OVER and UNDER Prefixes: Grow Your Vocabulary With Simple English Videos

17,952 views ・ 2017-10-13

Simple English Videos


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Over and under – they’re prepositions.
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But they can also be prefixes.
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Put them in front of other words and they make new words.
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Let’s start with under.
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I’ve got two meanings for you.
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The first one is like the preposition.
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It means beneath, so below or inside other things.
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Heating that’s placed beneath the floor is called underfloor heating.
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Trains that operate in the ground beneath streets are underground trains.
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Clothes we wear next to our skin, beneath our other clothes, are underclothes or underwear.
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We can go swimming or we can go underwater swimming.
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Now the second meaning.
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What does the prefix ‘under’ mean in this word?
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Excuse me.
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Yes.
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This egg is undercooked.
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Oh.
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It looks all right to me.
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Are you kidding?
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Ah, I see what you mean.
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So what does under mean here?
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It means not enough - not sufficient.
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If we don’t have enough insurance then we’re underinsured.
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If a company doesn’t have enough workers, then it’s understaffed.
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And if a worker doesn’t get paid enough, they’re underpaid.
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Great.
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Now what about over?
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It’s the opposite of under and again we’ve got two meanings.
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The first one is like the preposition.
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It means above or on top of.
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A coat we wear on top of our normal clothes is an overcoat.
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When we’re doing dirty work we might wear overalls.
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They call them coveralls in American English.
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If we work more hours than usual – so on top of our normal hours, we work overtime.
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OK, ready for the second meaning?
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What does over mean here?
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Hey!
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Yes?
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This egg is overcooked.
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Really?
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I can't eat this.
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There's no need to overreact.
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Overcooked means cooked too long.
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And overreact means react too strongly, with too much emotion.
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So over means too much – more than sufficient.
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Sorry.
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I got overemotional.
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Yes, you did.
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There are some words we can combine with over or under and we get opposite meanings.
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A road that passes under another road is an underpass.
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And a road that passes over another road is an… overpass.
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We also call it a flyover in British English.
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If the price of something is less than its real value, it’s underpriced.
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And if it’s too expensive and it costs more than it’s worth it’s overpriced.
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If you don’t let enough light in when you’re taking a photo, it will be underexposed.
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And if too much light gets in, it’ll be overexposed.
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Some people have too much work to do and they are overworked.
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And others don’t have enough to do.
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They’re underworked.
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Can you think of any more over- or under- words?
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Tell us in the comments.
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If you liked this video, give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel.
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Bye now.
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