What on earth...?! and other conversational expressions in English

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English  with Jennifer. Do you know what this is?

It's a globe. It's a helpful way of looking at  the world. When we talk about society and the  

global community, we usually say "world," but  technically we live on Earth, the planet Earth.

We say "Earth" to refer to our planet. Do you  ever wonder why sometimes this word is capitalized  

and sometimes it's not? Back in school, I was  taught to capitalize "Earth" when we think of it  

as a planet in the context of our solar system. We  capitalize all the names of the planets: Mercury,  

Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, which  could also be said as Uranus /ˈyʊərənəs/, and  

Neptune. And I don't want to leave out little  Pluto. When I was a kid, Pluto was a planet.

We can also use "earth" to refer to dirt or  land. That's when we use a lowercase "e."  

Put your hands in the earth and enjoy gardening.

The hot air balloon rose high into the atmosphere  and then gently came back down to earth.

We also use a lowercase "e" when "earth" refers  to world. For example, what's the largest animal  

on earth? What are the best places to live on  earth? What are the worst places to live on earth?

This meaning of world is what we use in the  following expressions: Nothing on earth. What  

on earth? Nothing on earth means "nothing  in this world." It's used for emphasis.

Nothing on earth will make him change.

We can also use "no" + a noun for the same reason.  

There's no reason on earth  you should agree to this.

No place on earth serves better milkshakes.

Can you come up with your own  example of "nothing..." or "no  

on earth"? Post it in the comments.

When we're surprised and possibly  angry, we use questions like,  

"What on earth?" Let's practice this. Think  about what you would say in these situations.

Your friend borrowed a car without asking simply  because the owner left the keys in the car.

I know what I'd say. I'd ask,  "What on earth were you thinking?"

Your other friend managed to carry  a piano up the stairs by himself.

You know what I'd say? I'd ask,  

"How on earth did you manage to get that  up the stairs without breaking your back?"

And yet another friend agreed to shelter 50  homeless dogs until homes could be found for them.

I'd say, "That's very generous of you,  but why on earth would you take so many?"

That's all for now. Please like the video if  you found it useful. As always, thanks for  

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