3 differences between spoken and written English

Hi everyone, I'm George.

There are lots of differences between spoken English

and written English, which is why it's

really important to learn English through context,

instead of just memorising lots of vocabulary lists.

So today I'm going to show you three differences

between spoken English and written English and we’ll

finish with a quiz afterwards.

If you find this lesson useful, don't forget to like the video

and to subscribe to the channel.

Number one, contractions.

You're more likely to use contractions in spoken English.

A contraction is when you connect two words

together using an apostrophe.

For example, I am becomes I'm,

you are becomes you're, and I would becomes I'd.

Can you change this sentence into a spoken

sentence using a contraction?

I would love to go there.

This becomes, I'd love to go there.

Another difference in spoken English is the use

of tails and headers.

You might not have heard of this,

so let's look at an example.

That guy in the fashionable red jumper,

is he our new teacher?

Is he our new teacher, that guy in the fashionable red jumper?

Tails and headers give information to help

the listener understand what we're taking about.

The main difference is that headers come at the start of

the sentence, whereas tails come at the end of the sentence.

Here are some examples.

Eating a lot of Easter eggs, that’s what I'd like to

be doing now.

They're easily the best pets in the world, dogs.

Number three, ellipsis.

Ellipsis is something that is typically used

in spoken English.

It's when we leave words out of a sentence but the meaning

is still understood.

For example, did you see the match last night?

See the match last night?

Are you ready yet?

You ready yet?

What have you been doing lately?

What you been doing lately?

So now it's time for a quiz.

Is this spoken or written English?

Number one.

It's a tiring sport, squash.

Number two.

I am a hardworking person who would

love to work at your company.

Number three.

Sorry, been a bit busy this week.

Number four.

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish, consisting

of fermented vegetables.

How did you do?

You can check your answers in the description box below.

That’s all we have time for today.

If you enjoyed the lesson, don’t forget to like the video

and to subscribe to the channel.

Bye-bye.