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  • Hi, welcome back to engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today, I'm going to look at a

  • word that many of you have asked me to explain, because, you guys... it gets

  • a little bit confusing, I think. The word is "actually". How do we use

  • it, why do we use it, etc.? First, let's begin with how we say it.

  • Most people will not, and most native speakers will not say "act-tual-ly",

  • okay? Because the "t" is close to the "c" and the "u" it's very hard to

  • focus on it. So it sounds like "ak chu ally". I put the "a" very small,

  • because you almost don't hear it, okay? "Actually". Some people just say

  • "ak-chu-lly".

  • But if you can squeeze that little bit of an "a" in there, it'll sound

  • much more natural - "akchually". Why do we use this word? What does this word

  • mean? First of all, this word means "in fact". That's what "actually"

  • means. "Actual" means real, the fact of the situation. It's an adverb, "in

  • fact".

  • It is used to show a contrast from what people think or believe. And mostly

  • it's used to correct ideas or facts or beliefs or views, etc.

  • Whatever you think is true, if it's not true, how will I correct you? I

  • will say "Actually, it's like this". So, if you think A is true. I will

  • say "Actually, A is not true".

  • So that word "actually" is a sign that what you think is not exactly

  • correct. It could be completely wrong or it could be just a little bit

  • wrong, but I'm going to fix it for you, okay? So A is true. "Actually, no

  • A is not exactly true, it's a little bit like this, or it's a little bit

  • like that".

  • It'll be much easier when you see the examples I am going to give you,

  • okay? So let me put those on.

  • Okay so let's look at a couple of examples

  • of how "actually" is actually used. First we're going to look at the

  • first example, where sometimes there's only a one-word signal.

  • Sometimes, it's just a one-word signal to tell you something about your thinking is not right.

  • So Lisa and Clara are friends. Lisa is talking about her boyfriend or her

  • husband Tom. "Tom would never cheat on me." means he would never be with

  • another woman. And Clara says "Well, actually", that's all she needs to say.

  • Just from this one word, "actually", Lisa understands that her thinking is

  • wrong, that something is not right.

  • So she goes "What, with who?" "With who" means with who is he cheating on

  • me with? Who is the other woman? All from one word, because this word

  • means that what you think is not right. You have to change your thinking,

  • all right? So that's what most people use the word "actually" for.

  • Some other times it is used for emphasis. You want to emphasize that

  • information is not correct. So for example, many people think A. Whatever

  • A is, that's not important. Many people think A, but that is "actually" not

  • true. Now, if I said "Many people think A, but that is not true" that's

  • enough. Right away, not true means A is not true.

  • But some people add the word "actually" to emphasize that it's not true.

  • It is, in fact, not true and they're about to prove you why it's

  • not true. Why A is wrong and you should think B or C or whatever, okay?

  • Now this word, "actually", is used all the time by native English speakers, okay?

  • Even when you are writing, this is a very good transition word. I'll write

  • it sideways here. It can be a transition from one idea to a contrasting

  • idea, so a very good word to know. Spoken very commonly, written very

  • commonly, and used as a signal or used for emphasis to change an idea.

  • If you want some more practice go to www.engvid.com, especially if you are

  • on YouTube. You can also subscribe to my channel, and check out the quiz at

  • the end of the lesson. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments. Thank you.

  • Learn English for free at www.engvid.com

Hi, welcome back to engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today, I'm going to look at a

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