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  • The only thing I want for Christmas this year is to chill.

  • Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series

  • where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe.

  • Thanks very much, as always, for submitting your questions.

  • Remember, you can submit your questions to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask -alisha.

  • First question.

  • First question comes from Carla.

  • Hi, Carla.

  • Carla asks, “How do native speakers use 'to have.'

  • 'I have seen,' 'I've,' 'I have got.'

  • Formal and informal.”

  • Sure.

  • We use the verbto havefor a lot of different meanings.

  • There's a grammatical function for the verbhavewhen we pair it with the past participle

  • form of a verb like, “I haveplus a past participle, to make the present perfect tense.

  • Or, “I hadplus past participle, to make the past perfect tense.

  • So, there's that kind of grammatical function of the verbhave.”

  • However, if you just want to use the verbhavein everyday situations like, “I

  • have a phone.”

  • or, “I have a camera.”

  • or, “I don't have any money.”

  • for example, then, “to have,” in that case, just means to own something or to hold

  • something, to be keeping something.

  • So, please consider the sentence that you're looking at with the verbhavein it.

  • If it comes before a verb in the past participle, it's probably a past perfect or a present

  • perfect expression.

  • If you're seeing something after the verbhavelike an object in my examples,

  • like, a phone or a camera or money, then it's probably referring to owning something or

  • keeping something.

  • So, those are probably two of the most common ways that you'll see the verbhaveand

  • its variations in, at least, American English speech.

  • Next question.

  • The next person asks two questions.

  • So, the next two questions are from Essa Warsiadi.

  • I'm very sorry.

  • Question one from Essa.

  • Can you explain 'through,' 'thorough,' 'though,' and, 'thought?'

  • They sound similar.”

  • Yes, indeed, they do sound similar and they even look similar in writing, for sure.

  • However, these words have different meanings and different functions in speech and in writing.

  • Let's look atthrough,” to begin with, though.

  • Throughmeans to pass into something and to come out the other side of something.

  • So, for example, “to go through a tunnel,” or if you're looking at a document, for example,

  • to go through a document,” means to read through, read all of the content of the document

  • from beginning to end.

  • So, “through something,” is to begin at something and pass through all of the content

  • to pass through everything and come out the other side or to complete something.

  • So, if we also use the wordthrough,” to mean finished in American English like,

  • Are you through with dinner?” or, “I'm through with my homework.”

  • So, “through,” those are a couple of different ways we use the wordthrough.”

  • The second word, “thorough.”

  • Thorough.”

  • So, different fromthrough.”

  • Thoroughmeans comprehensive, “thoroughmeans completely, “thoroughmeans well

  • done.

  • It has typically a positive meaning.

  • So, for example, “She was very thorough in her explanation of the word 'through.'”

  • Or, “She was very thorough in her explanation of the word thorough.”

  • Sorry.

  • She was very thorough in her presentation.”

  • meaning she gave a lot of information in her presentation.

  • Thoroughmeans well done, containing a lot of knowledge, a lot of information in

  • something.

  • Thorough.”

  • So, “Please be thorough in completing your homework.” or, “He wasn't very thorough

  • in cleaning his room.”

  • So, “thorough,” means well done, completely done, finished, considering everything, considering

  • all points of something, even the small details are considered thorough.

  • So, we can usethoroughfor presentations, for activities that require small details,

  • “a thorough safety check,” for example.

  • So, these are actions that are done completely, fully, to the small details.

  • So, that's “thorough.”

  • Next word here isthough.”

  • Though,” you can think ofthoughin the same way you think of the wordbut.”

  • So, it's used to contrast information.

  • It's used to express a difference in something.

  • So, you could follow someone's opinion with an expression likethough.”

  • So, for example, “I think summer is the best season though winter is pretty fun too.”

  • So, you can think ofthoughin the same way as you think ofbut.”

  • “A though B.” So, you're presenting A, and then, a contrasting opinion B, and you're

  • connecting those two ideas withthoughin the same way you wouldbut.”

  • So, “though.”

  • Althoughis similar.

  • We usealthoughandthoughandbutin similar ways.

  • What's the difference?

  • Butis much more casual andbutis used much more in casual conversation,

  • in everyday conversation.

  • If you're writing a document, a formal document, or if you're making a formal statement, you

  • could usethoughin place ofbut.”

  • So, “thoughshows contrasting information.

  • The last one on this list isthought.”

  • Thoughtis the past tense ofthinkwhen used as a verb.

  • So, “I thought you were coming today.”

  • or, “I thought it was going to rain later.”

  • or, “I thought this was such a great afternoon.”

  • Thoughtis used as the past tense of think.

  • We can also usethoughtto refer to an idea, as a noun.

  • So, “I have a thought.”

