BOX SET: English In A Minute 3 – TEN English lessons in 10 minutes!

The first thing to know about

'wow' is that it's quite informal, and we use it mostly

when speaking, so our intonation is quite important.

The most common use of 'wow' is as an exclamation to express surprise.

Wow! You shaved your beard off! The surprise can be a neutral surprise,

but it's often a pleasant surprise.

Did you make that cake? For me?

Wow! We also use 'wow' to show wonder or amazement.

Wow! The moon is so big tonight! Notice that

'wow' can go at the beginning or at the end of the sentence

when used as an exclamation, but it can also be used as

a regular verb, meaning 'to make other people feel admiration or excitement,

or wonder'. She's an amazing pianist!

She wows audiences every time

she plays. Has anything wowed you recently?

Hi, I'm Georgina from BBC Learning English.

Do you ever wonder about the difference between 'soon', 'early' and 'quickly'?

They all have similar meanings, but are used in different ways.

'Soon' is used when we talk about something happening in a short time

from now. I'll see you soon! In about five minutes.

The film is starting soon - hurry up or we'll miss the start!

'Early' is used where we talk about something happening before

the expected time. I had to go to work early because I had a meeting.

If you get up early, you can go for a run.

'Quickly' is used when we talk

about something happening rapidly or at a fast pace. We're late.

We need to walk quickly! I'm so excited!

He replied to my text very quickly.

That reminds me - I have a meeting starting soon! I've got to go. Bye.

Hi This is Kee from BBC Learning English, and today

I'm going to tell you the differences between 'be going to' and the

present continuous to talk about future plans.

We use 'be going to' to talk about future plans.

The plan will probably take place, but it's not a definite plan.

If I say: I'm going to meet my friends this weekend,

it means I made plans with my friends,

but it could mean that we haven't decided where to meet,

nor have we decided what time to meet. On the other hand,

we use the present continuous to talk about future plans that are almost definite.

If I say: I'm meeting my friends this weekend,

it means I made plans with my friends and we may have decided where to meet

and what time to meet. So,

this plan is almost definite and it is difficult to cancel.

So, remember the present continuous describes a more definite plan

than 'be going to'.

Hey, Sian here for BBC Learning English and today

we're going to look at these two little words.

So, 'been' and 'gone' are both past participles, both used with the present

perfect, but they don't have the same meaning.

We use 'been' to talk about complete visits.

So, 'She has been to Paris' means that she visited Paris at some point in the past,

and now she's back in the UK.

Careful with pronunciation - when we say 'been' in a sentence,

it becomes 'bin'.

She's been to Paris. But 'She's gone to Paris' means

she travelled to Paris and she's still in Paris now.

She's on holiday.

She's gone to Paris.

Easy, right?

'Been'. You go somewhere and return.

'Gone'. You go somewhere,

but don't return.

Hi, I'm Dan from BBC

Learning English and today

I'm going to talk to you about 'person' and 'persons',

'people' and 'peoples'. A person is a human man, woman, or child.

It is a singular countable noun.

There was one person at the door.

The plural of 'person' is 'people'.

It refers to a group or a number of human beings.

It is a plural countable

noun. There were three people at the door.

So, how about 'persons'?

'Persons' is a plural countable noun.

It's similar to 'people', but it's considered more polite and more formal.

It is most often seen written down. This lift can hold a maximum of

fifteen persons. And 'peoples'? 'Peoples' is the countable plural form of 'people',

and comes from the other meaning of 'people'.

'People' can mean 'nation'.

The Aztecs were a people that lived in the Americas.

Or, there are many peoples living on the Earth.

They are all human, so far.

Hi. I'm Phil and I'm going to tell you about the difference between 'hard'

and 'hardly'. 'Hard',

we can use in lots of different ways,

but it usually means 'strong', 'difficult' or 'intense'.

Ow! That ball's hard.

Calculus is hard.

That was really hard work.

'Hardly' is an adverb and it can mean, 'almost not'.

This is too small. I can hardly read it.

We can use it with 'any' to talk about quantity.

For example, there is hardly any water in this cup.

We can use it with 'ever' for frequency, for example:

I hardly ever play basketball. To help you remember:

It's hard for me to play tennis because I hardly ever train.

I could hardly walk afterwards because I've been running hard,

and I often get hurt because the ball's hard and there's hardly

any time to get out the way.

Hi everyone, Sam here, and in this lesson

we're going to look at four different uses of 'quite'. We use

'quite' before an adjective or adverb to mean 'less than 'very',

but more than 'a little''.

It's quite cold and it's raining quite heavily today.

We can use 'quite' before a verb -

often the verbs 'like' and 'enjoy'.

I quite like watching football, but I don't love playing it.

We can use 'quite a' before an adjective plus noun

My brother is quite a good musician.

But, if we take the adjective away, and just have 'quite a' plus noun,

the meaning changes: My brother is quite a musician.

Which means my brother is a very good musician.

He's impressive.

So, 'quite' is quite useful, isn't it?

Hi, Sian here again.

Now, we all love going on holiday,

but these two words can cause problems.

So, a 'journey' is a noun, and refers to a single piece of travel.

So, when you move from one place to another by car, plane, train, bus.

The journey to London takes three hours by bus. A 'trip' is also a noun,

but usually refers to more than one journey

and the time you spend in a place.

So, if someone asks, how was your trip?

They're asking about the whole time you are away,

not the journey. How was your camping trip, Sian?

It was fun, but it rained all weekend.

A 'trip' is often quite short compared to a holiday and

we can use it in these set phrases.

So, you can have a 'business trip'. a 'school trip' or a 'day trip'.

Hi, I'm Georgina from BBC Learning English.

In today's lesson, we're going to look at three differences between American

English and British English spelling. Words which end with

-er in American English often end in

-re in British English.

For example: I live in the 'center' of town

changes to 'centre'. Normally, verbs which end in

i-z-e in American English can be spelt in British English with either

i-z-e or i-s-e. For example:

'Can you 'organize' a meeting?' changes to 'organise'.

Sometimes words with o-r in American English can be spelt

in British English using

o-u-r. For example:

What's your favourite 'color'? changes to favourite 'colour'.

It doesn't matter whether you use American English

or British English spelling.

Just make sure you use one or the other.

Hi, I'm Phil from BBC Learning English.

Today, I'm going to tell you how to use 'make' and 'do'. Now, they can be tricky

and there are some exceptions,

but here are four things to remember. We use 'make' when we create something

like this cake.

We used 'do' to talk about an activity.

What are you doing?

I'm doing some work.

We can use 'make' to talk about something that causes a reaction.

This music really makes me want to sing.

We can also use 'do' with general activities.

What are you doing tomorrow? I'm not doing anything.

Have you got any plans?