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Hi everybody. I'm James
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and welcome back to this week's English In A Minute.
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This week we're going to look at the differences
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between 'actually' and 'at the moment'.
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These two phrases are often confused, so
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let's take a look at an example:
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At the moment, I'm making this programme, but
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actually, I should be in a meeting.
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So this sentence shows both phrases
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but they're actually quite different. Let's break it down.
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At the moment, I'm making this programme.
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As you can see, I'm making this programme right now,
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so 'at the moment' means 'now', or 'in the present'.
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But actually I should be in a meeting.
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Now, in this part of my sentence,
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'actually' isn't talking about time at all.
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'Actually' means 'in fact' or 'in reality'.
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So, if you want to talk about 'now', say 'at the moment'.
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But if you want to say 'in reality' say 'actually'.
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At the moment I want to go and make a coffee,
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but actually I think I'll go back to my desk.
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Bye!