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 Eugene.
Hi, Eugene!
Eugene says...
Hey, Alisha! Is there a difference between "turn off the music" and "turn the music off"? I always run into this problem when I use phrasal verbs. Thanks!
Yeah! Thanks for this question. No, there is no difference between "turn off the music" and "turn the music off." They mean the same thing.
"Turn off" is one of those phrasal verbs that can be split. So, when I say “split,” I mean that when you use this phrasal verb, you can put the object of the phrasal verb at the end or you can put it between the two words.
So, phrasal verbs that you can do this with are called "separable phrasal verbs." So that means, you can put the object of the verb after it or in between the two words. There are some phrasal verbs that you cannot do this with. These are called "inseparable phrasal verbs."
So, “turn off” is one example of a separable phrasal verb. You can split it and choose whichever form you like. Thanks! I hope that that answers your question.
Okay, onto the next question.
Next question comes from Saed Almhairat.
I hope I said that right.
Hi, Saed!
Saed says...
Hi, Alisha! I’m from Jordan. I want to ask you about the difference between “devalue” and “downplay.” Many thanks.
Okay, yeah, nice question. So, “to devalue (something)” means to take value away from something. So, “devalue” consists of that prefix “de-” which means off or away, and then “value,” right, referring to how much something costs or how much we think something is worth.
So, “to devalue (something)” means to remove value from something.
Some examples:
“A poor quality product can devalue your brand.”
“My home was devalued due to damage from a natural disaster.”
Okay. So, now, let’s talk about “downplay.”
“To downplay (something)” means to minimize or decrease the seriousness of something. So, we use “downplay” when we’re trying to make something not seem like as big of a deal as it actually is. Sometimes, we want to make people feel more calm or sometimes, we’re trying to hide information, but downplay means to try to reduce someone’s perception or someone’s idea of how serious the situation is.
Some examples:
“We should not downplay the seriousness of this deadly disease.”
“My manager downplayed my concerns at the meeting. I was angry.”
Okay. So, I hope this helps you understand the differences between “devalue” and “downplay.” Thanks very much for the question.
All right! Let’s move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Sergey.
Hi, Sergey!
Sergey says...
Hi, Alisha! What is the difference between "check up" and "check out"? Thank you in advance!
Okay. There are a few different ways to use these phrasal verbs.
Generally, “check up” means to request or look for an update from someone. So, you might say you need to check up on someone. We typically use that when we’re talking about a person.
For example:
“Can you check up on your sister? I haven’t heard from her recently.”
That means, please go, get an update from your sister or please get some information about the current status of your sister.
So, we tend to use “check up on (something)” when we want to talk about another person. You might also hear like check up on a specific place, like “Go check up on the barn” or like “Go check up on the animals outside” to mean you want to know the current status or the current condition.
You might also see “checkup” used with no space between “check” and “up” to talk about visiting a doctor to check your current condition.
So, in these cases, we say something like:
“I need to go to the doctor for a checkup.”
Or “You should really get a checkup. When’s the last time you visited the doctor?”
Please note that this use of “checkup” is as a noun.
In your original question, you used “check up” as a phrasal verb. So, both are possible. So, just please note that the space does make a difference. “Check up” (with a space) refers to the phrasal verb. “Checkup” (with no space) refers to the noun and that’s the one that refers to going to a doctor to review your current condition.
So, let’s compare this then to “check out,” check out.
Generally, “check out” means to finish your transaction and leave a place. Most commonly, we use “check out” when we’re at the supermarket or at a hotel.
So, you might say something like:
“Please check out at the register after you finish shopping.”
Or “I checked out of the hotel at 10 AM.”
So, these uses of “check out” refer to finishing some kind of business or service transaction and leaving that location.
You might also hear “check out” used to mean go quickly look at something, like:
“Let’s check out that new restaurant.”
Or “Oh, I wanna check out that event later.”
It means to take a quick look at something, generally, to see what’s happening.
Finally, you might also hear “check out” used sometimes to mean looking at a person with romantic interest, like you’re physically attracted to that person.
For example:
“That guy just checked you out.”
Or “Wow, check out that girl, she’s so pretty.”
Something like that might be used to indicate that you find someone physically attractive. But generally, “check out” is used in the first two sentences, more commonly in everyday conversation; to finish your transaction and leave a place or to mean to take a quick look at something. So, I hope this helps you understand the differences between “check up” and “check out.” Thanks for the question.
Okay, let’s go to your next question.
Next question comes from Sara.
Hello, Sara!
Sara says...
Hi, Alisha! What is the difference between “knowledge” and “acknowledge”? When can I use them?
Good question, okay. So “knowledge” and “acknowledge,” I know they have that same “knowledge” inside them, but they’re quite different. “Knowledge” is a noun. “Acknowledge” is a verb.”
So, “knowledge” refers to the things that we gain, the information that we learn from books, from experience and so on. So we use knowledge to operate in the world, to live our lives, right?
So, for example:
“It’s important to gain a lot of knowledge as a child.”
Or “Make sure that you review all of the knowledge on this subject.”
So, “knowledge” is a noun that refers to the things that you know or the things that are known in the world.
“Acknowledge,” on the other hand, like I said, is a verb. It means to recognize something.
For example:
“The company acknowledged his hard work.”
Or “She acknowledged it would take a few weeks to reach her goal.”
So, think of “acknowledge” as meaning recognize. It’s kind of like a more formal way of saying recognize.
So, again, yes, although “knowledge” and “acknowledge,” they seem very similar when you see them written, they do have quite different meanings and different parts of speech. So, I hope that this helps answer your question. Thanks very much.
Okay, the next question comes from Masoomeh Tabrizy.
Hi, Masoomeh! I hope I said your name right
Masoomeh says…
When we tell a story, can we use passive?
Yeah, of course, you can use passive when you tell stories. I think that some people have learned at some point that passive is maybe bad or passive sounds weak or maybe passive should be avoided and we should focus on using active.
But actually, passive is an important way, it’s an important tool, a grammar tool, to explaining stories and sharing information. So, yes, there are some times when it’s a good idea to use passive.
For example, you should use passive when the person who did the action is not known or is not important. So, the classic example of this is if someone steals a bag and we don’t know who it is, we can say, “My bag was stolen.” So, that’s a great example of using passive when you don’t know the person who did the action.
You can also use passive when it’s not important to refer to the person who completed the action. That’s fine as well. You can use passive when you need to hide information or when you need to keep something secret. So, there are lots of different ways to use passive to tell a story and we do this all the time in our everyday life.
Another example might be if a glass of water is knocked over in my house and I don’t know who did it, I don’t know how it happened. I might say, “Ah, my glass of water got knocked over” or “My glass of water was knocked over.”
So, there are lots of different situations where it’s very natural to use passive. If you learned that using passive is bad or something like that, try to forget it. Passive has a time and a place. There are definitely times when it’s a great idea to use passive, so yes, please include it in your stories when it feels right. I hope that this answers your question.
All right! That is everything that I have for this week. Thank you very much for sending me your awesome questions. I really appreciate it. Of course, if you want to send me a question, you can do so at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha. You can check a link in the description to find it there as well. Thanks very much for watching this episode of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next time. Bye!

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