Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Hi, there. My name is Emma, and in today's video, I am going to teach you some new words.

  • These words are all compound adjectives. So what is a compound adjective? Well, a compound

  • adjective is when you have two different words together with a hyphen. English is full of

  • compound adjectives. I'm going to teach you maybe eight compound adjectives that all have

  • to do with people's personalities. So if you're describing a friend, a roommate, your family,

  • these are the types of words you can use. So let's get started

  • The first word I want to teach you is "open-minded", okay? "Open-minded". Students have a lot of

  • trouble with the pronunciation of this word. Many students say, "I have" or "I am open-mind";

  • "I am open-mind." No. You need "open-minded", -ED. Students always forget the "-ED" at the

  • end. So be aware. Be careful. What does it mean to be "open-minded"? If you are open-minded,

  • it means you like to try new things. When something happens, when you have an opportunity

  • to try something new, you will do it. You're a "yes person". If somebody says, "Do you

  • want to eat a spider?" Well, this might be extreme. But in some cultures, they eat spiders.

  • They might ask you, "Do you want to eat a spider?" If you're open-minded, you'll say,

  • "Sure. Yeah. Let's try it." You know, that's a little extreme. There are other cases of

  • being open-minded. Here's another example. "I try to eat the local food because I'm open-minded."

  • Okay? So you like to try new things. You are open-minded. Maybe you have never been outside

  • of your country. If you go to a new country, maybe you'll notice there are differences

  • in the culture. If these differences aren't upsetting to you, if you're willing to meet

  • new people, try new things, learn new ways of living, you are "open-minded".

  • The opposite of "open-minded" -- just like you open a door -- "closed", "closed-minded".

  • So be careful with the pronunciation of this. "Closed-minded." So it's not close-ed-minded".

  • "Closed-minded." If you are "closed-minded", you don't like to try new things. Trying new

  • things is very uncomfortable for you. So for example -- or thinking in new ways. You don't

  • want to change the way you live. You don't want to think in new ways. You're very traditional,

  • and you don't like change. You are "closed-minded". "My mother won't try anything new. She is

  • closed-minded." Okay? So if somebody doesn't want to change, is very uncomfortable with

  • other cultures, other ideas, they are "closed-minded".

  • Another "minded" compound adjective, "absent-minded". "Absent" -- you might have heard this word

  • before. If you are not in class, you are "absent"; the teacher will mark you absent. Okay? So

  • when you're absent, you're not there. "Absent-minded" is when your brain is not there. What does

  • this mean? Well, it means you are thinking about something different, so you don't see

  • what's happening. Here's an example to help you understand. I have a friend. My friend,

  • her name is Lara. She is very absent-minded. She's always thinking about boys. Always thinking

  • about her boyfriend, boy troubles. So because of that, sometimes, she forgets to do her

  • homework. She's too busy thinking about one thing. She doesn't realize what's happening

  • around her. She is "absent-minded". So, "Lara is absent-minded. She forgot to do her homework."

  • So you're not thinking about something. You're absent-minded. Your mind is elsewhere.

  • Another expression, very common expression, "laid-back". "Laid-back." What does it mean

  • to be "laid-back"? Well, this is a very positive expression. It's a good expression. And it

  • means you're a very relaxed person; you don't get angry; you don't get annoyed; you're very

  • calm, relaxed, you go with the flow. You're a very happy, laid-back person. For example,

  • I told you my friend Lara, she's very absent-minded. She's always forgetting to do her homework

  • because she thinks too much about boys. Well, her teacher is a very laid-back teacher. When

  • she doesn't do her homework, her teacher does not get angry. He does not yell at her and

  • say, "Lara, why didn't you do your homework?" No. He's laid-back. He says, "Oh, it's okay.

  • That's fine. It's okay that you didn't do your homework." He doesn't the get angry.

  • He is laid-back. So let's look at some more compound adjectives.

  • So the next word on our list is "hard-working". Okay? What does it mean to be "hard-working"?

