Learn 5 Ways to Use the English Word, "About"

Hi Bob the Canadian here.

The English word, “about” has several different uses in the English language.

In this video we’re going to look at 5 different sentences, 5 different examples on how to

use the word, “about” in English.

Sometimes English words have more than one meaning, depending on the sentence that they

are used in.

The English word, “about” is one of those words.

The first example of how to use the word, “about” in the English language is the

sentence:

It is about time.

When we say this sentence in English we are basically expressing that something is finally

happening.

So we have wanted to eat dinner for a while, and when dinner is served we could say:

It’s about time!

Meaning that you have patiently waited for a while, and you are now happy that it is

dinner time.

The second example of how to use the word, “about” in the English language is a question

like:

How about a cup of tea?

How about a cup of tea?

And what we are basically asking in this sentence is:

Would you like a cup of tea?

So when I say, “How about a cup of tea?”

I’m really asking “Would you like a cup of tea?”

And if I say, “How about we go see a movie tonight?”

I’m actually saying, “Would you like to go see a movie tonight?”

A third way to use the word, “about” in the English language is the phrase:

He was about to jump.

And when we use, “about” in this way we are basically saying that an action has not

happened yet, but it’s going to happen very soon.

She was about to buy tickets for the concert.

This means that she has not bought the tickets yet, but she is most likely on her computer,

on the website where she can buy tickets, and she is going to buy the tickets very soon.

She is about to buy the tickets.

The fourth way, the fourth example of using the word, “about” in the English language

is the phrase:

The movie was about the war.

Or, the book was about her life.

And basically using, “about” in this way is saying that the subject of the book, the

main point of the book, was her life.

The fifth and last way that we use the word, “about” in the English language is the

phrase:

She was about 40 years old.

And in this example we’re basically using, “about”, the same way we would use, “approximately”.

So we are saying, “She is approximately 40 years old.”

She might be 39, she might be 42.

We don’t actually know how old she is, but we can sort of tell that she’s around 40

years old.

She is about 40 years old.

Well that’s 5 different ways to use the word, “about” in the English language.

There are actually more, but I thought 5 was a good number for this video.

Bob the Canadian here.

Learn English with Bob the Canadian.

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