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  • Hi, everybody.

  • Welcome back to ask Alicia the Weekly Siri's, where you ask me questions and I answer them.

  • Maybe first question this week comes from Javier.

  • RLopez High, heavier, Javier Air says.

  • What is the difference between able and capable?

  • Can you provide examples?

  • Okay, it depends on the sentence.

  • In most cases, though, they mean the same thing.

  • So the key difference when you're using these words to mean ability to do something is that we use able and capable in slightly different sentence patterns.

  • When we use able, we tend to use able before a verb in the infinitive form, So that means able plus two verb.

  • So some examples we weren't able to finish the race.

  • He was able to attend the meeting.

  • So, in contrast, when we use capable, we use capable before a noun phrase, and we connect it to the noun phrase with the proposition of so the final pattern would be capable of noun phrase.

  • Some examples she's capable of dangerous things.

  • They're capable of surprising us at any moment.

  • I hope that this helps you.

  • Thanks very much for the question.

  • Okay, let's move on to your next question.

  • Next question comes from Sadat.

  • Tie Sadat.

  • Sadat says our win gain and earn the same.

  • No, they are not the same.

  • We use win four prizes.

  • Um, we often use this Ferb in contests or in competitions, something that involves, like a challenge of some kind.

  • Some examples.

  • I don't think I'm gonna win first prize.

  • She won first place.

  • We use gain when we're talking about adding to something that we already have or developing something naturally.

  • Some examples of this he gained weight.

  • Our team gained new skills at the conference.

  • We use earn when we work to receive something.

  • She earned a lot of money last year.

  • You've earned my respect.

  • Okay, so I hope that that helps you understand the differences between win gain and earn.

  • Thanks very much for the question.

  • Let's move onto your next question.

  • Next question comes from Rafael High.

  • Rafael Rafael says highly show.

  • What's the difference between the and vow and these words?

  • Are they still used?

  • Um, no.

  • First of all these words air old English we do not use these words in everyday conversation.

  • If you have come across these words somewhere in your reading or like in watching media, it's probably in something that was very old, or like in a movie that was set hundreds of years ago.

  • So look at this.

  • In a historical way, though, as a historical study of English, thou was used to mean you, Ah, when you is like the subject of the sentence.

  • So if you can imagine thou is kind of like subject you.

  • The on the other hand, is like saying you when you is the object of a sentence, so you object form.

  • So thou is the subject.

  • The is the object form this appears in, like Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's works.

  • It also appears in stuff like the Bible, which has this very old fashioned way of kind of speaking and writing.

  • So a very well known expression from Shakespeare is the line.

  • Shall I compare thee to a summer's day So the is being used in the object position there, Shall I compare thee?

  • Vow, on the other hand, is famously used in the 10 Commandments, so the 10 Commandments in the Bible are a list of rules, and the rules begin with Thou shalt not or Thou shalt something, so that means you should or you should not do something.

  • So those are examples of uses of the end thou, but they are not used today in English.

  • We Onley use them in these kind of archaic old settings, like I mentioned kind of religious or in like a literary senses.

  • So that's kind of the history of those two words.

  • I would not recommend using them in every day.

  • Ah, conversations.

  • If you want to make a joke or you want to sound kind of old fashioned, really old fashioned to be funny, go ahead.

  • But in most cases, we don't use them, so I hope that this helps.

  • Thanks for an interesting question.

  • Okay, let's move on to your next question.

  • Next question comes from Roberto Cruz High.

  • Roberto Roberto says, When can I use bad or badly?

  • Bad is an adjective and badly is an adverb, so we use bad to describe Now owns some examples.

  • That movie was bad.

  • He's a bad man.

  • You're bad Cook.

  • Ouch.

  • Use badly to describe verbs.

  • His essay was badly written.

  • The song was badly performed.

  • Your message was badly worded.

  • You can position it before the verb or after the verb.

  • It's OK.

  • I hope that that helps you understand these differences.

  • Thanks very much for the question.

  • Let's move on to your next question.

  • Next question comes from Alfa Tin High Alfa Tin Alfonsin says.

  • How do I talk about something that just happened about an hour ago?

  • And how do I ask someone about the recent past?

  • Use the same grammar that you used to write this question?

  • Use just so use just before a simple, past tense verb to describe something that happened in the very recent past.

  • Some examples.

  • I just talked about the difference between bad and badly.

  • We just ate lunch.

  • You just woke up and then toe ask someone about the very recent past.

  • There are a few ways that you can do it.

  • First.

  • You can try, including the specific time point that you want to ask about.

  • So some examples of that might be Where were you an hour ago?

  • Where was he at eight this morning?

  • You can also use just to make a question, but there are some cases where this might sound a little bit aggressive, like, What did you just say, or where did you just go?

  • So using that tone of voice might sound a little bit like you're accusing the other person.

  • It can sound a little bit aggressive, so be kind of careful with these questions.

  • Also, if you want some more information and more details about this topic, you can check out the live stream that we did about the very recent past.

  • So that will give you some or example sentences and some patterns to try.

  • I hope that that helps you.

  • Thanks very much for the question.

