| 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 Jose Antonio. Hi Jose! Jose says, "Hi Alisha. I love your videos. I learned a lot with them." Cool. "My question is how do I use 'for' and 'to?' For instance, 'I want to practice my English for improving,' or 'to improve' it?" Yeah. Tough question, good question, and many people have asked this question over the last year and a half or so or questions very similar to it. This is a very big question that does not have an easy, quick answer. But I want to talk a little bit about this and maybe at least point our viewers in the right direction here. |
| So, this difference, the difference between this "for" something and "to" something, breaks into two categories called infinitives and gerunds. So, the infinitive form is "to plus a verb." So, like in your example, "to improve," or like "to practice," or "to start," and so on. "To" plus a verb is the infinitive form. The gerund, on the other hand, is that verb, the base verb, plus –ing. So, for example, "starting," or "improving," or "practicing." Those are gerunds. So, there are these two types of things that we can use in sentences and the problem comes in where we don't know which one to use, or learners don't know which one to use. The reason for this is there's not like a specific grammar rule that tells us, "Use a gerund here," or "Use an infinitive here." There's not a specific grammar rule. Instead, native speakers understand which one to use based on the verb that precedes the gerund or the infinitive. So, that means were not following a written rule for grammar. We're instead following established patterns that start from the verb before the expression. |
| So, for example, the verb, "agree." Following the verb, "agree," we use the infinitive. So, to describe this, we say "agree" takes the infinitive. For example, "He agreed to meet me," or "She agreed to wait another day." So, after the word "agree," we use the infinitive form of a verb. The verb, "practice," takes the infinitive. "We need to practice to improve," or, "She practiced the song to increase her confidence." The verb, "start," takes either the gerund or the infinitive. "She started cooking," "She started to cook." "He started writing," "He started to write." Either is fine with the verb, "start." The verb, "finish," takes a gerund. "He finished working," "I finished showering." The verb, "like," takes either. "He likes to cook," "He likes cooking." "She likes to hike," "She likes hiking." So, these are just a few examples of very common verbs and it's up to all of us to practice as we listen and as we read to notice which form comes after which verb. This is not easy, by any means, but this is something native speakers gradually learn over time. It's not like a one-study-moment thing. There's not one specific rule to memorize. Unfortunately, it's not an easy thing to fix, it's just something that takes time and awareness. So, as you read, pay attention to the sorts of verbs that are usually followed with a gerund of with an infinitive, and you'll start to be able to make these decisions more naturally for yourself. |
| So, I know that this is a very open answer, and is a very big topic, for sure, but I hope that this at least helps you get started and be more aware as you read and as you listen. So, thanks very much for this question and thanks very much to everybody who sent in similar question over the last few months, too. I hope that this is very helpful for all of you. Okay, let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question comes from Aiman. Hi again, Aiman. Aiman says, "I sometimes hear the phrase, 'just because,' as a reply to someone's statement. What does it mean? For example, 'Why did you do that?' Reply, 'Just because.'" Yeah. You can imagine this has like the short version of the statement, "Just because I wanted to." Usually, we use this expression when we do something nice for someone just because we want to. Like there's no special reason. It's not someone's birthday. There's not a big event. We are happy to see our friend or we're happy to see our family member. We do something nice. We give them a present or we say something nice, whatever. And when they ask us, "Why?" We say, "Just because." So, it's like saying, "I have no specific reason. I did it because I wanted to." But we don't say all of those words, we make it very short and quick, and we say, "Just because." So, for example, I got like concert tickets from a good friend. Like, "Oh wow! You got me concert tickets? This is amazing! Why did you do that?" "Ah, just because." So, it's usually with that kind of friendly-like, "Ah, it's no big deal. There's no reason." That's usually the feeling of this expression, "Just because." So, it's because that person wanted to and they didn't have a particular reason for it. 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 Amr? Amr. Hi, Amr. Amr says, "Hi, Alisha. How's it going?" Good. "Can you please tell me the meaning of, 'strap in for?'" Strap in for. Yeah sure. To "strap in for" something means, "to prepare for something." So, this comes from like kind of extreme sports or extreme activities. For example, a pilot or like a racecar driver. When they enter the place where they are going to work, or when they enter like their activity space, because it's an extreme activity or very dangerous, they use physical straps like seatbelts in a car, similar to that. "Strap in for," comes from those straps that are used to secure someone into position, and we use "in" to refer like this situation we are entering. So, a pilot is entering a plane or a racecar driver is entering a racecar. So, they're preparing for something extreme to happen. |
