In today's lesson, we look at the difference between 'unless' and 'as long as'.

'Unless' and 'as long as' can be used to replace 'if' in different situations.

Let's have a look at some example sentences: I will go to the party if you come too.

I will go to the party as long as you come too.

Both of these sentences have the same meaning.

Notice that the verb after 'if' and 'as long as' is positive.

Now look at these sentences: If you don't do your homework, you can't watch the film.

Unless you do your homework, you can't watch the film.

Both of these sentences have the same meaning, but notice that the verb after 'if' is negative and the verb after 'unless' is positive. 

Welcome to BBC Learning English. I'm Sam, and today we are going to look at adverbs of frequency.

You know these: 'always', 'sometimes', 'never', but where do they go in a sentence?

Look at 'always' in this sentence - does it come before or after the verb?

Helen always starts work at seven.

The verb is 'starts' and 'always' comes before.

Rule number one.

Next sentence: Helen isn't always happy about this.

The verb is 'is' and 'always' was after. Rule number two.

Last sentence: Helen has always hated early starts.  

Trick question - there was an auxiliary verb 'has' and a main verb 'hated' and 'always' went after the auxiliary verb. Rule number three.

Hi, I'm Tom. It's the end of the day here in London, so, let's look at some ways we can really say 'goodbye' to British people.

Bye, see you in a bit.

'See you in a bit' means the same as 'see you later'.

You could also say 'in a bit'.

'Bye, have a good one.' 'Have a good one' means 'enjoy your free time'.

I say it like this: 'Have a good one.'

'Are you off?' 'Are you off?' means 'are you leaving?'.

'Catch you later!' And, 'catch you later' means 'see you later'. 

Finally, when you are leaving, you can say 'I'm gonna shoot off' or 'I'm gonna shoot.' 

And you can also say 'I'm going to scoot', which has exactly the same meaning.

Now, I'm going to scoot off, so, see you in a bit.

Hi, everyone. Dan for BBC Learning English here. Today, we're going to talk about 'don't mind' and 'doesn't matter'.

The verb 'mind' means 'dislike', 'be annoyed by' or 'object to'.

It's followed by verb +ing and often used in negatives and questions, for example: Do you mind opening the window? - No, I don't mind.

If someone says 'I don't mind', it means that they have 'no preference' or that they are 'happy for something to happen'. 

However, the verb 'matter' in English can mean 'be important'.

'English matters' means 'English is important'.

If we say it 'doesn't matter' it means that the thing that we are talking about is 'not important' or 'not significant'.

Do you want tea or coffee? - It doesn't matter. - OK.

Sometimes they can both mean the same thing.

Do you want chicken for dinner? - I don't mind.

Do you want chicken for dinner? - It doesn't matter to me.

'Accept' is a regular verb. Now, let's look at five different meanings it can have.

Number one: 'accept' can mean 'to agree to take something or receive something willingly'.

This can be anything from a gift, an award, an apology, responsibility for something or even a form of payment.  

Many shops don't accept cash anymore.

Number two: to say yes to an invitation or an offer.

She accepted the job straight away.

Number three: to believe or recognise that something is true.  

The relationship has been over for weeks, but he still refuses to accept it.

Number four: to consider satisfactory or to give approval.

Tommy was immediately accepted by the other children at his new school.

And number five: to endure something without complaint even though it makes fme sad.

I accept that my one minute with you is up.

Hi, I'm Tim, and today I'm going to show you three real phrases we say using the word 'face'. 

When talking about something we think is bad, we can use the expression 'can't face it'.

This means that we don't want something or we don't want to do something.

School is awful at the moment - I can't face it today.

Or in a shorter form: I can't face school today.

Sometimes, we need to think about or confront something difficult even when we don't want to.

Here we can say 'face up to something', for example: You need to face up to your fear of exams if you want to pass the course. 

I could also say 'you need to face up to it'.

The last expression is 'face the music'. This means to 'accept the negative result of past actions', for example:

I forgot to do my homework. Now, I have to tell the teacher and face the music.   

Hi, I'm Phil from BBC Learning English. Today, I'm going to tell you the difference between 'expect', 'wait' and 'hope'.

They all talk about things in the future, but they don't mean the same.

We use 'expect' to say that we think something is likely.

It's raining today, so I expect the traffic will be really bad.

When we talk about time passing, we don't use 'expect', we use 'wait'.

I'm waiting for the rain to stop.

When we talk about wanting something to happen, we don't use 'expect', we use 'hope'.

I hope it will be sunny tomorrow. 

So, just remember: you expect what's likely, wait for things that take time, and hope the things that you want to happen.

I expect you knew that, but I hope you'll practice it. I'm waiting for you to start. Go on.

Hello, everyone. Tom here from BBC Learning English in London. I'm going to explain the expression 'used to'.

'Used to' describes repeated actions or habits in the past, for example: I used to play football after school.  

And it can also describe states or things that happened over a long period of time, for example: I used to live in Japan.

We can also use 'used to' in the negative form - we just add 'did not' or 'didn't'.

Using our first example, we could say: I didn't use to play football.

But be careful, with negative and question forms - we don't include 'd' at the end of 'use'.

So, now, question time - tell us: What did you use to do when you were a child? Leave us a comment below the video, and let us know.

Hi. I'm Sian, and I have something to say about the verbs 'say' and 'tell'.

With 'tell', we usually say who is spoken to, so we use 'tell' with a direct personal object like 'you', 'him', 'her'.

I love English grammar.

Phil told me that he loves English grammar.

So, remember to include who is spoken to - so, don't say: Phil told I love English grammar.

Say: 'Phil told me' or 'Phil told us that he loves English grammar'.

With the verb 'say', we don't normally include who is spoken to. We say something, and you can also use the direct words someone says.

I love teaching English.

Phil said 'I love teaching English'.

So, remember in general we tell someone something, but we say something.

Hi, everyone. Tom here from BBC Learning English, and I'm here to explain 'have something done'.

This is an expression we use when we pay someone to do something for us.

For example: I have my hair cut at the hairdressers.

If I cut my own hair, it would look terrible. 

The expression uses 'have', an object and the action which is done to the object - and the action is always in past participle form.

We can also use the expression in the past.

For example: I had my clothes cleaned yesterday whilst I was at work.

How about you? Can you think of something that you have done regularly? Leave a comment below the video to practise.