  • If you are "hard-working", it means when you go to work, you work hard; you keep working;

  • you try your best; you don't give up, you just keep working, working, working. "Hard-working"

  • -- the opposite is "lazy". You are not lazy if you are hard-working. Okay. So here is

  • my example. "My boss likes me because I'm hard-working." So it's a very positive thing

  • if you are hard-working. It's a good thing. Many times, people will say this in a job

  • interview. "Why should I hire you?" "Well, because I'm hard-working." Okay? So it's good

  • for a resume, too.

  • "Self-conscious." What does it mean to be "self-conscious"? Well, I'll show you. If

  • I wear this hat -- I don't think it's a pretty hat. I think it's a silly, funny hat. If I

  • wore this outside on the street, maybe everyone would look at me. Okay? Everybody would look

  • at me. They would think, "Why is she wearing that hat? It's not even a hat; it's a shower

  • cap for when you take a shower." I would -- my cheeks would turn red; I would feel really

  • shy. I would be "self-conscious". "When I wore my pink flower hat, I felt self-conscious."

  • It's similar to being embarrassed, okay? It means you feel a little bit embarrassed and

  • uncomfortable, and you feel that everyone is noticing what you are doing, everyone is

  • watching you. I feel self-conscious now, so I will take off my hat. Okay.

  • "Cool-headed." All right. So what's your head? This is your head. Remember, "cool-headed"

  • -- "-ED". Don't forget this part. If you're cool-headed, it means you are a relaxed person;

  • you're a calm person; you think well during emergency situations. Okay? So for example,

  • "In an emergency, I'm cool-headed." It means, "I can think. I can think clearly. I don't

  • panic. I think clearly." If you think about police officers, firemen, paramedics, you

  • probably want them to be cool-headed because you want them to be calm during an emergency.

  • The opposite -- well, not the opposite, but another word similar to "cool-headed": "hot-headed".

  • So we said "cool"; now we're saying "hot". What does it mean to be "hot- headed"? If

  • you are hot-headed, it means -- when you get angry very quickly, you are hot-headed. So

  • a person who is hot-headed gets angry so quickly. Okay? You say something to them; they get

  • angry. Their face turns red. It looks like they're hot, but they're really angry. "I

  • get angry quickly because I'm hot-headed. I'm hot-headed. I get angry very quick." Maybe

  • you know someone who is hot-headed. Do you think it would be nice to have a boss who

  • is hot-headed? No. You don't want your boss to be hot-headed. That's a terrible situation.

  • You also don't want your boss to be "two-faced". Can you guess what the word "two-faced" means?

  • If this is your face and you have two, what do you think that means that expression? If

  • you are two-faced, it means some of the time you seem nice to people, but then when those

  • people aren't around, you will be very mean. So for example, if I have a friend and I'm

  • two-faced, maybe I will say to my friend, "oh, you have a beautiful dress. I love the

  • way you dress. I love what you wear. You look so pretty." If I'm two-faced, when she's not

  • here, I'll turn to my other friends and say, "Oh, yeah. Did you see what she was wearing?

  • Ugh! What an ugly dress. It's the worst dress I've ever seen. She looks terrible in that

  • dress." So it's where you act very nice when the person you're talking to is there, but

  • when they're not there, you talk to other people and say bad things about this person.

  • "She's two-faced. You can't trust her." Okay? Sometimes, people we work with -- unfortunately,

  • sometimes they're very, very nice to us when we talk to them in conversation -- as soon

  • as you leave, maybe they will say something to another coworker. "Oh, she's lazy. She's

  • not hard-working. He's stupid. He's hot-headed." So if someone talks badly about you behind

  • your back, they are "two-faced".

  • Okay. So I've taught you many compound adjectives. What I want you to do is practice these by

  • visiting our website at www.engvid.com. There, you can do a quiz, and you can see how many

  • of these you remember. You can practice the definitions, see how we use them. So come

  • visit our website. Hopefully you will be hard-working when you come visit our website; you will

  • work hard and you will do our quiz. So until next time, take care.

Hi, there. My name is Emma, and in today's video, I am going to teach you some new words.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it