Hi, everybody. Welcome back to "Ask Alisha," the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe. Okay, let's get to your first question this week. |
First question this week comes from Takumi. Hi, Takumi. Takumi says, "Hi, Alisha. I'm a university student in Japan. I teach English to elderly students as a part-time job. One of them asked me what 'fire with fire' means. I guess the man heard the phrase in a movie. Could you tell me the meaning?" Yeah. This is part of an idiom. The expression is usually to fight fire with fire. That's the full phrase, typically. You might also hear "to match fire with fire" or "to meet fire with fire." But, in most cases, it's "to fight fire with fire." |
This phrase means to fight an opponent with the same weapon or the same method that your opponent uses. So, sometimes, this literally means fighting someone with the same kind of weapon. But, in most cases, it's talking about a specific kind of competition and using the same method as your opponent to participate in that competition. |
For example, if someone starts shouting at you, you can fight fire with fire by shouting back at them. So, in that case, there's no fire involved. But, shouting is your opponent's weapon or method of attacking. So, if you want to fight that, you use the same method and shout back. So, that could be considered fighting fire with fire. You might also hear this used in business situations when you're talking about competition between businesses or between companies or industries. For example, "Company A is spending a lot of money on advertising this year. We have to fight fire with fire and increase our own advertising budget." So, this just means to compete or like to attack or oppose someone with the same method or the same weapon that they use against you. |
So, again this is usually to fight fire with fire. I hope that that helps you. Thanks for the question. Okay, let's move on to your next question. |
Next question comes from Elhassan Ahmed. Hello, again, Elhassan. Elhassan says, "What is the difference between 'I don't know what is that' and 'I don't know what that is?' For example, 'I don't know what the difference between them is,' and, 'I don't know what is the difference between them.'" Okay. The difference is that the second example is correct. The first example is incorrect. These are examples of what are called embedded questions. So, it's when we have a question inside a statement, or we have a question inside another question. These are called embedded questions. And when we use the verb, "to be," in embedded questions, it takes a slightly different word order. |
So, when we use the verb, "to be," to ask a direct question, we would say something like, "Where is the restroom?" or, "Where are my co-workers?" That's a direct question. But, when we use an indirect question or we use an embedded question, we have to change the word order a little bit. So, instead of, "Where is the restroom?" we have to say something like, "I don't know where the restroom is." And instead of, "Where are my co-workers?" we might say, "Do you know where my coworkers are?" |
So, in each of these examples, the "to be" verb actually moves to the end of the sentence or to the end of the question. This is kind of special for these embedded questions style responses. So, keep this in mind when you're making an embedded question. "Is" does not follow your question word. "Is" goes at the end of the sentence. The same is true for "are," and of course, "was" and "were," if you're making past tense statements or past tense questions. But, again, this is just for the verb, "to be." If you're using any other verb, you don't need to worry about this change. So, if it's like "talk" or "walk" or "drink" or whatever, you don't need to worry about that. If you're using the verb, "to be," however, you do need to switch your word order in the sentence. |
So, again, your second example sentence is correct. So, "I don't know what that is" is the correct sentence. "I don't know what is that" is incorrect. |
Of course, if you're ever not sure what to do and you're faced with a situation where you should choose, it's not impolite, it's not incorrect to use a direct question, like, "Where is the restroom?" But, it does sound a bit more polite to phrase it indirectly or to use an embedded question like, "Do you know where the restroom is?" It sounds a bit more polite. So, again, if you're ever unsure, you can use a direct question. No problem. But, do make sure to practice these embedded questions and the special pattern that we use with the verb, "to be." So, I hope that that helps you. Thanks very much for the question. Okay, let's move on to your next question. |
Next question comes from Anh. Hi, Anh. Anh says, "Can you give an explanation about the word, 'roughly?' Thanks so much." Okay. I'm sure "roughly" means about. It means approximately, or around. For example, "Roughly half of the students in the class passed the test." "Sales decreased by roughly 30% last month." |
