Lesson Transcript

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 A.
Hi, A! (The letter A)
Okay, A says...
Hi, Alisha! Would you please explain the differences among “up,” “on,” “over,” and “upon”?
Sure! So, there are lots of different ways of using prepositions, in this case, “up” and “on,” so I’m just gonna talk about the basic uses of these two two prepositions, in addition to the others...the other words you mentioned.
So first, let’s talk about “up” and “on.”
When we use “up,” we’re using it in reference to movement, in reference to motion. We’re not talking about a position when we’re using the word “up.”
So, for example, like “Look up!” means, like move your eyes in an upward direction, from something down here to something up here.
So, we’re using “up” to talk about something moving or like, “Move your hand up.”
So, we’re talking about movement/motion when we use the preposition “up.”
On the other hand, when we use “on,” we’re referring to a position.
So, one thing is above another thing. It’s like resting above another thing.
So, for example, like:
“My hand is on my phone”
Or “I’m sitting on a chair.”
So, we’re talking about positioning when we use the preposition “on.”
We’re talking about movement when we use the preposition “up.”
Now, let’s talk about “over.”
Again, there are lots of different ways to use “over,” but perhaps the meaning that’s similar to “up” and “on” is the one that means to pass across something. So, for example, if you have an object and you want to describe something travelling from one side of that object to another side of that object, you would use “over” to describe this.
So, for example:
“I wave my hand over my phone.”
Or “He jumped over the fence.”
So, that’s in reference to a motion from one side of an object to another side by going across the top of that object.
So, the last word that you had was the word “upon.”
“Upon” has the same function as the preposition “on,” but it sounds much more formal in everyday speech today and we don’t really use this so much.
So, I could replace “on” with “upon” in my previous example sentences, as in like:
“My hand is upon my phone”
Or “I’m sitting upon a chair.”
So, those are grammatically correct sentences, but “upon” sounds quite old fashioned and we don’t really use it in American English very much.
So, it has the same function or it can have the same function. It means for one thing to be above another thing, like resting atop another thing. So again, I just used the word “atop” which also sounds quite old fashioned, but it refers to these, like two things and their relationship. So, this is the thing upon another thing or atop another thing.
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 Prashanth.
Hello, Prashanth!
Prashanth says...
What are the meanings of “tingling” and “stinging” and how can I use them?
Okay. So we use “tingling” for what we describe in English as a pins-and-needles situation. I think I’ll show a graphic of some pins and needles, what these are. So, these are objects that have very small, like very fine points to them. So, when we say that something is “tingling” or when we describe what we call this pins-and-needles sensation, it’s usually like our skin feels like it’s being touched with lots and lots of pins and needles, so we describe this as a tingling sensation sometimes.
So generally, a tingling feeling does not cause pain. It doesn’t hurt. It’s not something that’s, like, really unpleasant, but we would talk about tingling sensations when a part of our body does not have enough blood flow. So in English, we have the expression for a part of the body to fall asleep. So, imagine like you’re sitting cross legged, where your legs are crossed and you’re sitting there for a long time and the blood flow to your leg or to your foot is limited and the feeling, the sensation gradually goes away and then suddenly, you stand up and you feel that sensation, that tingling sensation, the pins-and-needles sensation in your foot, we say, “Ah, my foot fell asleep.” So, that’s the expression we use in English to describe the tingling sensation we feel there. So, “tingling” is not like a painful thing. It’s just kind of an odd feeling, an odd sensation.
“Stinging,” on the other hand, is a painful thing. We use “stinging” to talk about the sensation we feel after we touch chemicals or maybe after we’re injured like we have a wound, we clean the wound and we feel this awful, kind of painful, almost burning feeling. It’s like pins and needles, but much, much stronger so we describe that as “stinging.”
We can also use it to talk about, like, maybe reactions to bug bites or like when a bee or something else stings you, so that’s used as a verb there. We can use it to talk about, like those very sharp painful sensations that have that very uncomfortable, very unpleasant pins-and-needles feeling.