  • Okay, that's everything that I have for you for this week.

  • Thank you.

  • As always for sending your questions.

  • Remember, you can send them to me an English class one no one dot com slash ask hyphen Alicia.

  • Of course, If you like the video, please don't forget to give it a thumb's up.

  • Subscribe to our channel if you haven't already, and check us out at English Class one a one dot com for some other things that can help you with your English studies.

  • Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of ask Alicia and I will see you again next week.

  • Bye bye.

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Subtitles and vocabulary

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A2 thou question badly capable roberto rafael

How to Talk About a Very Recent Action in English

  • 11 1
    林宜悉 posted on 2020/07/03
Video vocabulary

Keywords

phrase

US /frez/

UK /freɪz/

  • other
  • To express something in a particular way.
  • To express something in a particular way.
  • noun
  • A short expression that is commonly used.
  • A group of words that form a conceptual unit, though not a complete sentence.
  • A musical unit, often part of a larger melody.
  • Common expression or saying
  • A short expression that is commonly used.
  • A group of words that form a conceptual unit, though not necessarily a complete sentence.
  • Section of musical notes in a piece of music
  • A set of words used together
  • verb
  • To choose words to say what you mean clearly
recommend

US /ˌrɛkəˈmɛnd/

UK /ˌrekə'mend/

  • verb
  • To advise or suggest that someone do something
  • To suggest something as good or suitable.
  • other
  • To advise someone to do something.
  • To endorse or support something publicly.
  • To suggest something as good or suitable.
pattern

US /ˈpætən/

UK /'pætn/

  • noun
  • An arrangement or sequence.
  • A consistent and recurring way of behaving.
  • Model to follow in making or doing something
  • Colors or shapes which are repeated on objects
  • A excellent example or model.
  • Regular repeated behavior
  • A model or guide for making something.
  • A regular or repeated way in which something happens or is done.
  • A set of paper shapes used as a guide for cutting cloth when making clothes.
  • verb
  • To copy the way something else is made
  • other
  • To use as a model or guide.
  • To decorate with a pattern.
aggressive

US /əˈɡrɛsɪv/

UK /əˈgresɪv/

  • adjective
  • Characterized by or displaying initiative and forcefulness.
  • (of a disease or harmful substance) rapidly developing or advancing.
  • Using energy and determination to achieve a goal
  • Ready or likely to attack or confront; characterized by or resulting from aggression.
  • Ready or likely to attack or confront; characterized by or resulting from aggression.
  • Vigorous and energetic, especially in business or marketing.
  • (of a disease or harmful substance) rapidly growing or spreading; invasive.
  • Behaving in a hostile and threatening way
develop

US /dɪˈvɛləp/

UK /dɪ'veləp/

  • verb
  • To explain something in steps and in detail
  • To create or think of something
  • To grow bigger, more complex, or more advanced
  • To make a photograph from film
  • other
  • To invent something or cause something to exist
  • To start to suffer from an illness or other medical condition
  • To improve the quality, strength, or usefulness of something
  • other
  • To (cause something to) grow or change into a more advanced, larger, or stronger form
position

US /pəˈzɪʃən/

UK /pəˈzɪʃn/

  • noun
  • A condition with regard to circumstances.
  • The way in which someone or something is placed or arranged.
  • Person's opinion or attitude about something
  • A job; a post.
  • Specific location where someone or something is
  • A particular stance or attitude towards something.
  • Where you play or your role on a sports team
  • Person's job or status level
  • Set of conditions affecting what you can (not) do
  • A player's place in a team.
  • other
  • To put or arrange (someone or something) in a particular place or way.
  • To put (someone or something) in a particular place or arrangement.
  • To put (someone or something) in a particular position in relation to other people or things.
  • verb
  • To put in a particular location or direction
describe

US /dɪˈskraɪb/

UK /dɪ'skraɪb/

  • verb
  • To tell the appearance, sound, smell of something
  • other
  • To define or classify something.
  • To draw or trace the outline of; to form.
  • To give an account in words of someone or something, including all the important details.
  • To give a detailed account of; portray.
  • To give an account in words of (someone or something), including all the important details.
  • To trace the outline of; to draw.
sentence

US /ˈsɛntəns/

UK /'sentəns/

  • noun
  • Official punishment given by a court of law
  • Set of words that make a whole statement
  • verb
  • (Of a judge) to decide the punishment of
capable

US /ˈkepəbəl/

UK /'keɪpəbl/

  • adjective
  • Having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve a specified thing.
  • Having the qualities needed to do something well; competent.
  • Being able to do something very well; proficient
  • Having the legal power to perform an action.
  • Having the potential to do or achieve something.
conference

US /ˈkɑnfərəns, -frəns/

UK /ˈkɒnfərəns/

  • noun
  • Series of lectures held as an event
  • A formal meeting for consultations, discussion, or exchange of information.
  • A telephone call by which several people in different locations can speak to each other at the same time.
  • A formal meeting for discussion or exchange of views.
  • A group of sports teams that play games against each other.
  • A group of sports teams that play each other regularly.
  • An association of US sports teams
  • other
  • To hold a discussion; consult.