Meaning of WHY ON EARTH - A Short English Lesson with Subtitles

6,163 views ・ 2020-01-15

Bob's Short English Lessons


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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So in English we sometimes add the words "on" and "earth"
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to a question for emphasis.
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Sometimes we ask questions like,
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"Why on earth did you buy that car?"
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You could, of course, just say, "Why did you buy that car?"
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Maybe imagine a situation where your brother bought
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a really fancy car or a really expensive car,
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you could say, "Why did you buy that car?"
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But if you're actually surprised
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and you wanna add a little bit of emphasis to the question
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you could say to your brother,
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"Why on earth did you buy that car?"
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I'm not sure if your brother will have a good answer
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but certainly in English we often add the words "on earth"
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to a question in order to give it
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a little bit more emphasis.
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00:47
Oftentimes I will be talking to my children
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and I will ask a lot of why questions
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like, "Why on earth did you wear shoes to school
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"when there's so much mud around?
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"You should have worn boots."
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So, "Why on earth did you wear shoes?"
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We actually add the words "on earth" to a whole bunch
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of different question words.
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You can ask questions like,
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"What on earth were you thinking driving so fast?"
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You could ask questions like,
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"Where on earth did you get that nice shirt?"
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You could ask questions like,
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"How on earth were you able to afford such a fancy car?"
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Or you could say something like,
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"When on earth did you find the time to go shopping?"
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So, "on earth," is simply a way of emphasizing
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the question we are asking.
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We do use it a lot.
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I'm Bob the Canadian and you're learning English with me,
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hopefully every day, and I hope you're having a good day.
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