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  • Lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go.

  • Hi everybody!

  • Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them,

  • maybe!

  • Please remember, you can submit your questions to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.

  • This week's first question is a question from Bahar...

  • Bahar?

  • I'm very sorry.

  • Hi, Alisha!

  • I'd like to learn about "as" and "like," what's the difference between them?

  • To begin with, "like" is a preposition.

  • Remember, prepositions are words we use to show relationships to other words, or to position

  • the elements in a sentence, so for example, "at" and "by" and "on" are also prepositions.

  • The word "like" is a preposition; however, the word "as" is a conjunction.

  • A conjunction is a word that connects elements in a sentence, so for example, "and," "but,"

  • "or," "for," "so," these words are conjunctions.

  • That's point one.

  • We use "like" and "as" to make comparisons, the general agreement on how to use "like"

  • and "as" at this point in time is that if you are following the word "like" with a simple

  • statement, like a noun phrase, you should use the word "like;" if, however, the part

  • that comes after the word "like" or "as" has a verb in the clause, there's a verb in that

  • part of the sentence, you should use "as" to do that because "as" functions as a conjunction.

  • Remember, it's connecting the elements in a sentence, so we should use "like" if there's

  • just a simple phrase, a simple noun phrase, something like that after "like" or "as."

  • So to give some examples, my coworker eats like a pig.

  • In that case, I've used the word "like" because after "like" comes "a pig," it's just a simple

  • noun phrase.

  • If, however, I said, my coworker eats as if he were a pig, I'm using the verb "were,"

  • as if he were, so we can use "as" in cases wherever we follow the statement with a verb.

  • We can you "like" in cases where we follow that statement with a simple noun phrase.

  • Generally, we use them both to make comparisons.

  • I'll say though that native speakers often make mistakes with this.

  • Generally speaking now, especially in spoken conversation in casual spoken conversation,

  • at least American English speakers, tend to use "like" more often than "as" in everyday

  • conversation.

  • I tend to use "like," I rely on "like" heavily for my comparisons in everyday situations.

  • It's like you were, it's like he was, it's like blah blah blah.

  • "As," I feel, is more common, at least among American English speakers in writing.

  • So you might see "as if" and "as though," both of those we can use to make comparisons.

  • "Like" comes before a simple noun phrase; "as" is used before something containing a

  • verb.

  • Yeah, thanks for that question, Bahar.

  • Next question.

  • The next question is from Taylor.

  • Taylor asks which one sounds better, I read a newspaper every morning or I read the newspaper

  • every morning?

  • Nice question.

  • This is a question about articles, this is just about being specific.

  • If, for example, there's a specific newspaper that you want to read, like, I read the ABC

  • newspaper every morning, you should use "the."

  • If it's not important to you to be specific about a newspaper and if you want to imply

  • that you just read any newspaper every morning, you can use a newspaper, I read a newspaper

  • every morning.

  • Using "the" instead though shows that there's maybe a specific newspaper.

  • Using "the" before newspaper in this case though sounds like there's a specific newspaper

  • you read every morning.

  • If you say, I read a newspaper every morning, it sounds like you just choose any newspaper

  • that's available to you on that day and you read that newspaper.

  • So using "the" shows that there's a specific or it implies that there's a specific newspaper

  • you'll read every day.

  • You don't have to be specific about which one, you can, like, I read the New York Times

  • every day or I read that Guardian every day, for example.

  • But if you say I read a newspaper every day, it sounds like you don't choose the same news

  • paper each day.

  • That's the difference between these two phrases, most people, however, do choose the same newspaper

  • every day and so they use I read the newspaper every day.

  • You can say I read the news every day, as well; but using that set phrase, the news,

  • it's like the news for the day, I read that day's news every day, or I read the previous

  • day's news every day.

  • So usually we say "the" news, we don't use "a" news, it sounds a little strange to use

  • "a" news.

  • So the same sort of thing applies to a newspaper, most people choose the same newspaper every

  • day, so we say "the" newspaper instead of "a" newspaper.

  • But thanks to that question, Taylor, nice!

  • Next question!

