examples of some ways you can talk about
the things you can could and will be
able to do so let’s take a look with a
few examples of each pattern okay let’s
start with the first one I can +8 verb
so here the subject in the sample
pattern is I but we can replace I with
for example he or she or it or they the
same is true for all of the other
patterns I’m going to introduce in this
lesson so we use I can plus a verb as
sort of the basic most simple way to
express something we are able to do so
example sentences I can speak English my
verb here is speak in this case so this
could be something many of you can use
another example here I’ve changed the
subject to she she so she can my verb is
run she can run 5k 5k beating five
kilometres in 30 minutes so these are
just some simple very basic ways to
express something we can do we are able
to do of course we can use the negative
for this I can’t speak English I can’t
speak Chinese for example or she can’t
run 5k in 30 minutes we can make the
negative with this pattern so this is
maybe the most basic way to express
something you can do you are able to do
let’s look at another one
this expression is I know how
- plus a verb I know how to do something
so we can use the same verbs we used in
the first pattern in this pattern if you
like for example I know how to speak
English is fine however we use know how
to do something for something that
requires like study or something that
requires maybe a process there are rules
for that thing so a sentence like I know
how to run 5k it’s not quite so natural
because running isn’t really necessarily
a topic of study running requires
practice yes but it’s not really
something we study so we use know how to
do something for something we have
learned how to do so not necessarily
physical practice of something but we
have learned this thing so some examples
I know how to use Photoshop so Photoshop
is a piece of software something we can
study something we learn how to use
another example he knows how to bake
cookies so here this is something we
need to study in other words so there’s
a process to baking cookies he knows how
to bake cookies so please keep in mind
as we see in this example when we change
the subject from I - for example he she
or it the following verb no needs to
change we need to modify the verb so it
has an S at the end he knows how to bake
cookies so don’t forget this s however
this verb does not change he knows how
to bake cookies so we don’t need to
modify this verb will only modify the
first one which is attached to heat the
subject okay so this is for a process
something we study to become able to do
now let’s talk about a couple of past
tense examples so these two are maybe
present tense expressions let’s talk
about some past tense example sentences
the first one when I was a kid I could
and our verb so
here I’ve said when I was a kid you can
change this of course when I was a
student when I was an elementary school
student when I lived in a different city
for example so this part can change to a
different time period in your life
however here I’m using the past tense
could I could so this implies this
suggests that maybe this action is not
possible for you now let’s look at some
examples so when I was a kid I could
swim all day long so this sentence
sounds like now I can’t really it’s it’s
just a simple expression with past tense
I could I could
so maybe the speaker is going to share
some more information about their
current ability but here I’ve used when
I was a kid again you can change this to
like when I was in swimming club for
example I could swim all day long so
there are a lot of different variations
you can use with this pattern anyway
let’s look at another example when you
were a kid so maybe if a parent wants to
talk to their son or daughter about
their childhood they can use this
expression so when you were a kid you
could sleep for 12 hours straight so
it’s 12 hours straight means 12 hours
non-stop
so you is my subject here when you
therefore was in my example pattern
changes to were when you were a kid you
could sleep for 12 hours straight so
again this is a past tense expression
let’s look at one more past tense
expression maybe you’re familiar with
used to used to so I used to be able to
do something so where the action is a
verb here so here we have used 2 so
maybe you know I used two followed by
just a simple verb so like I used to
cook every day or I used to exercise
every day
here we introduced I used to be
able to this expression allows us to
explain an ability we had in the past
so let’s look at some examples I used to
be able to speak Spanish here’s my verb
to speak Spanish used to shows a long
time ago in the past I had this ability
but now I do not so remember the nuance
of used to is that something was true in
the past and it is not true
now I used to also please consider the
pronunciation here so not used to but
native speakers connect the D and the T
sound at the end of used and - so it’s
not used to but used to used to there’s
just one sound they’re used to so think
of it as dropping the D used to I used
to do something one more example she
used to be able to babysit meaning her
schedule maybe has changed now she
cannot babysit so here we have some
expressions with used to to a talk about
a past ability okay
finally let’s end with one example a
pattern that you can use to talk about
future possibilities or future abilities
so you can use this when you want to
make a guess about the future so
something you think you might be able to
do in the future so the base pattern is
in the future will be able to verb so
here I have we in my example we will so
wheel is the contracted form of we will
and I’ve used we in this case we means
all people all people all members of
society we together so some examples of
this in the future we’ll be able to use
AI technology AI so artificial
intelligence AI technology in the future
