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  • Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today, we're going to look at some vocabulary

  • that gets students confused, because the words are so similar that people don't know what

  • to do with them.

  • Let's look at these words. First, listen carefully to how I say them. As a verb: "live". Of course,

  • the noun is: "life". The adjective: "live". Verb: "live"; adjective: "live"; adjective,

  • a different adjective: "alive"; a noun: "living"; an adjective: "living"; a gerund: "living".

  • Okay, so here are your words. Now, people will often say: "What's the different between

  • 'live' and 'alive', or 'live' and 'alive'?" Okay, so let's look at all of these.

  • First of all, what does it mean to live? So I'll add this here. "To live". Basically,

  • "to live" means to not be dead. Very simply put. Right? To live means to eat, to drink,

  • to breathe, to go to a club and dance, to sing. Whatever you think is living. For example,

  • you go to work, you make money, that is your life. You live your life to help your family

  • or your friends, or your community. Okay?

  • "Life" is everything, everything that we do. From the minute you wake up to the minute

  • you go to sleep. Well, even in your sleep, it's still life. Right? You're still living.

  • So, from the minute you're born to the minute you die, that's life.

  • Now, "live" is completely different from "live". "Live", when we say something is live, we

  • mean at the same time and usually in person. For example, you go to a concert, a music

  • concert, you're seeing the band perform live, in front of you, at the same time. Anything

  • else, if you listen to music on your iPod, or MP3 player, or your phone, then you are

  • listening to a recorded performance. You're listening to recorded music. If you're at

  • the stadium and you're seeing the band on the guitars, and drums, and whatever, you're

  • seeing it live. Now, if you're on Skype and you're speaking to someone on the other side

  • of the planet. Is this conversation happening live? Yes, because you're doing it at the

  • same time. But if you record your video message, send it to your friend by email, he or she

  • opens it and sees the video, then it's not live. Then it's a recording.

  • "Alive". "Alive" is the state of living, of being not dead again. Right? Usually it's

  • a feeling, it's an adjective. It talks about a feeling or a state of being. I'll give you

  • an example in a second.

  • Now, "living" has many uses. Oh, I forgot to add one here. We'll start with the verb.

  • As a verb, it is basically the continuous form of "to live". For example, in the present

  • perfect, continuous: "I have been living in my apartment building for three months." It

  • means three months I started... Three months ago, I started to live there, and I still

  • live there now. The continuous.

  • As a gerund. We can use "living" as a gerund. "Living with cancer is a very bad way to live."

  • Basically. "Living with cancer is very difficult." So, again... Let me just write this out, because

  • you might not know this. A gerund is the "ing" form of a verb, but we use it like a noun.

  • Okay? "Living in Canada is sometimes difficult because it's so cold, but other times, it's nice."

  • As an adjective. We use "living" as an adjective to talk about something that is alive. Right?

  • So, for example, a living creature. Any living creature is anything that can die. A rock

  • is a nonliving creature. This marker is a nonliving creature. I am a living creature.

  • I hope you are living creatures, too.

  • We can also use "living" to describe somebody's state. For example: "A living legend."

  • When we talk about a person and we call him

  • or her a legend, it means they're very famous, and their story is very long, and everybody

  • knows it. And if we say: "A living legend", then this person is still alive today. So,

  • for example, some people think that Nelson Mandela is a legend, what he did in South

  • Africa. So he is a living legend. We can learn from him directly. Good.

  • This one may be a little bit surprising: "living" as a noun. We say: "You make a living." Notice

  • the article "a". What does it mean if you're making a living? "Living" here means income.

  • Every day, you go to work, you work hard, you get a paycheque to take home to your family.

  • You are making a living.

  • Great. So, now we know what all of these words mean. Let me give you some example sentences.

  • "To live". Okay? "It is important to live life to the fullest." Basically means live

  • every day like there is no tomorrow. Sing, laugh, love, dance, shout to the skies if

  • that's what works for you. Right? But live life every day like it's your last; enjoy it.

  • Life: "Life is very mysterious." I can't explain it to you, but I think you understand. Life

  • is very mysterious. All kinds of strange things happen in it; some good, some bad, some neutral, maybe.

  • Live: "The best live performance I have ever seen was Pink Floyd." I saw them at the Exhibition

  • Centre in downtown Toronto. Best live performance I have ever seen. Think about what was the

  • best live performance you have ever seen.

  • Alive. Now, personally... Again, I'm from Toronto, Canada. Winter is coming now, it's

  • very, very cold. And I think: when do I feel the most alive? When I'm sitting on a beach

  • somewhere, under sunshine, I hear the waves coming, I'm drinking a nice little cocktail

  • with a fruit in it. That makes me feel alive. Winter, not so much.

  • Living. "I'm an English teacher. That is how I make my living."

  • We already spoke about Nelson Mandela, he's a living legend.

  • I told you: "Living with cancer or living with any disease is very terrible, really."

  • I shouldn't use it as an example, but it is one.

  • And: "I don't necessarily enjoy living in Canada in the winter, because it's so cold."

  • But there you have it. That's how you do it.

  • Okay, if you're not sure about what these words mean, you want a little bit more practice,

  • go to www.engvid.com. There's a quiz there. If you're watching on YouTube, don't forget

  • to subscribe to my channel. But also go to www.engvid.com, do the quiz. If you have any

  • questions, put them in the comments section. And I'll see you again real soon. Thanks.

Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today, we're going to look at some vocabulary

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