  • Next question comes from Brian...

  • Brian?

  • I'm very sorry.

  • Hey, Alisha, what's your height?

  • I am 1,000 centimeters tall or maybe I'm 6 centimeters tall and this whole thing has

  • just been a scam the entire time.

  • Next question!

  • Next question is from Farris...?

  • Farris Godsally?

  • I'm very sorry!

  • Farris asks, hey Alisha, can we use "hasn't" in an essay?

  • Hasn't is the contracted form of "has not."

  • You can, it's physically possible for you to use "hasn't" in an essay, sure.

  • But if you use contractions in your writing, it makes you, in my opinion, it makes you

  • sound a bit less formal.

  • If you use the expanded form, the non-contracted version, you're gonna sound a bit more formal,

  • a bit more polished, I feel.

  • This does not only apply to the word "has not" and "hasn't" therefore, this applies

  • to all contractions really.

  • The answer is, yes, you can, but I don't necessarily recommend it if you want to sound formal and

  • polished.

  • Thanks for that question, though, Farris!

  • Next question!

  • Next question is from another person called Taylor, maybe Taylor submitted more than one

  • question, I don't know.

  • Do these have different meanings?

  • There is not a quiz today, and there is no quiz today.

  • There is not homework, there is no homework.

  • There are not flowers, there are no flowers.

  • They really mean the same things, they communicate the same idea.

  • I would say, though, it's more natural not to use an article but you would not have any

  • communication problem if you said there is not homework today, there is not a quiz today.

  • Thanks for that question, Taylor!

  • Next question!

  • Next question comes from Ray.

  • Ray asks, hey Alisha, I like rap songs, is it effective if I learn English by memorizing

  • and singing a rap song like lose yourself by Eminem?

  • This is a very specific question.

  • Is it effective?

  • If you only want to learn the English in that song, sure, using music in media is, of course,

  • helpful in learning, not only words like vocabulary words but also learning a bit about pop culture

  • from the language that you're studying.

  • In that way, in that respect, yes, it can be effective for learning; however, things

  • to keep in mind, number one, by studying a song or something like that, you may learn

  • some incorrect grammar or you may find that the words, the word play, the vocabulary words

  • that are chosen are not the words that native speakers use in everyday life, or it's only

  • a speaking pattern that that artist uses, so that's a risk.

  • Two, you might not realize it but you might study some vocabulary words that are extremely

  • rude or that are not appropriate for you to use.

  • You might sound a bit strange if you use those words.

  • Three, there might be a very limited number of situations where you can actually apply

  • those words, and he's using like little interjections throughout that song, like "snap back to reality,

  • oh, there goes gravity..."

  • That's not something that most of us use in everyday speech.

  • If you can keep those points in mind, go for it!

  • I think it's really really fun to study with something like music and movies because you

  • get to enjoy yourself while you study.

  • I actually use music, that was part of the reason that I got interested in another language,

  • was through music, but just keep in mind that the way that you speak and the way your favorite

  • artist speaks maybe a little bit different.

  • If you want to learn to speak like Eminem, for sure, you should listen to Eminem's music.

  • But just remember, like, if you sound like Eminem when you speak, it's gonna really surprise

  • a native speaker and maybe not, it's maybe gonna confuse people.

  • Thanks for that question, Ray, it's really interesting.

  • Okay, so those are all the questions that I want to answer this week.

  • Thanks very much for sending in all your questions.

  • Remember, you can send them to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha

  • If you like this video, please make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel,

  • too, if you guys like these videos then I can continue making them.

  • Also, check us out at EnglishClass101.com for more good stuff.

  • Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of Ask Alisha.

  • I will see you again next Saturday.

  • Bye-bye!

  • It's been a long time since I listened to Eminem.

  • Hey Eminem, you want to do a collaboration?

  • We can do like a cool pronunciation collaboration.

  • I'll do my pronunciation.

  • His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there's vomit on his sweater already,

  • mom's spaghetti, he's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs,

  • but he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud, he own...

  • And you can do your pronunciation.

  • Eminem, if you're watching, leave a comment.

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