| Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe. |
| Let's get to our first question this week. First question this week comes from Hashim Shakir. Hi, Hashim. Hashim says, "Could you please tell me the meaning of this idiom, 'penny for your thoughts'? Thanks for answering." Sure. "Penny for your thoughts." This is a little bit of an old-fashioned expression. It's a kind of fun way to say, "What are you thinking?" or "What are you thinking about?" So, when someone says, "Penny for your thoughts," the "penny" in this expression refers to the U.S. coin. So, a penny is one cent. It's the smallest denomination, the smallest value coin that we have in the U.S.A. |
| So, when someone says, "Penny for your thoughts," it's like saying, "I will give you a penny," so a very small amount of money, "in exchange for telling me what you're thinking about." So, we tend to use this expression when we see somebody that looks like they're kind of lost in their mind. They're thinking really hard about something, but we're not sure what. So, maybe when your friend stops talking for a bit, like starts looking out the window and goes very quiet, you might say, "Penny for your thoughts," which is another way to say, "What are you thinking about?" |
| So, again, this sounds a little bit old-fashioned and we don't really use this so much in everyday conversation these days, but I suppose some people might prefer to use it or might like this old-fashioned expression. It's like saying, "I'll give you a little bit of money if you tell me about what you're thinking." So, you could use this with your friend if they suddenly become quiet and they're looking out the window, they're looking far off into the distance, and you're not sure what's on their mind, you could say, "Penny for your thoughts," which means, "Please tell me what you're thinking." Or you might also use this at work, too. If you notice your co-worker seems frustrated or they're unhappy, and they haven't talked to you all morning. You might say, "Penny for your thoughts." You can kind of also think about it like saying, "Your thoughts have some value to me," like "I'll give you a penny in exchange for your thoughts." So, this is a friendly, light, but slightly old-fashioned way of asking, "What are you thinking about?" So, I hope this helps answer your question about this interesting expression. Thanks for sending it along. Okay. Let's move on to our next question. |
| Next question comes from Adam Garcia. Hi, Adam. Adam says, "What is the difference between the words 'compliment' and 'complement'?" Awesome! Great question, yeah. So, the question here is about the difference in spelling. We have "compliment" with an I, and "complement" with an E. Both of these words have noun and verb form. So, let's break down the differences between the two. |
| First, let's start by talking about "compliment" with an I. A compliment, as a noun, is a nice comment that you make to someone. So, when you notice someone has a new hairstyle, they're wearing something nice, maybe they smell good, they've done a great job, whatever. When you want to say a nice comment to someone, you give them a compliment. So, for example, if someone says to you, "I love your shirt," you could say, "Thank you for the compliment." Or if someone says to you, "That was a great job you did today," you could say, "Oh, I appreciate the compliment." So, this is how we use "compliment" as a noun. We use it to refer to a nice comment that somebody makes. We can also use it as a verb. This means to make a nice comment about someone else. Here are some examples of using "compliment" as a verb. "My co-workers complimented me on my great job today," "My neighbor complimented my cooking this week. I was super happy." So, we can use "compliment" as a noun and as a verb. |
| Okay. Now, let's talk about "complement" with an E. So, "complement" with an E can also be used as a noun and as a verb. Let's talk about the noun form first. "Complement," as a noun, means something that goes well with something else. You can think of it like something that matches well, or suits well, with something else. So, for example, "The sauce was a perfect complement to the dessert." That means the sauce and the dessert went well together. They matched well or they paired very well. Or, "That sweater is a perfect complement to your dress." So, in that case, it means those two things look nice together, they match or they go together very well. They suit each other. So, "complement," as a noun, refers to an object or perhaps even a person or a situation that matches well with something else. |
| Now, let's talk about the verb form "to complement." So, as you can imagine, "to complement" means to go well with something else or "to match well" or "to pair well" with something else. So, for example, "Her sweater complements her dress," or "The sauce perfectly complements the dessert." So, we can use this verb in the same situation as we use the noun. We just need to change the structure of the sentence. Finally, one last point that I want to make about the differences between the two is that actually, in speech, they sound pretty much the same. In this video, I'm really exaggerating the different pronunciations between "compliment" and "complement." But, in everyday speech, they sound exactly the same. So, when you pay someone a compliment, it's going to sound the same as a complement as well, with an E. |
| So, keep in mind that it's good to pay attention to the context when you're listening. If you're reading it, it's much easier to spot the difference. But, those are the differences between "compliment" with an I, and "complement" with an E. One refers to making nice comments about someone or something else, and the other refers to pairing or matching with something else. So, I hope that this answers your question. Thanks very much for sending it along. Okay. Let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question comes from Islam Bekbuzarov. Hi, Islam. I hope I said your name correctly. Islam says, "Hi, Alisha. Could you explain the difference in the usage of 'Why would you do it?' and 'Why did you do it?' Why do we use 'would' and 'did' here?" Really interesting question. Yeah. So, let's take a look at two sentences that I think are maybe a little bit more natural here. Let's take a look at the sentences, "Why would you do that?" and "Why did you do that?" |
| First, let's look at "Why did you do that?" Let's look at the simple past tense question. When you use, "Why did you do that?" you're asking about a specific past action. So, for example, you're talking to a co-worker and you're asking about a specific past action and the reason for that past action. When you ask, "Why did you do that?" you're looking for a reason for something that actually happened. So, "Why did you do that?" is like looking for information about a true event. |
| On the other hand, the question, "Why would you do that?" has a couple of different uses. We can use "Why would you do that?" to talk about a theoretical situation in the future. So, that means a situation in the future that has not happened, but we want to imagine it. So, we're talking about something that might happen, it's not true. In other words, it's not real. So, that's why we use "would." For example, if you're in a job interview and you share your opinion about what you would do in a future situation, the interviewer might ask you, "Why would you do that?" So, they want to know more they want to know your reasoning for this potential future situation. They want to understand the way that you think. So, they would use, "Why would you do that?" to understand the reason for your decision. |
| The other situation in which you might see, "Why would you do that?" used is in reference to past situations where we completely don't understand someone's decision-making. So, I started this answer by saying that we use "Why did you do that?" when we're asking about something that actually happened. You might however hear people say, "Why would you do that?" when you're trying to understand something in the past that seems crazy to you. Something that you totally cannot understand. You might also hear people say, "Why would you do that?" Like they're trying to understand that person's reasoning at that point in the past, and therefore, also maybe their reasoning for the future. |
| So, we tend to use this kind of pattern for past situations where we completely don't understand the other person's actions, or we completely don't understand that person's decision. So, "Why would you do that?" sounds like we completely don't understand their way of thinking at all. It sounds a little bit stronger than just a basic report of someone's idea or someone's thinking. So, when we use "Why did you do that?" we're asking for a basic report of information. And, yes sometimes, we can ask this aggressively. But, we also use "Why would you do that?" to try to understand someone's thinking in a broader sense, in a more open sense. So, I hope that this answers your question and helps you understand the differences between "Why would you do that?" and "Why did you do that?" Thanks for an interesting question. |
| Okay. That is everything that I have for this week. Thank you as always for sending me your great questions. Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of "Ask Alisha," and I will see you again soon. Bye. |
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