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  • Hi, my name is Rebecca from www.engvid.com.

  • In today's lesson, you'll learn how to express yourself when you don't know something in English.

  • This is actually such an easy method that I think by the end of this lesson, you'll already start using it.

  • So, let's have a look at the board and see how it works.

  • You start by using the phrase: "I don't know", and you connect it to one of these words or expressions.

  • For example: "I don't know who is going to the party." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to say." "I don't know what to cook."

  • Right? "I don't know when he's arriving." "I don't know where my glasses are." "I don't know why she left her job." "I don't know how to reach him."

  • "I don't know how to drive." "I don't know how to swim." And so on.

  • "I don't know how much it costs." "I don't know how many people were at the concert."

  • "I don't know how often he goes to the club." "I don't know whether Jane has arrived."

  • "Whether", spelt like this: "whether" means "if". All right? It's another word for "if"

  • "I don't know whether Jane has arrived yet." "I don't know if I locked the door." "I don't know if I locked the door."

  • So, you can see that by using that one expression "I don't know" with any of these words, you can express a range of information.

  • Now, a couple of points to keep in mind.

  • You can use this expression and combine it with present, past, or future tense.

  • What do I mean? Well, you could say, "I don't know who usually goes to his parties." That's present tense.

  • "I don't know who went to his party." Past tense.

  • Or "I don't know who is going to his party." Future tense. Right?

  • So you can do this with all of these words; you can use it in the present, in the past, or in the future.

  • And one last, very important point to keep in mind, regarding the word "know", regarding the verb "know".

  • The verb "know" is a stative verb. A stative verb means that you cannot use it in the continuous form.

  • You can only use it in the simple form, like this.

  • So you can only say "I don't know", not "I am not knowing."

  • Many people in different parts of the world use... tend to use continuous forms for everything in English,

  • but you have to be really careful not to use the continuous forms with stative verbs.

  • "Know" is a very common stative verb; there are many others like it.

  • So other than that, you're fine.

  • You couldn't say... sorry, you could also say: "I don't know" or "I didn't know". All right?

  • So you could use this part, but remember not to change the verb "know".

  • If you'd like to practice this, please go to our website at www.engvid.com.

  • There, you'll find a quiz on this subject.

  • And if you found this lesson useful, please subscribe to my channel on YouTube.

  • Good luck with your English. Bye for now.

Hi, my name is Rebecca from www.engvid.com.

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