we’ll be able to use AI technology so
you might wonder why am I using will
here instead of like going
to for example we use will when we’re
making a guess about the future that we
can’t really see so we can’t see what’s
going to happen in the future and maybe
we don’t have such a strong level of
confidence we don’t have a super high
level of confidence about our guests in
those cases we can use will so these are
nice to talk about capabilities things
we are able to do or in this case things
we might be able to do in the future so
this is the sentence you can use to make
a prediction to make a guess let’s look
at one more example said this okay in
the future we’ll be able to travel to
space so here again I’m making a guess
about space travel so I don’t have a
high level of confidence because I don’t
know very much about space travel but I
want to make a guess in the future we’ll
be able to travel to space if you want
to decrease the level of confidence of
your guests you can include I think for
example in the future I think we’ll be
able to travel the space so you can
change the level of your confidence of
your guests by introducing some other
phrases like I think or maybe alright so
these are a few ways that you can
express your abilities in the past the
present and in the future these are just
a couple of different patterns to do
that but please be careful some things
that I’ve noticed are that often
students will mix up the present tense
can and past tense good so make sure to
use a past tense when you’re talking
about your abilities in the past and
make sure to use present tense for the
things you are able to do now
okay the basic definition of the verb
pass is to move beyond someone or
something examples let’s pass this car I
passed you on campus earlier so let’s
talk about the conjugations of this verb
present Pass passes past past past
participle past progressive passing
okay so now let’s talk about some
additional meanings for this verb the
first additional meaning is to decline
something so for example let’s imagine a
conversation between two people a want
some cake
B I’ll pass second example I’m gonna
pass on drinks tonight
okay so in both of these examples
situations we see someone declining they
use the expression I’ll pass or I’m
going to pass so to pass means like to
refuse or to decline something it’s kind
of gentle but it’s just quick also so
it’s very clear but rather gentle to
like ah do you want to go for drinks hmm
I’ll pass or I’m gonna pass on that for
tonight something like that it’s very
quick and easy to understand but also a
casual no in other words
okay let’s go to the second meaning for
this verb the second meaning is to go
beyond an amount or to go beyond a
specific day some examples of this our
channal passed 1 million subscribers
this year don’t eat that
I think the expiration date is passed so
in both of these examples sentences we
see that some amount or some date has
been moved beyond so in the first
example sentence our channal passed 1
million subscribers this year it means
our channel went beyond 1 million
subscribers so there was some goal or
some point 1 million in this case and we
went above that or beyond that in the
second example sentence it’s a date
specifically the expiration date for a
product or you might know like the best
by date it’s sometimes it’s different
but the expiration date is like the last
day that the product can be eaten or the
last safe day to consume the product so
the expiration date has passed means
that the product is beyond that date so
in both of these examples we’re seeing
some amount or some specific day and
then we’re talking about going beyond
that so this is another meaning of the
verb passed the third meaning is to be 6
as in a test or an application something
like that examples of this I passed the
test if the House passes inspection we
can move in next week so both of these
are referring to successfully completing
something or like successfully like
achieving something so in the first
example I passed the test it means I
finished the test and I had an
acceptable score but we use pass is much
easier to explain with pass in the
second example sentence about a house
inspection the situation is if we pass
the inspection so meaning if the house
is inspected and it’s considered
acceptable we can move in next week
so this means like there’s some kind of
check some kind of like grading or
inspection or examination and if that’s
okay great like we’re successful so this
is another meaning of pass the fourth
meaning is to give something this is
usually within like the range of our
bodies so some examples of this can you
pass me the salt
she passed him $100 so in both of these
examples were kind of imagining
situations where people are pretty close
to each other so can you pass me the
salt is a request like maybe you’re
sitting at the same table with someone
and you can reach them with your arm or
you can reach pretty close to them
anyway in the second example sentence
she passed him $100 it’s like they must
be pretty close they’re probably pretty
close there was some object they could
pass so they could give to the other
person within arm’s reach within
distance of their arms so passed can
just mean to give something like this
motion usually it’s like passing
something it’s kind of this image so
those are a few additional meanings of
the verb passed let’s go on to some
variations
the first one is to pass something off
as something else so this expression
means to make something seem like
something else or to pretend that
something is something else
this sounds like quite a long expression
but let’s look at some examples of how
it’s used he tried to pass off his dog
as a wolf the criminal was trying to
pass off $1 bills as $100 bills so in
both of these examples we see someone is
pretending object a is object B in the
first example sentence there’s a guy
