English VERBS of the SENSES! + As if / Like / As though

- [John] I've been talking to dead people for years.

- [Narrator] Today, John Medium

meets Becky Beckerson, a YouTuber.

- It seems as though you're looking to connect

with someone who has died, am I right?

- Um, yeah, so my dad, um-

- No, no, no, don't tell me anything about him.

- Why? - It's okay. We can edit.

So it sounds as if...

Yeah, I'm getting a male presence.

Did you have a father figure pass recently?

- No.

- But you just said your father...

- Yeah, my dad wants you to ask my uncle-

- Shh! Don't tell me anything!

(Becky sighs)

It's your mother's brother, right?

- No. - I'm pretty sure it is.

Who's the B name? Like, buh?

Brian, Bob, Bill?

- (groans) Becky? - And who's Becky?

Did she pass? - I'm Becky!

- Well, see?

And it looks like there's a scar

around this, like, the knee area.

- Ugh, yes!

Like every kid, I fell off my bike,

and now I have a scar there.

Can you please just ask my uncle

where he left his PlayStation?

Because we can't find it and my dad wants to play it.

- Shh! It doesn't work that way!

- Then why am I here?

- Ah, so Becky, it seems

as though we have your brother here,

and he loves you and he's watching you.

- Oh, really? That's weird, because he's still alive, too.

- Um, well, who's this, then? (inhuman creature screeching)

- I'm leaving.

It seems to me, John Medium,

as though you're full of (beep).

- Stupid.

All right.

- Verbs of the senses.

You need these every day when you speak English,

when you eat, drink, guess about a situation,

when you talk to someone, when you smell their hair.

So many situations.

So let's learn how to use all of them correctly in English.

(relaxed music)

Look, feel, smell, taste, and sound.

When you actively use those senses, like...

"She is looking at him intensely."

Here, we'll use an adverb.

That describes how we are actively doing something,

in this case, looking.

"Intensely." The adverb. (sniffs)

I'm smelling my phone carefully. An adverb.

The adverb describes how I actively use that sense.

Or you can describe

how something hits your senses, like this.

"Mmm! It smells like onion and garlic."

By the way, we all agree that onion and garlic frying

in butter, oh, my God, that is the best smell ever.

Like, we all agree on that, right? Mmm.

Anyway, when something hits your senses,

use that sense verb with "like"

only when this is a noun.

It smells like onion and garlic.

Hmm. Hungry.

Often, I have to tell my friends,

"This is a veggie burger.

It tastes just like real meat. Right?"

When you want to say

"this is exactly the same as this,"

use "it's just like," again, with a noun.

If you want to describe using an adjective...

"It smells nice."

"It tastes bad."

With an adjective, just the sense verb. No "like."

Okay, let's quickly practice this.

If you have my eBook, lots of practice in there.

But if you don't, don't worry.

Practice in the comments or practice in your notes.

Look around you.

What can you see, smell, taste, feel?

Maybe you're eating something while you watch this.

Is that weird?

I don't know.

It's probably weirder that I'm talking

to you and watching you while you eat.

Describe that food!

How does it taste?

How does it smell?

Is there a pillow near you?

Your clothes, the pen in your hand, how does it feel?

Practice this right now in the comments,

in your notes, or, as I said, in my eBook,

available on patreon.com or on my website, papateachme.com.

Getting more advanced now,

she wants to describe his appearance,

how he looks, using a full sentence.

"Are you okay?

You look like you haven't slept."

In this case, with a full sentence,

use sense verb + "like" + that full sentence

or change "like"

to "as if" or "as though."

"You look as though you haven't slept."

"You look like you haven't slept."

"You look as if you haven't slept."

They all mean the same thing.

They work the same.

Not really any difference in meaning.

Use whichever one you want.

The only real difference

is these two sound a bit more formal.

But don't worry.

You can use all three and it's fine.

Or you could act like a detective

and say what you think a situation is.

It's like you're guessing.

You can use that verb "seem."

For example, if your teacher asks you

"Have you done your homework?"

and you haven't done it, but you still say yes,

they might look at your face and not believe you.

Like, "It seems you're lying."

Yes, there's something missing here.

But remember, "seems,"

it means "when I observe this situation,

this is my guess.

This is what I think."

Remember, you can use "like,"

"as if," or "as though."

"It seems like you're lying."

"It seems as if you're lying."

"It seems as though you're lying."

Again, you're saying, "I don't know 100%,

but when I observe this situation,

this is what I see."

Or hear or smell or taste. Whatever.

So again, with "like," "as though," "as if,"

you're saying, "From my perspective,

this is how I understand this situation."

So we could use other verbs with that structure, like this.

For example, if someone you care about keeps farting

and you want them to stop but they don't stop,

you could say this.

"You fart like you don't care that I can smell it!"

Remember, we're describing how something is,

so we can, because this is a full sentence,

use "as if" or "as though" with that full sentence.

"You fart as if you don't care that I can smell it."

And remember, if you use a noun, you can't use "as if"

or "as though" with a noun, only "like."

"Ugh, you fart like a vegetarian!"

Okay, let's put everything from this lesson together

in this example.

When you drink too much,

the next morning, how do you feel?

You could use an adjective, a noun, or a full sentence

to describe how you feel in this situation.

But remember the rules.

Sense verb with what for each of them?

I'll work with you.

Just shout at the screen.

"I feel terrible."

That's an adjective.

So nothing then.

"I feel terrible."

Next is a noun.

"I feel a zombie"? No.

"I feel like a zombie."

Noun + like.

The full sentence, what can we use?

Well, we can use that "like" again

or two other options.

Do you remember what they were?

"I feel as though," "I feel as if"

with that full sentence.

"Ugh, I'm so hungover.

I feel as though I got in the head with a hammer."

And remember, when you make a guess about a situation,

you can use this: "You seem."

Remember, this means "from the appearance

of this situation, this is what I think."

Let's use a full sentence.

"You seem you drank a lot last night."

Is that correct? No.

You're right. It's not correct.

What do we need there?

Exactly the same as this.

We could use "like,"

"as if," or "as though."

"You seem as if you drank a lot last night."

"You seem like you drank a lot last night."

A common mistake that I have to correct is this one.

So remember, I said

if you just use an adjective, don't use "like."

If it's a noun, use "like."

Here, we've got both an adjective and a noun.

Well, it doesn't matter what comes first.

If there is a noun, use "like."

"Maria seems like a nice person."

"Maria seems nice." (clicks tongue)

All right, final practice.

Oh, hey, Stella.

Okay, you see someone who's very beautiful.

Very, very pretty.

You want to tell her that.

So how can you tell her using "you look"?

Tell her how pretty she is using "you look"

and then an adjective, a noun, or a full sentence,

like "You look as if you just came from a fashion show."

Practice that in the comments or in your notes

or, as I say, in my eBook.

You can get it on patreon.com/papateachme

or papateachme.com, my official website.

I'll give little hearts to my favorite examples

in the comments, and I'll see you in the next class.

Bye. (mellow music)