  • for example, or, “Do you have any thoughts about this project?”

  • So, we can usethoughtas a verb, past tense ofthinkor as a noun, to refer

  • to an idea.

  • So, again, that's “through,” “thorough,” “thoughand, “thought.”

  • Some of you might be wondering how do I remember which is which when I'm reading or when I'm

  • listening.

  • You have to pay attention to the grammar of the sentence.

  • They all have different grammatical functions.

  • You need to think about the grammar surrounding the word.

  • On to question two from Essa.

  • What does 'love to hate' mean and when can I use it?”

  • Love to hatemeans it's something that you really, really dislike but it's sort of

  • enjoyable to dislike.

  • So, for example, this is an expression we can apply to reality TV.

  • Many people think reality TV is not very good entertainment or it's not very high-quality

  • entertainment.

  • However, it's really, really fun to watch.

  • So, maybe, for example, you just hate a character on a reality TV show, but, somehow, you enjoy

  • watching that TV show too.

  • So, something that you feel very strong dislike for and yet, you really enjoy it at the same

  • time.

  • That's something you canlove to hate.”

  • Youlove to hatethat thing.

  • Next question!

  • Next question comes from Bowie Dente.

  • I'm very sorry.

  • Bowie Dente asks, “When can I use 'ever' in a present perfect sentence?

  • Like, 'I have ever.'”

  • Evermeans at any time or at all times.

  • You can useeverwhen you're asking a question.

  • Like, “Have you ever blah, blah, blah?”

  • Have you ever been to France?”

  • Have you ever eaten ramen?”

  • Have you ever taken a trip to the mountains?” for example.

  • We can useeverwhen making questions, that's one.

  • But, becauseevermeans at all time or at any time, we may not use it to answer

  • a question like that, “Have you ever blah, blah, blah?”

  • We usually say, “Yes,” orNo,” in response to that.

  • We can say, “I have never ever taken a trip to France.”

  • or, “I have never ever forgotten my keys.” for example.

  • “I have never ever blah, blah, blah.”

  • But, in that case, it still meansnever.”

  • An expression likenever everjust emphasizes the wordnever.”

  • So, to useever,” we need to paireverwith a verb in a sentence.

  • We can't say, “I have ever.”

  • Just “I haveplus a verb.

  • We cannot say, “I have ever.”

  • That's incorrect.

  • “I have at any time or at all times.”

  • It's redundant.

  • It's not necessary.

  • We can, however, useeverin a negative expression like, “I haven't ever been to

  • France.”

  • or, “She hasn't ever eaten cheese.” for example.

  • So, we have to paireverwith a negative to make a response.

  • We useeverfor present perfect tense questions and paired with a negativehave

  • orhasto make a response, to make a negative response.

  • So, please keep those two in mind.

  • Next question.

  • Next question comes from Bajar.

  • Hey, Bajar.

  • Nice to see you again.

  • Bajar's question is, “What does 'dash' mean and when can we use it?”

  • Okay, so the worddashas a verb means to run very quickly for a short period of

  • time.

  • For example, “I dashed to the station to catch my train.”

  • or, “I dashed to the classroom for my test.”

  • He dashed off to the flower store to buy a bouquet for his mother.”

  • for example.

  • These are very, very short periods of time and very high speed.

  • That's “to dash.”

  • However, we can usedashas a noun in a way that does not refer to running.

  • We can use it in writing, as well.

  • Sometimes, we use the worddashto refer to these lines we see in writing.

  • You might see hyphens, en-dashes and em-dashes.

  • These all have different functions in writing.

  • Hyphens may be used to connect words, en-dashes can be used to show periods of time and em-dashes

  • can kind of show extra information in a sentence.

  • We call all of these dashes.

  • This is kind of the category that we assigned to each of these.

  • So, there's the verb, “to dash,” and there's alsodashas a noun which means all

  • of these sorts of things.

  • So, thanks for that question, Bajar.

  • Next question.

  • Next question comes from Ricardo Villaroel.

  • Hey, Ricardo, welcome back.

  • Ricardo's question is, “What's the difference between 'several,' 'sundry,' and,

  • 'various.'”

  • Okay, I'm not quite sure howsundryfits in here.

  • Severalmeans a few of something.

  • Think ofseveralas higher than “a coupleor “a fewbut it's not quite

  • many yet.

  • So, maybe, as a good hint, the word several sounds a bit similar toseven,” maybe

  • it doesn't necessarily mean exactly seven of something but it's a bit higher than “a

  • fewand it's not quite at the level ofmanyor “a lot of.”

  • The next word you asked about, “sundry.”

  • Sundryis something we use for household items like every day small household items.

  • We usually use that in the plural form, like shops which sellsundries.”

  • So, this is quite different from the wordsseveralandvarious.”

