English Grammar & Vocabulary - 'Now' and 'Still'

116,908 views ・ 2012-03-05

English with Alex


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

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Hey, guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "now" and "still."
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These are very common time expressions that we use in English all the time, so it's important
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to know what they mean, first of all, and how we can use them in a sentence.
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So first, we have, "He's not here now," and, "Now Tanya lives in Ottawa." So obviously,
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the word "now," most of you probably know, means at this very moment, this exact moment.
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So, "He's not here now." Before, he was here, but now he is not here, okay? Now Tanya lives
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in Ottawa. Before, maybe she lived in Toronto or Montreal, or maybe she was an international
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student from Germany, okay? But now, Tanya lives in Ottawa. So we can use it to talk
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about the actions of a person in the moment, or the actions of a thing, I suppose.
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Now, what we can do with "now" is place it at the beginning of a sentence, like I did
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here, "Now Tanya lives in Ottawa." We can also put it at the end of a sentence, like
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I did here, "He's not here now." And it's also possible, if we don't have the verb "to
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be," to place "now" before a verb. So, for example, "Tanya now lives in Ottawa." So we
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can say, "Now Tanya lives in Ottawa." "Tanya now lives in Ottawa." "Tanya lives in Ottawa
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now." Okay? So you have three possibilities. Same as here, except in the middle, we can
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say, "He's not here now," or, "Now he's not here."
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Okay. I made a note for you guys to use "right now" for immediacy. If you want it to be stronger,
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you want to make... I know "now" means like, "Now, now, now." You can't get any stronger.
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But in usage, if you say it in spoken word, it does sound like it's more important or
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more... even more immediate in the present. Okay? So, "He's not here right now." "Not right
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now." "Right now Tanya lives in Ottawa." "Now Tanya lives in Ottawa." The meaning is basically
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the same, but you can use "right now" to make it seem a little stronger, to add a little
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bit more emphasis.
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Here we have "still." Okay? Now, "still" we can use to talk about something that began
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in the past and has continued until the present. The first sentence is, "I'm still hungry."
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So here you have the adjective "hungry." Before an adjective, you can use "still." So imagine
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that you are having lunch, right? And you have lasagna. Okay? So you're eating your
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lasagna, like, "Mmm, it's very good. It's very good." You finish your lasagna. And then
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after five minutes, "Hmm, you're hungry. You are still hungry." So you were hungry before
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lunch and you are hungry now. So we can use "still" to talk about something that started
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in the past but has continued until the present. For example, "Paul still wakes up late every
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day." I have known Paul for ten years. Okay? Let's imagine Paul is my best friend in the
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world. Now, he woke up late every single day when we were in high school together. Today,
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for work, he still wakes up late every day. Okay? So you can also use it before a verb.
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And she still lives with her parents. So imagine that she is... I don't know. Let's make up
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a name. Her name is Mary. Okay? And she is thirty-seven years old. Let's imagine she
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is thirty-seven years old. And she still lives with her parents. Now, I know in some cultures
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that's totally fine, totally cool. In North American culture, for me, it's a little weird.
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For me, it's a little weird. Okay? No disrespect, but for me, it's strange for a thirty-seven
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year old to be living with their parents unless there are special circumstances. Right? Okay.
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So again, "still" means it started in the past, it has continued into the present, and
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"now" means now, at the very moment, right? At this very moment. So if you want to test
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your understanding of how to use "now", how to use "still", and the position of "now" and "still"
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in a sentence, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. Take care, guys, and good luck.
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