So, in these cases, "roughly" means about or around. We tend to use roughly more in polite situations, like at work, in meetings. We don't use it so much in everyday conversation. In everyday conversation, we use "about" or "around." |
There's another use of "roughly," however, which you can kind of think of as meaning aggressive or like a little bit aggressive, or not refined. So, for example, "My neighbor speaks roughly, but he's actually a nice guy," or, "This woman on the train pushed me really roughly. It hurt." So, in those cases, "roughly" means in kind of an aggressive manner, a slightly aggressive manner, or a not refined manner. So, when we use "roughly" as an adverb in this way, it means like not refined. It's kind of aggressive. When you're using it to talk about amounts or data, it means about. So, I hope that this helps you. Thanks very much for the question. Okay, let's move on to your next question. |
Next question comes from Patricia. Hi, Patricia. Patricia says, "Hi, Alisha. I enjoy your videos." Thank you. "My question is about when I visit restaurants and I don't want ice in my drink, for example. How do I say that? 'No ice' or 'without ice?' Thank you." Yeah. We would say "no ice." |
So, if you said "without ice," it's probably not a communication issue. But, more naturally, we would say, "No ice, please." You can use this for pretty much anything, any kind of special order, like no tomato, no onion, no pickles, and so on. So, if you don't want something, use "no" before the name of that thing that you don't want. |
We have another expression that we use at restaurants, which is "on the side." So, for example, if you order a salad and you say, "I'd like the dressing on the side, please," it means your salad and the dressing, or the topping for the salad, will come separately. So, if you don't say "on the side," the restaurant staff will probably put the dressing on top of your salad and serve it to you. If you request the dressing on the side, however, you can choose how much to put on top of your salad. So, some people like to, in this case, with salads, request that things be served separately. To do that, you say, "On the side." You'll usually get a separate dish or a separate cup or bowl or something for your dressing or whatever it is you've chosen to order. So, on the side is another thing you can use in restaurants. |
Finally, for the opposite of the situation, for the opposite of "no," if you want more of something, you use "extra," like "Extra cheese, please," or, "Extra bacon, please," or, "Extra avocado." Keep in mind, though, that when you say, "Extra," you're probably going to have to pay more. So, if you have like a cheeseburger, for example, and you say, "I'd like extra avocado," so, that means there's already avocado on the cheeseburger, you want more avocado on it. You're probably going to have to pay more for that avocado. |
If, however, you order something without an ingredient, like no tomato on this cheeseburger, there's no discount. So, please don't expect a discount if you ask for less of something. If you ask for more of something, however, it's probably going to cost you a little more money. |
So, also, keep in mind that we use "extra" when something already exists inside the dish. So, in my example, it's like an avocado burger. There's avocado on the burger. I want more. I say, "extra." If there's no avocado on the burger, I say, like, something like, "Can I have avocado as a topping, please?", or, "Can I add avocado as a topping, please?" We might use one of those expressions. So, "Can I have something as a topping," or, "Can I add something." We might use one of those two patterns. So, those are a few restaurant-related expressions that I hope are helpful for you. Thanks for the question. Okay, let's move on to your next question. |
Next question comes from Wilgens Desarmes. Hello, Wilgens. Wilgens says, "Hi, Alisha. Is there a difference between 'to lend' and 'to borrow'?" Yes. The difference is in the point of view. For example, "I lent my friend a pen," and, "My friend borrowed a pen from me." So, when the person that is giving the object is the subject of the sentence, we use "lend." When the person who is receiving the object is the subject of the sentence, we use "borrow." |
So, let's swap the people in my example sentences. So, "My friend lent me a pen," and, "I borrowed a pen from my friend." So, again, in those cases, the person giving the object is the subject of the sentence when I use "lend." And the person receiving the object is the subject of the verb, "borrow," when I used "borrow." So, please keep this in mind, this relationship. So, am I giving or am I receiving? That's what's important to keep in mind. I know it's a little confusing at first. But, with practice, you will get the hang of it. You'll get used to it. So, I hope that this helps you. Thanks very much for the question. |
Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of "Ask Alisha," and I will see you again next week. Bye-bye. |
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