So, this is a key difference. “Tingling” isn’t really like a painful thing and sometimes, we can experience it like with a food we eat or maybe we just experience it, I don’t know, through an interesting reaction to something, I don’t know, maybe an allergic reaction, but it’s not like, problematic. But “stinging” on the other hand is a painful thing. It’s unpleasant. So, this is the difference between the two words.
A couple of examples:
“My arm is stinging where that bug bit me!”
“I think I got some chemicals on my hand! It stings!”
So, in the last example sentence I used, “stings” in the verb form, you can use “stinging” or you can use “sting” to talk about that sensation. So I hope that this helps you. Thanks for the question!
Okay, let’s move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Weslley.
Hi, Weslley!
Weslley says...
How do I train stressed and unstressed phrases?
Yeah, nice question. I would suggest shadowing to practice this. So, your question, for everybody, stressed and unstressed phrases means finding the correct places and phrases in sentences to place emphasis. So, I know this is something lots of learners struggle with, like where should I emphasize in my sentence? What part should be strong? What part should be weak? So, we call this “stress” in sentences.
So I would recommend using “shadowing.”
So, “shadowing” is a tactic wherein you listen to somebody. So that can mean like you choose a video from our channel, for example, you listen to or you watch the video and you practice repeating the same thing the native speaker said. So by doing this, you’re forcing yourself to actually speak in the same way with the same rhythm that the native speaker used.
And what I like to recommend a lot, because I know many of you are studying at home alone or without, like a formal teacher or a formal partner, you can record yourself as you practice shadowing. So, listen to your recording after you make it and compare it to the original native speaker and listen to the parts that are the same, that are different, so you can find which parts you need to improve and which parts sound pretty good for you.
So, I would suggest this strategy for practicing stressed and unstressed parts of sentences and phrases and even in words as well, 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 Chintan.
Hello, Chintan!
Chintan says...
Which is correct: “everyday” or “every day”?
Both are correct. It actually depends on what you want to use.
So “everyday” (with no space) is an adjective. We use it before nouns. We use “everyday” to describe things that we do on a daily basis, so something that is part of our regular routine or something that is very common in our life. We use “everyday” as an adjective to describe that.
For example:
“What are some of your everyday activities?”
Or “I enjoy my everyday life.”
So, “everyday” (with no space) is coming before a noun in those cases.
On the other hand, “every day,” this phrase is used to talk about the frequency with which you do something.
So, for example:
“I brush my teeth every day.”
Or “I shower in the morning every day.”
So, that’s a frequency-related phrase.
The other one is an adjective that’s actually describing the frequency with which you do something, but we don’t use it to mean like I do this thing every day. It’s just explaining that it’s a common thing that I do or that we do. So, “everyday” (no space), adjective. “Every day” is a phrase that talks about the frequency of which you do an activity. So, I hope that this helps you. Thanks very much for the question.
Okay, let’s go on to your next question. Next question comes from Yasmina.
Hi, Yasmina!
Yasmina says…
How do we use “have you” and “do you” to ask questions?
Okay. So, “have you” begins a present perfect tense question. When we ask present perfect tense questions, we’re asking about general life experience in the past. The specific time at which the action happened is not important here.
So, for example:
“Have you been to France?”
“Have you finished your homework?”
“Have you eaten lunch?”
So, the specific time is not important there. We’re simply asking about the experience, the life experience.
On the other hand, “do you,” refers to an action that is happening now or that is true for the listener now. This is present tense, a simple present tense question. So, when you ask this question, you are asking about someone’s regular activities in their life now.
For example:
”Do you go to the gym every week?”
“Do you watch a lot of TV?”
“Do you like to cook?”
So, these are all simple present tense questions about someone’s regular activities.
“Have you” is the beginning of a present perfect tense sentence or present perfect tense question that asks about general life experience in the past at a nonspecific point in time. So, I hope that this 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. 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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