who’s trying to pretend his dog a he’s a
wolf so it’s not really a wolf he’s
pretending it’s just a dog in the second
example sentence a criminal is trying to
pass off is pretending that $1 bills
aren’t $100 bills
so trying to pass off means like maybe
they’re making some kind of effort to
persuade people that Oh object a really
is object B but in many cases it’s
pretty easy to see it’s not really
object B so to pass something off as
something else okay let’s go on to the
second variation for this verb the
second variation is the expression to
pass out to pass out this expression
means to fall asleep but it means to
fall asleep because you’re extremely
tired you’re sick or you’re drunk
usually so there’s it’s not quite a
usual it’s not like it’s not like the
typical
fall asleep kind of gently calmly pass
out it’s like you’re just so tired or
it’s like you have no control or it’s
just oh it’s it’s like a strong kind of
rough version of falling asleep it’s
passing out so examples of this I almost
passed out on the bus
one of my co-workers passed out at her
desk today yeah so as we talked about
these are both examples of situations
where it’s kind of like a rough way to
fall asleep like almost passed out on
the bus like the image is I was so tired
I was sitting on the bus and I just
almost completely fell asleep I didn’t
plan to really in the second example a
co-worker passed out at their desk it’s
like someone was so tired they’re
sleeping at their desk so it’s kind of a
rough image of falling asleep the third
variation for this verb is to pass up to
pass up this means to not take advantage
of a chance or an opportunity so means
like to let something go to let an
opportunity go examples you passed up a
raise
why for some reason he passed up a full
scholarship okay so both of these are
examples of situations that seem to
present a big chance or a big
opportunity but we’re using the
expression passed up in the first
example we saw pass up a raise you
passed up a raise why like why would you
not take the raise so why would you let
go the chance for a raise so you have
the chance to earn more money a raise
means more money you have the chance to
earn more money why would you let it go
that’s the speaker’s question here you
said no you declined or refused why in
the second example sentence he passed up
a full scholarship the expression full
scholarship means your college or your
university tuition the money you pay to
take classes at university a full
scholarship means everything is paid for
you get free university education
essentially so in the sentence he passed
up a full scholarship the speaker is
probably confused why would he decline
such an opportunity that’s a huge
opportunity free education free money
essentially why would you do that so to
pass up is to let an opportunity go
let’s begin with the basic definition of
this verb so the basic definition of the
verb to take is to remove something but
often without permission to remove it
some examples of this you took the last
cookie your dog is about to take your
lunch now let’s look at the conjugations
for this verb present take takes past
took past participle taken progressive
taking
now let’s talk about some additional
meanings for this verb the first one the
first additional meaning is to receive
or to accept something some examples
does this restaurant take credit cards
all the teachers took a 5% pay cut so in
the first example sentence does this
restaurant take credit cards
take here means except in other words
this sentence means can I use a credit
card at this restaurant but we use the
verb take in an expression like this
instead does this restaurant take credit
cards does this restaurant accept credit
cards we use the verb take here in the
second example sentence it also means
accept or receive but in this case it
means like probably that the teachers
are not willing or they’re not happy
about a 5% pay cut but they have to
accept it they have no choice but to
accept it so they took a 5% pay cut so
the expression all the teachers took a
5% pay cut shows they received it or
they accepted this 5% pay cut but maybe
they weren’t really happy about it or
they didn’t want to but they accepted it
so the second additional meaning of this
verb is to cause something to go to
another place so examples of this I
should have taken an umbrella to the
office that bus will take you to the
airport okay so here we see take being
used to describe maybe an object or a
person moving to another location
because of something else in the first
example sentence it’s a person like I
should have taken an umbrella to the
office so I should have moved my
umbrella from probably my house to my
office I should have done that myself in
the second example sentence that bus
will take you to the airport
it means me and that bus using that bus
your body you as a person will cause to
be moved to the airport so we use the
verb take to do that
that bus will take you to the airport
move you to the airport let’s move on to
the third additional meaning for this
verb the third additional meaning for
this verb is to grasp to hold or to grip
something examples of this
can you take my bag for a second take
this pen and write your name so here we
see take being used to mean like hold
something or grip something in the first
example we see a very common expression
can you take my bag for a second you’re
asking someone else please hold this for
a moment please just carry this for a
moment so please take this bag please
take this phone please take my keys or
something for a short period of time is
sort of the feeling here in the second
example sentence take this pen and write
your name it’s two commands actually
take this pen one meaning put this pen
in your hand hold this in your hand and
after that write your name probably with
the pen so we’re meaning hold or carry
or grasp something but we use the verb
take here instead in most cases we use