  • So, “sundryis usually used in the plural form and it refers to everyday items in your house.

  • The last word you asked about, “various.”

  • We usevariousto describe a miscellany of things.

  • We use it before a noun typically.

  • For example, “various ideasor, “various peopleor, “various subjects,” “various

  • topics.”

  • So, “variousis used to describe many different types of something.

  • Severalrefers to quantity, “variousis just used to indicate that there are different

  • types or different kinds of the noun that follows it.

  • So, as I said, “various ideas,” “various flavors,” “various peoplemeaning,

  • different types of ideas, different types of people, different types of flavors.

  • So, “several,” quantity, “various,” types.

  • Next question!

  • Next question comes from Arnett Jake Newglid.

  • I'm very sorry.

  • How do we use 'well' before someone starts speaking and 'though' after they

  • speak?”

  • Wellis kind of used as a soft way to begin speaking.

  • Well,” it kind of shows that you were listening to the other person.

  • So, it shows you listened to the other person and you are responding to them.

  • Well, if that's the case,” it kind of has that nuance.

  • Well,” it sort of shows you were listening and you are going to respond based on that

  • information.

  • Remember, “thoughis used to show contrast.

  • So, if someone presents you with an idea or gives you an opinion and you want to show

  • contrast to that formally, you can begin withthough.”

  • So, if for example, you're in a formal situation, a business situation for example and someone

  • says, “I think we should continue with the idea we proposed last summer for this project.”

  • You might counter the opinion or you might oppose the opinion by beginning your statement

  • withthough.”

  • You could say, “Though, that's going to cost a lot of money to implement.”

  • So, “thoughshows contrast in a formal and polite way.

  • Next question!

  • Next question comes from Michael King.

  • Hi, Michael.

  • Michael asks, “I want to study at home, self-study.

  • What should I do?”

  • Ah, yeah, okay.

  • I have self-studied and it can be tough to do but you have the internet, congratulations.

  • So, what can you do?

  • There are a lot of things.

  • Number 1, define your goal.

  • What is it you hope to achieve?

  • What are you looking to do through your studies?

  • Don't just say.

  • I want to learn English.

  • That's not a very specific goal.

  • Give yourself a specific goal to achieve.

  • Like, “I want to pass this level of a test,” or “I want to be able to do this thing in

  • my life,” “I want to be able to give a business presentation in English.”

  • Number 2, Look for resources that are going to help you achieve that goal.

  • If you need to work on your speaking, you need to find ways to practice your speaking.

  • If you're looking for something to help you with your reading or your writing, for example,

  • look for tools that do that.

  • If you want to read, look for blogs, look for websites that have the content in your

  • target language that you want to know more about.

  • Start reading things and trying to pick up the vocabulary through studying those things

  • in your target language.

  • There are tons of resources out there but you need to define your goal first and then

  • start looking for the resources that match your goal.

  • Three, may be the most difficult one for a lot of us is to practice every day.

  • Find some way to make language practice part of your everyday routine.

  • In my case, for example, I found that it was really helpful for me to take 15 minutes in

  • the morning and 15 minutes in the evening during my commute on the subway to study vocabulary.

  • That helped me improve little by little, day by day.

  • It was a total of 30 minutes but it added up over time.

  • And, through practicing every day, you'll find that the resources you're using will

  • become easier to understand.

  • Number 4, where possible, try to create an immersion environment.

  • If you're not in a situation where you're actually living in the country or you can

  • go to the country where they speak the language you're studying, try to create some kind of

  • immersion environment for yourself where you can't escape into your native language.

  • Just as much as possible, try to create some sort of immersion environment so that you

  • get used to hearing those sounds and kind of the natural responses that people have

  • to those sounds too.

  • Number 5, I think one more really good tip for studying at home is asking questions.

  • There are other people who are learning your language and other people who are trying to

  • study.

  • We see it a lot on this channel too and you guys are fantastic about helping your fellow

  • classmates.

  • When you have a question and you can't find the answer for it, ask someone.

  • Don't let yourself get stuck.

  • Also, think about the resources you already have.

  • If it's a question about vocabulary, you can check a dictionary.

  • If you want to deepen your vocabulary, you can check a thesaurus.

  • If you have a specific question about how an expression is used, try asking a native

  • speaker, try posting on a message board, try posting in the comments, try posting on our

  • website, so if you have a question, reach out and ask.

  • Chances are, if you have the question, it's going to help somebody else to ask the question

  • and get the answer.

  • If you have a question, ask.

  • Good luck with your self-study.

  • Next question!

  • Next question is from Harley Paso.

  • Hey, Harley, welcome back.

  • What does 'uncountable' mean?”

  • This refers to a group of nouns that we do not count with numbers alone.

  • So, for example, bread is uncountable.

