Mistakes Every English Learner Makes - Basic English Grammar

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I said a bad word on camera.

Hi, everybody.

Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them,

maybe.

First question this week comes from Fan.

Hi, Fan.

Fan says, “Are ‘no’ and ‘none’ the same meaning and do they have the same usage?”

No, they don't have the same usage.

We can't use them the same way but they have sort of similar meanings.

We can use “no” as a simple negative response to something and we can also use it before

a noun to mean we have zero of that thing.

“I have no time.”

“He has no money.”

“You have no friends.”

This means “no,” zero of that thing.

“I have no time.”

“I have no money.”

“I have no friends,” for example.

I have a sad life.

“None,” however, means not one or not any.

“None of my time is used wisely.”

“None of his money went to charity.”

“None of my friends want to hang out today.”

So, we're using “none” to mean not any of or not one of some other noun phrase.

So, we can't use them quite the same, no.

So, I hope that that helps you out a little bit.

Thanks for the question.

Next question comes from Hanna from Vietnam.

Hi, Hanna.

“What is the difference between ‘sounds’ and ‘seems’ and how to use them correctly?

Can I use ‘sound’ for a person?

For example, “You sounds not good.”

“She sounds tired.”?

Ha.

Nice question.

So, we tend to use “sound” for things that we hear with our ears.

Like, information we get with our ears.

“Something sounds good.”

So, physically, we hear a sound with our ears.

Someone suggests an activity?

We say, “It sounds good,” because we heard that information with our ears.

Or, if someone suggests a bad idea, like, “Oh, that doesn't sound good.”

Or, if you hear a friend like coughing or something you can say, “Whoa.

You don't sound good.”

So, those are all examples of information we get with ears.

But, “seem,” on the other hand, “seem” is used for information we gain but we cannot

confirm quickly.

So, it's used for an initial impression of something.

So, if we can confirm our kind of idea of that thing, then it's kind of strange to use

“seem.”

Let me give you some examples of this.

“She seems nice.”

“Your friend seems angry.”

“That place seems dangerous.”

In each of these examples, we can't really quickly confirm whether our initial impression

is true or not.

Like, if I touched something, like a nice pillow and I said, “Oh, it seems soft.”

That would be weird because I can confirm the pillow is soft.

I don't know where my arm is a pillow but like I can confirm that right now.

So, it sounds weird, it “sounds” weird to use “seems” there.

So, if you can confirm something quickly or if you can understand that quickly, it's sort

of strange to use “seems.”

“Sounds” is used for information we get with our ears.

I hope that that helps you.

Sounds good?

Sounds good to me.

That question also sounds good to me.

Next question comes from Imon.

Hi, again, Imon.

“Which one is correct?

‘She has gained admission to the club,’ or, ‘She has gained admission in the club.’”

In terms of the preposition you're using, “to” is correct.

“She has gained admission to the club.”

If, however, this is an example sentence about going to a music venue, we don't use “gained

admission.”

“Gained admission” sounds very, very formal.

If you're talking about a formal club or a formal society.

Like, “She has gained admission to the club,” fine.

That's fine.

If, however, you're just talking about like going out to a party.

We'll use, “She got into the club,” or, “She has gotten into the club.”

So, we say, “got into” or “get into” a club.

It sounds like it was difficult to get in, this is how I go into clubs.

It sounds like it was difficult to get in but she was able to gain admission, so, “gain

admission” sounds too formal, so we use “got into” instead.

So, I don't know if that's the situation here but just in case there's an expression you

can use as well.

To get into something.

Next question.

Next question comes from Mohamed Alhel.

Hi, Mohamed.

“What is the difference between ‘up’ and ‘above,’ ‘down’ and ‘below.’”

Okay, depending on the sentence, the words can have different grammatical functions but

I assume this is a question about positioning words.

So, base difference, I suppose would be that “up” and “down,” refer to movement.

There's actual movement happening.

“Up,” meaning things go this direction, “down” meaning things go this direction.

So, there's movement “up” or movement “down” when you use the word “up”

or “down.”

“Let's walk up the street.”

“She scrolled down on the page.”

“She put her hand up.”

“He put his hand down.”

So, all of these refer to movement, there's some movement happening “up” or “down.”

“Above” and “below,” however, refer to fixed positions, there's no movement.

And, we need to use a direct object when we use “above” and “below.”

So, when I say, “A is above B,” there's an A and a B in that situation.

I can't use “above” if I don't have an A and a B. There's like a relative positioning

there that's happening and there's no movement happening either.

So, examples.

“I put a shelf above the TV.”

“Hide these keys below the sink.”