| So, when do we use this expression in everyday life? You might hear this used before exciting experiences. Like you're going rafting, or kayaking, or something kind of extreme. You might also hear it used in like advertisements for action movies. They'll be like, "Strap in for the last installment in the Star Wars Saga," or something like that. Is Star Wars finish? It's never finished, right? Yeah! So, "strap in for," makes it sound like something exciting is going to happen to you so you need to prepare by putting like safety straps on. So, that's the idea, strap in for an exciting, or potentially dangerous, or a thrilling experience. So, that's what this expression means and this is how you might hear it used. I personally do not really use this expression. I feel like it gets used more in like advertisement and media things to sound catchy. 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 Koki Yamashita. Hi Koki. Koki says, "Hi, Alisha. I love your channel! I always watch your lessons during my commute." Cool. Thanks! "When I lived in a host family in America, my host mother sometimes asked me, 'You wanted to help me cook?' Is, 'you wanted to,' the same meaning as 'can you?' Greetings from Japan." Hmm, I have a couple of thoughts about this. First, to answer your question. "You wanted to," does not mean, "can you." Those two things are not the same. They are different. My first thought is about the expression, "you wanted to." So, in your example, "You wanted to help me cook?" If that's a question, it could be correct. It is correct. That would be a confirmation question. So, in that situation, maybe for example, you spoke to your host mother earlier in the day and you mentioned like you're interested. You were interested in cooking. She wanted to confirm later in the day. "Oh, you wanted to help me cook?" In that situation, that question is fine. She's confirming something that she heard earlier from you. So, yes, you can use "you wanted to," to confirm something from before. Like, you think this person wanted to do something before, you want to confirm that. If that was the situation, great. No problem. My second thought about this situation though is that perhaps, there's maybe perhaps a chance that instead of saying, "you wanted to," she might have said, "You wanna help me cook?" As in, "You want to help me cook?" Which means, "Would you like to help me cook?" Which sounds like an offer but is actually a very soft request. Like, "You want to help me cook?" It sounds like she's inviting you to do something but it actually is kind of more of a request, like, "Please help me cook." So, though--I have those two thoughts about this. Again, in direct answer to your question: No, those two things do not mean the same thing. It could've been a confirmation question or perhaps she said, "You wanna," instead of, "You wanted to help me cook." So, I hope that one of those ideas will help you understand the situation a little bit better. So, thanks very much for the question. Okay, let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question comes from Andre. Hi, Andre. Andre says, "Hi, Alisha. What does the expression, 'get it right,' mean? I noticed it has several meanings depending on context. Thanks. Anticipating your answer." Hmm, this expression means to do something correctly or to understand something correctly. So, if we make a mistake and our teacher notices the mistake and is really strict with us. The teacher might say, "Get it right!" Shouting like that. So, you might hear that in other situations outside of education. Like a coach sees the players on a team making mistakes and the coach might shout, "Get it right!" Which means, "Do it correctly." Do it correctly. Or like if you're at work and you say to yourself, "Mmm, I really want to get this right." Meaning, "I really want to do my project correctly," or "I really want to do this task correctly." You would be using this expression in the right way, too. Perhaps you've also heard something like, "Let me get this right." "Let me get this right," and "get it right" are a bit different actually. So, for example, if you heard something like, "Let me get this right. You want me to loan you $2,000 so you can buy a puppy? Are you crazy?" You might hear an expression like that where, "let me get this right," means "let me confirm," or "let me check to make sure I understand you correctly." So, that is very different from "get it right." So, to "get it right" means to do something or to understand something correctly. "Let me get this right," means "let me check," or "let me confirm something." So, they're quite different. Perhaps that's the different context that you were referring to in your question, but I hope that this answer helps you. Thanks very much for the question. Okay. |
| That is everything that I have for this week. Thank you as always for sending your questions. Remember, you can send them to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha. Thanks very much for watching this week's lesson and I will see you again next week. Bye-bye. |
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