take just for quick everyday expressions
like these okay let’s move on to the
fourth additional meaning for the verb
so the fourth additional meaning is
quite open it’s to do or to perform
something so examples of this
I’ve taken that test five times let me
take a look at that email so I said this
means like to do or to perform something
but when I say perform I don’t mean like
to perform entertainment I mean like to
do an action I mean perform as like the
formal version of do something so in the
first example sentence I’ve taken the
test five times
it means like I have done essentially I
have registered and written the test the
act of test taking I have done that I’ve
performed the test five times in the
second example sentence let me take a
look at that email we could say let me
look at that email but saying take a
look it sounds a little bit more casual
kind of a little bit quicker
I suppose do if you say let me look at
that email and maybe it sounds more
focused take a look sounds like maybe a
quick a quick look all near it sounds a
little bit faster I suppose so take a
look means to do something okay
let’s move on to some variations for the
verb take of course actually with this
verb there are a lot of idioms and a lot
of phrasal verbs so these are just a few
you can check a dictionary online to see
some more examples as well but these are
some that might be useful to you right
away the first variation for this verb
is to take after someone to take after
someone to take after someone means to
resemble someone meaning to look like
someone but not just in appearance this
can be in terms of personality in terms
of your behavior maybe in terms of your
career choices so some examples of this
she takes after her father I hope the
kids don’t take after their grandmother
okay so the first one she takes after
her father means she does something that
is similar to her father in the second
example sentence I hope the kids don’t
take after their grandmother the speaker
hopes the children don’t have the same
behavior or don’t have the same
something maybe personality or may looks
appearance they don’t do something
similar to their grandmother so to take
after someone means to resemble someone
in some way okay let’s move on to the
second variation for this verb so the
second variation is to take someone or
something on so we can use to take
someone on to take something on both of
these kind of have the image of a
challenge of some kind so we’re
accepting a challenge this can be a
physical challenge or it can mean like a
career challenge a project challenge a
conceptual challenge examples if you
threaten him he’ll take you on I’m
taking on some new responsibilities at
work in the first example sentence it
could be a physical challenge if you
threaten him he’ll take you on this
could mean a physical fight so accepting
a physical fight he’ll take you one he
will take you on means he will accept
your challenge so that could mean having
a physical fight it could mean having
some kind of like legal fight we don’t
know it’s quite an open expression but
it means he will accept your challenge
and try to win in the second example
sentence I’m taking on some new
responsibilities at work we
see that the speaker has received new
responsibilities or maybe has agreed to
take new responsibilities has agreed to
accept new responsibilities and they’re
going to try to achieve those things
like achieve new goals for example so
I’m taking on I’m accepting and trying
to work hard on a new challenge okay
let’s move along to the third variation
the third variation is to take something
back to take something back actually has
two different meanings depending on the
context let’s start with the first one
the first meaning of to take something
back is to return something to a store
examples I need to take back that
sweater
have you taken back those shoes so here
to take back just means to return an
item to a store something you purchased
you want your money to be returned to
you so you return the item and you
receive your money we say take back I
need to take this item back to the store
I need to return this item is what it
means however there is a second meaning
for to take back
it means like to cancel or to nullify
something that you previously said or
previously wrote usually because there
was a mistake or there was something
wrong or you offended somebody there was
some problem with what you said examples
you should take back what you said about
her
our manager took back her comments about
our design when she saw how successful
it was all right so in these examples we
see people in situations where someone
should sort of cancel or someone should
like agree that the thing that they said
in the past was wrong in the first
example sentence you should take back
what you said about her it means you
need to recognize that you said
something incorrect or inappropriate
about her and you should recognize that
and like try to sort of fix the problem
fix that situation so you can’t of
course not
unsay words if that makes sense you
can’t just physically remove your words
from someone’s memory but you can
recognize that you made a mistake and
say that like you can say okay I take it
back I’m sorry like I cancel what I’ve
said before in other words in the second
example sentence we see it in past tense
our manager took back her comments so
meaning the manager recognized that she
made a mistake
so her previous comments were probably
negative about the design she took back
her comments meaning she recognized her
mistake and she admitted she had been
wrong when she saw that the design was
successful so we see to take back or in
this case past tense took back refers to
recognizing in the past that you made a
mistake in your speech or in your
writing and saying so to people so I
made a mistake I take it back Bonta cuts
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