“My name is above your name.”

“Our sales were below the target amount this month.”

So, in each of these example sentences, there's no movement happening, it's a simple position.

In some cases, like in the first three examples, the position is like a physical object.

In the last example sentence, however, about sales, it's a concept.

So, “Sales were below the target amount this month,” but the position is still fixed.

So, there was a target amount and sales.

Sales were below that target amount.

So, you can use this for concepts or for physical objects.

So, keep that in mind.

“Up” and “down,” movement.

“Above” and “below,” no movement, fixed positions.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the great question.

Next question.

Next question comes from Eugen.

Eugen?

You don't have an “E” in the end, Eugen.

I don't know.

Hi, sorry.

“Hi, Alisha.

What is the difference between ‘need,’ ‘have’ and ‘should.’

For example, ‘what do I need to,’ ‘what do I have to,’ ‘what should I do?’

Which sentence is correct?”

Thanks.

Actually, all of these sentences are correct.

It just depends on what you want to say.

Grammatically, all of these are fine.

But, the nuance and the meaning changes.

Let's look at a simple example.

“I have to go to the bank.”

“I need to go to the bank.”

“I should go to the bank.”

Alright, first one.

“I have to go to the bank,” it sounds like you have a responsibility to do that

task and there's maybe some reason you don't want to do that task.

So, you I'm kind of like, “Aw.

I don't want to do this thing.

This is boring.”

Or, “This is something I don't want to do with my time but I have a responsibility to

do that thing.

I have to go to the bank.”

The second example sentence, “I need to go to the bank,” sounds like, yes, you have

a responsibility to do that task.

That task is still your responsibility but that feeling of, “I don't want to do this,”

is not anywhere near as strong.

If you say, “I have to go to the bank,” it's like a stronger feeling of something

you don't want to do.

Maybe, if you say, “I need to go to the bank,” you still don't want to do that but

you're not really communicating such a strong feeling of “I don't want to do this.”

That feeling is much, much more diminished, it's not as strong here.

So, I need to go to the bank, it's pretty neutral, just a responsibility phrase.

The last one, “I should go to the bank,” means I don't have a responsibility to do

this task right now but it's probably a good idea if I do it.

“I should go to the bank.”

This one's good for things you're maybe thinking about, you're not responsible for but maybe

there are good ideas.

So, like, “I should clean my house,” or, “I should do the dishes,” or “I should

do my homework,” for example.

“I should,” it's for things that are good ideas but maybe you don't have a responsibility,

necessarily.

“Have to,” sounds more like, “I don't want to do this,” “need” is pretty neutral

for a responsibility.

In my case, that's how I use these words.

I hope that that helps you.

They're all correct.

Next question is from Alexandre.

Hi, Alexandre.

“Hi, Alisha.

What does “sick grind” mean?”

What does “sick grind” mean?

This is a skateboarding term, actually, but I'm not a skateboarder.

But a grind is when a skateboarder is doing a trick and the skate boards, imagine this

is the skateboard, they jump on to some obstacle and the side of the skateboard does this motion,

which we call grinding.

So, it grinds against some obstacle.

So, that trick is called a grind.

“Sick,” however, is slang for cool, great, awesome, nice, good.

So, “sick grind” means that was a nice grind, that was a cool trick, well done.

So, it's a compliment.

Very casual used probably among skateboarders and other people who do similar tricks.

By the way, you can replace “grind” with anything you want to make a very casual compliment.

Like, “Sick dinner, man.”

I don't know.

Something that sounds kind of young and casual and cool, we can use the word, “sick,”

to describe.

“That was sick.”

I don’t use sick because I'm not cool but if you want to, you can use the word, “sick.”

“Sick burn,” or like, “Sick ride.”

I don't even know.

Though, “sick” sounds kind of cool, young, whatever.

But, “sick grind” is a skateboarding term.

Skateboarding and maybe other similar sports.

So, hope that helps you.

I'm not a cool person, I can't give you cool examples but there you go.

Next question, hopefully not a skateboarding question, comes from Mohamed Al Dale.

Hi, Mohamed.

“Hi, Alisha.

What's the difference in pronunciation between ‘very’ and ‘vary?’”

Aha.

“Very” and “vary” have no difference in pronunciation.

Very exciting, isn't it?

That's it.

Alright.

That's it for questions that I want to look at this week.

Thank you so much for sending so many great questions.

There are so many now, I cannot possibly answer them all in one week.

But, keep sending, I love reading them and make sure if you haven't sent one yet, that

you send one to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.

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Thanks very much for watching this episode of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next week.

Bye-bye.

Sick video.