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  • Hi there. My name is Emma, and today's video is about the word "about". So before I begin,

  • well it's also -- sorry --, it's about "about", "about to", and "not about to". So we're going

  • to look at what "about" means, what "about to" means, and what "not about to" means;

  • they have different meanings. But before I begin talking about the grammar

  • and what these expressions mean, I just want to say that you'll notice I have a Canadian

  • pronunciation of "about". Okay? So, if you ever hear an American make a joke about a

  • Canadian, one of the jokes they often make is about the way Canadians say "about". For

  • me, I don't actually hear the difference between how Americans say "about" and how Canadians

  • say "about", but any time I go to the States, as soon as I say this word they go, "You're

  • a Canadian." So just so you're aware: I have a Canadian pronunciation of the word "about".

  • So let's get started. First I'm going to talk about the word "about", then "about to", and

  • then "not about to". Okay, so "about". Now, there are many different meanings of the word

  • "about", I'm just going to go through two of the most common. So these are not all the

  • meanings, there are a lot of meanings. This is just... these are just the two most common.

  • So I have an example sentence here: "It's about five miles to town." So this means it's

  • close to five miles to town; it's around five miles to town. I'm not saying exactly, it's

  • five miles. I don't know, maybe it's 5.2 miles, maybe it's 4.9 miles, but it's around five

  • miles. I could say, "It's about three o'clock." I don't mean it's exactly three o'clock. Maybe

  • it's 2:59, maybe it's 3:05; it's close to that time. Okay? So that's the first meaning

  • that we use very often when we want to say: "It's not exactly, but it's close to."

  • The second meaning is when we want to say what the subject is, we want to know what

  • the subject of something is. So you might ask somebody: "What's Titanic about?" So this

  • is: -"What is the subject of the movie?" -"Well, it's about two people who fall in love on

  • a sinking ship." Another example of the same idea with subject

  • -- I love this question --, "What are you thinking about?" So I have a friend who always

  • asks her husband this question. She looks at him and she says, "What are you thinking

  • about?" And he's probably not thinking about anything I'm pretty sure or maybe work, and

  • he always says to her, "Nothing. Nothing, I'm, I don't know. I'm thinking, I don't know,

  • sports?" So my friend always asks this question hoping that he will say something very deep,

  • maybe something romantic, maybe something sweet. But usually, I'm pretty sure he's not

  • really thinking about much. So these are probably the two most common usages of "about". So

  • again, "close to" and you want to know the subject.

  • So now let's look at "about to". Okay, so now I'm about to talk to you about "about

  • to". So "Be + about + to", this has its own unique meaning. So "be" is a verb, then you

  • need "about", and don't forget this little preposition, this is important: "to". What

  • does this mean? It means you're going to do something soon; you're very close to doing

  • something. So for example:

  • "I" -- you have your subject -- "am" -- which is the "I" form of "be" --, "I'm about to

  • eat dinner. Can I call you when I finish?" So this means: "I haven't started dinner yet,

  • but I'm going to eat dinner soon. Can I call you when I finish eating dinner?" Okay? So

  • very simple meaning.

  • My second example: "The movie is about to begin." So here we

  • have "is" which is the third form of "be", "about", and "to". So we have "Be about to

  • + a verb". "Be about to sleep.", "I'm about to sleep.", "I can't do my homework, I'm about

  • to sleep.", "I'm about to go to class.", "I don't have time to talk because I'm about

  • to go to class." Meaning: "I'm going to class soon." Okay? So that's "about to".

  • Now, "Be not about to" actually has a different meaning. Okay? So although it's similar, you

  • still have your "to", the only difference is this is in a negative; the meaning is different.

  • "Be about to" has to do with determination. So, what do I mean by this? Well, here is

  • an example: I might say, "I am not about to stop studying English because I failed a class."

  • So this is a strong way to say... We don't write this, this is something we say in speech

  • when we talk. You're showing the person you have determination. In this case: "I'm not

  • about to stop studying English because I failed a class", you're showing you're not going

  • to give up.

  • I might say, maybe I have a friend, maybe they want to wear a pink wig and clown makeup

  • in public. Okay? Kind of weird. I might say to them: "Listen, I'm not about to let you

  • go into public and embarrass yourself. I'm not about to let you wear that clown wig and

  • mask because you'll embarrass yourself." Okay? Another thing I might say: "I'm not about

  • to... I'm not about to move to Hawaii just because someone tells me Hawaii has nice weather."

  • So I'm showing strong determination. So it's a strong disagreement, I'm not about to do something.

  • All right, so let's do a quiz to see if you can remember the difference between "about",

  • "about to", and "not about to". Okay, so I have five sentences here, and together, I

  • want us to fill in the blanks with either "about", "be about to", or "be not about to".

  • Okay?

  • So let's do the first one together. "Shiv is _______ six feet tall." Do you think

  • this is "about", "be about to", or "not about to"? If you said "about", you are correct.

  • Meaning he is close to six feet tall, maybe he's 5'12, maybe he's 5'11; he's close to

  • six feet tall.

  • Number two: "I'm _______ get on the train." "I'm about

  • get on the train.", "I'm about to get on the train.", or "I'm not about to get on the train."?

  • Well this one you could actually have two answers. You could say: "I'm about to get

  • on the train." Meaning soon, you will get on the train. You could also say: "I'm not

  • about to get on that train." Maybe you have a problem with the train, maybe you've seen

  • a scary movie about a train and you're really scared and so you want to say with determination:

  • "I'm not getting, I'm not about to get on that train." Maybe you see someone you know

  • that you don't like. So you could actually use "I'm about to" or "I'm not about to",

  • depending on if you want to say "I'm determined not to go on the train." or in this case:

  • "I'm going on the train soon." Okay, so both would be correct.

  • Number three: "Your father is _______ let you date Antonio."

  • Do you think this is "about", "about to", or "not about to"?

  • "Your father is not about

  • to let you date Antonio." So, I would say "not about to" because it sounds like maybe

  • fathers are protective of their daughters; they're worried about who their daughters

  • date so they're determined to prevent this man's daughter from dating Antonio. Okay?

  • But, on the other hand, maybe you have a very nice father who's not strict at all. Maybe

  • he decided he hated Antonio, and then he changed his mind, so maybe you could also say: "Your

  • father is about to let you date Antonio." But it's a little strange.

  • Number four: "What is Terminator _______?" "About", "about

  • to", "not about to"? "What is Terminator about?"

  • So here, we're looking for the subject. What's

  • the subject of Terminator? What's the movie about? Well, it's about a man who travels

  • back in time. It's a good movie.

  • Okay, number five: "I just heard Aziza and Ayesha talking _______

  • Nadira." So: "I just heard Aziza and Ayesha talking _______ Nadira." What do you think

  • it is: "about", "about to", or "not about to"?

  • "Talking about". So this isn't nice,

  • Nadira is the subject. Well, they could be saying nice things about Nadira, they could

  • be talking about Nadira in a very nice way, she, you know, saying she's a great person

  • but maybe they're not talking nicely about her. Okay?

  • So this video is about to finish. We have about maybe 10 seconds left. So before it

  • ends, I just wanted to say thank you for watching, and come visit us at our website: www.engvid.com

  • where you can try out our test to see how well you do with the difference between "about",

  • "about to", and "not about to". So until next time, take care.

Hi there. My name is Emma, and today's video is about the word "about". So before I begin,

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