Useful English Expressions Explained - Basic English Grammar | Ask Alisha

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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 Yoshitaka Horikoshi.

Hi.

Yoshitaka says, “I watched the YouTube video, ‘The difference between ‘watch,’ ‘look,’

and ‘see.’’

I have a question.

What's the difference between ‘view’ and those?”

Ah, yeah.

Okay.

Used as a verb, meaning like to watch something, it means the same thing, yeah, but it sounds

more formal.

We wouldn't use “view” to talk about watching a movie, for example.

If you say you're viewing a film, you sound kind of like a film critic, for example.

So, you would use this actually if you're going to inspect a house or you're going to

look carefully at something, like you're viewing a new house or you're viewing an apartment,

for example.

“I'm viewing a new house tomorrow.”

“We're planning to view the event space in the morning.”

So, this kind of sounds like you're going to look at the small details of something.

So, you wouldn't say like, “I'm going to view your ballet recital tomorrow,” it sounds

too formal, it sounds too--like you're going to inspect it or something.

So, don't use “view” in everyday situations, use it if you're going to look carefully at

the small details of something.

Thanks for the question though.

Okay, next question comes from Naveen.

Hi, Naveen.

Naveen says, “My question is how to use ‘in,’ ‘on,’ ‘for,’ and ‘at?’”

Yeah, for sure.

Prepositions are tough and many of you asked this question.

So, we recommend, or I recommend, rather, that you try checking out these two videos

that we have on the channel already.

So, I talked about kind of two groups, I guess, of prepositions.

I talked about how to use prepositions of location, so that means place, prepositions

you can use for places.

And, I also talked about prepositions you can use for time.

If you have questions about “in,” “on,” “at” and those sorts of words, prepositions,

I recommend starting with these two videos that you can find on the YouTube channel.

So, please check those out.

I hope that that helps.

Next question!

Next question comes from Garrison Silva.

Hi, Garrison.

Garrison says, “What does the expression, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mean?”

Yeah, “out of sight, out of mind,” it means that if you're not looking at something

then you're not thinking about it.

“Out of sight,” so meaning I can't see it, then, it's “out of my mind,” out of

my thoughts, in other words.

So, if I don't see something, I don't think about it.

So, maybe like someone who's trying to lose weight, for example, might think of this expression

about like snacks.

“Oh, snacks.

Out of sight, out of mind.”

In other words, if I don't see the snacks, I'm not going to think about them.

Or, if there's like something that's really bothering you and you don't want to think

about it, you put it out of your field of vision, you put it out of your sight and then

you don't think about it.

“Out of sight, out of mind.”

Hope that helps.

Next question comes from Rainie?

Hi, sorry.

“What's the difference between ‘high,’ ‘height,’ and ‘altitude?’”

“High,” “height,” “altitude,” okay.

First, “high” is an adjective.

“We're flying high.”

“The kite is high in the air.”

“Height” is a noun.

“What's your height?”

“The height of the building is 6 meters.”

“Altitude” is also a noun but it means like the level of elevation.

It means how far something is from the ground.

So, the distance between an object is and the ground.

That's the altitude.

So, it's the level of elevation.

Examples, “At low altitudes, the weather is humid.

At high altitudes, it can be hard to breathe.”

So, hope that helps.

“High,” “height” and “altitude,” different grammatical functions, sort of,

and different meanings.

Next question comes from Gustavo.

Hi, Gustavo.

“Which auxiliary is used for it in present perfect?

Is it ‘has been great’ or ‘have been great?’

And, do you speak Spanish?

I want to hear you speak Spanish.”

Okay, first question first.

Your auxiliary verb in the present tense depends on the subject.

So, if my sentence is about me, if I want to say, “I,” with a present perfect example,

I would say, “I have been blah, blah, blah,” “I have” plus your verb.

If, however, your subject is “he,” “she,” “it” or “that,” the auxiliary verb

changes to past.

So, just keep this in mind.

Depending on your subject, the conjugation of your auxiliary verb or your linking verb

will change.

With present perfect tense, it's “has” or “have.”

So, “I have been,” “He has been,” “She has been,” “We have been,” “They

have been,” “You have been,” “That has been.”

So, depending on the subject, the auxiliary verb changes.

In response to your second question, “Do I speak Spanish?”

[speaks in Spanish]

Next question.

Next question comes from Ricardo Villarreal.

Hi, Ricardo.

Ricardo says, “What is the difference between ‘can’ and ‘can't’ in pronunciations?”

In everyday fast-paced speech, we reduce that “can” to “cn.”

Like, “I can come.”

It's really like “cn,” it's like the “A” sound disappears.

“I can come.”

“I can do that.”

“I can help.”

“Can't,” however, has kind of a “can't” sound to it.

“I can't.”

We say, “I can't,” that “A” sound is much more clearly pronounced.

“I can't come.”

“I can't do that.”

“He can't help.”

So, you can pretty clearly hear the “A” sound.

This is at least the way American English speakers pronounce “can” and “can't”

in everyday speech.

So, thanks very much as always for your great questions.

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

Bye-bye.