  • Instead, we use a counter word between the number and the uncountable nouns.

  • So, in mybreadexample, we useone loaf of bread,” “one slice of bread.”

  • There are different words we use to count the individual pieces or the individual units

  • of the uncountable noun.

  • Uncountable nouns mean nouns which we cannot count with just a simple number before the

  • noun, we need to use an additional counter word.

  • Next question!

  • Next question comes from Taylor.

  • Hi, again.

  • Taylor.

  • What's the difference between 'look into my eyes' and 'look me in the eye?'”

  • I would say that we uselook into my eyesin more romantic situations.

  • Or, you might hear this in like movies, maybe there's something magical that's happening

  • and, I don't know, which is casting a spell and she says, “Look into my eyes.”

  • Look me in the eyeis typically used in a more aggressive situation.

  • It's used as an expression like, “Look me in the eye and say that.”

  • Look me in the eyetends to be a more aggressive statement.

  • Look into my eyessounds more romantic or mysterious.

  • Next question from Yong Chi.

  • Yong Hee?

  • I'm sorry.

  • What's the difference between 'I like to take naps.' and, 'I like to take a nap.'

  • Or, 'I like to go for walks.' and, 'I like to go for a walk.'”

  • So, when you're speaking generally, especially in a sentence like “I like to,” you need

  • to use the plural form of the noun.

  • You can't use the singular form of the noun because you're talking generally about all

  • cases of that noun or all cases of that action.

  • You're talking about a regular activity you like to do, something you have done more than

  • one time, something you are going to do repeatedly, presumably, into the future.

  • So, you need to use the plural form.

  • Next question!

  • Next question is from Suha.

  • How do we write a good paragraph?”

  • Ooh.

  • Number 1, you need to think about the position of your paragraph in your overall document.

  • Let's think about writing a document in terms of three parts: an introduction, a body and

  • a conclusion.

  • In the introduction section, you need to introduce the key information your reader needs to know

  • what they're going to read about later in your documents.

  • So, if your paragraph is in the introduction, you need to think about how to introduce your

  • information there.

  • Second, the body section of your document should be where you include your evidence,

  • your supporting materials, your opinions, any references that you have.

  • So, if your paragraph falls in the body of the document, you should have these themes

  • in mind.

  • If your paragraph is in the conclusion of your document at the end, you should be concluding

  • or finishing your ideas.

  • It's typically a good idea to summarize the ideas you presented in the body and the introduction

  • of your document in the concluding section.

  • Two, use transitions.

  • When you're writing, it's good to transition from one sentence to another and to use good

  • transitions between paragraphs themselves.

  • So, some example transitions could be, “first,” “second,” “third,” or, “next,”

  • then,” “finally,” “after that,” “moreover,” “additionally,” “furthermore.”

  • So, transitions help the reader connect the ideas that you're presenting in your writing.

  • Three, avoid trying to include too much information in one sentence.

  • Remember, you need to try to present your ideas as clearly and accurately as possible.

  • So, if you find you're just writing and writing and writing and the sentence is becoming extremely

  • long, take a moment and look at the goal of the sentence.

  • What are you actually trying to communicate?

  • If you need to, break it into smaller sentences and connect them with transitions.

  • Next question!

  • Next question comes from Juan Garcia.

  • Hi Juan.

  • Juan asks, “I would like to know how to use 'down,' 'up,' 'off,' 'in,'

  • 'on,' and, 'out' after a verb and why it's necessary?”

  • Oh, dear.

  • Juan, this is a very big question.

  • Your question is about phrasal verbs.

  • These are all called phrasal verbs.

  • Verb plus adverb or preposition.

  • There are an enormous amount of phrasal verbs.

  • I possibly talk about all of them in one video.

  • Phrasal verbs are necessary because they are part of speech.

  • They are simply a type of verb, they are a type of expression so you need to know them

  • because they will help you to communicate effectively.

  • So, if you want to know more about specific phrasal verbs, I would suggest checking a

  • dictionary.

  • Okay, thanks very much for submitting your questions again this week.

  • Great questions, as always.

  • Thank you so much.

  • You guys make me think really hard.

  • Remember, if you'd like to submit a question, please send them to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.

  • If you like the video, please make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to us too

  • if you haven't already.

  • You can also check us out at EnglishClass101.com for some more resources like some of the things

  • we talked about in this video.

  • Alright, so thanks very much for watching this episode of Ask Alisha and I will see

  • you again next time.

  • Bye-bye.

  • This is not a traditional Christmas outfit.

  • I kind of look like a cleric from the movieEquilibrium.”

  • Have you guys seen that movie with Christian Bale and Sean Bean?

  • You know that movie where they like don't have any feelings and they fight?

  • This video is over. Bye!

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