Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe.
Let's get to your first question this week. First question this week comes from Zakary. Hi, Zakary. Zakary says, "Hi, Alisha. What's the difference between 'no more' and 'not anymore'? Also, what's the difference between 'no more' and 'no longer'? Thank you." Great question. Okay. Let's talk about "no more" and "not anymore" to start, and then we'll go to the second part. So, "no more" can be used in a couple of different situations. First, let's talk about the everyday conversational use of "no more." We use "no more" to express like when something is too much. For example, if someone is bringing us lots and lots of food to eat, we might say, "Oh, no more!" Meaning, "No more food, please," or "No more of that, please. It's too much." So, we use "no more" to mean, "I don't want any more of that." So, you might have just picked up on me also using "anymore" in this situation, too. So, when I said, "No more, please," it means like, "Too much. I don't want that anymore." But, we cannot use "not anymore" in this situation.
We use "not anymore" to refer to a condition that has changed. So, for example, if you worked at company A for a very long time, and then changed your company, you might use "not anymore" to express this in a conversation with another person. They might say to you, "Hey! Are you still working at company A?" And you might say, "Not anymore. Now, I'm working at company B." So, this expresses a change in condition. So, "I am not anymore working at that company." So, "not anymore" is used to express a change in condition. When I used "no more" to express that something was too much and I wanted something to stop, I said, "Ah! No more, please. No more. I don't want any more of that." So, we use this slightly different form to express something is too much, and we use "not anymore" to talk about a change in condition.
Here's another example where you might use "not anymore." For example: in a conversation between two friends talking about their dating life, one person might say, "Hey! I thought that you were seeing that guy that you met at the bar last week?" And the second person might say, "Mm, not anymore. We weren't a good fit." So, again, this expresses a change in condition. We use "not anymore" to talk about something that is different from the expected condition. So, I hope this helps show the difference between "no more" and "not anymore."
Now, let's talk about "no longer." "No longer." We don't use "no longer" so much in everyday conversation. But it can be used also like "not anymore" to talk about a change in condition or a desired change in condition. For example, you might hear a politician use the expression "no longer" to talk about a desired change for the future. Like, "No longer will we have to struggle in this situation." So, that means, "Not anymore will we have to struggle in this situation." So, this use of "no longer" is often used in kind of like motivating speeches. Like in a politics situation, or maybe in like a war or battle situation in movies. Like, "No longer will we do this thing," or, "No longer will we stand for this policy," something like that. It means we are not going to do that anymore. So, the grammar I'm using there is, "No longer will we…" This means, "We are not going to do that anymore." So, you can kind of think of "no longer" as like a more formal way of saying "not anymore." But, we tend to use it to talk about our future plans or our future expectations. Like, "I'm no longer going to be working for this company." Or, "I'm no longer going to do X, Y, and Z." So, this is talking about something that will not be true in the future, or that we desire to not be true in the future. So, I hope this kind of clarifies the difference between these words.
Finally, the last point I want to make is about the first expression "no more." So, we also use this "no more" in the same way as "no longer" to mean, "This is something we are not going to put up with anymore." So, we use this "no more," again, in more formal situations. Like, when we're talking about struggle. So, like some kind of political difficulty, for example. Like, "Country A is giving country B a hard time," and, "We will stand for this no more." So, again, these kinds of expressions "no more" and "no longer" tend to sound a little bit more formal. But, you may see them in like dramatic movies or in political situations. We don't really use them so much in everyday conversation, even in professional conversation. But, this is maybe how you might see them used from time to time. So, I hope that this helps you understand the differences between these three expressions. Interesting question. Okay, great. Thanks very much for sending along that question. Let's move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Mariam Atef. Hi, Mariam. Mariam says, "What is the difference between 'immigration,' 'migration,' and 'emigration'?" Great question. Okay. "Immigration," "migration," "emigration." Let's talk about "migration" first, "Migration" refers to animals, patterns of animals, in the different seasons. So, we often use migration to talk about birds. So, migration refers to the seasonal movement patterns of animals. So, birds often migrate -- that's the verb form, they migrate south for the winter they go to warmer climates. So, the noun form of this is "migration." We sometimes use "migration" to talk about people's movements as well. Like especially when we're talking about climate change. People moving from certain regions of the world to other regions of the world, as maybe climate change has affected their home region. So, "migration" is usually used to talk about the behaviors of animals in relationship to the seasons. But, you may occasionally see it used to talk about how people's movements have changed in response to like climate-related issues.
Now, though, let's talk about "immigration" and "emigration." So, they are very, very closely related. To "emigrate," with an E, refers to leaving your own country. So, leaving the place that you are from, or the place where you were born, that is "emigration." "Immigration" means going into the new country. So, you can see how these are very, very commonly confused, and very, very easy to mix-up. If you get confused between them, that's okay. That's totally normal. It's very normal to check the dictionary just to make sure before you use one of these words.
So, "immigration," maybe it can be helpful for you to think of "immigration" as sounding kind of like "in," right? So, I know it's I-M-M, "immigration." But it sounds a little bit like "in." So, remember, "immigration" as going into the country, "emigration" refers to leaving the country, departing the country. So, as you can see, they're very, very closely related. So, you would say in a sentence, "I immigrated to country A," or, "I emigrated from country B." That's the difference here. "Immigration" is the noun form, "emigration" is the noun form as well. "To immigrate" and "to emigrate" are the verb forms. So, I hope that helps answer your question. Thanks very much for sending it along. Okay. Let's move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Jose. Hi, Jose. Jose says, "Hi. Could you please explain to us the usages of 'used to,' 'be used to,' and 'get used to'? I would really appreciate it." Okay. Thanks very much for this question. So, the answer to this question does depend on the structure of the sentence. We have "used to" and this "be used to." So, we have these two things that really, really depend on the structure of the surrounding sentence. When we use the expression "used to," like, "I'm used to doing this," or, "I'm used to doing that," it means I am accustomed to doing that thing. So, "I'm used to cooking dinner every day," or "I'm used to exercising every morning." It means, "I'm accustomed to doing that thing." "Be used to," on the other hand, refers to the function of something. So, for example, "My phone is used to make calls," refers to the function of my phone. Or, "This computer is used to edit videos," that refers to the function of that computer. So, when we use the be-verb "used to" pattern, we're referring to the function of something. Okay. So, we have this "used to" and "is used to" pattern to consider.
So, let's talk about the last one, "get used to." We use this in expressions like, "Ah! You'll get used to it." Or, "Don't worry. Give it a couple weeks, you'll get used to your new job." This means you will become accustomed to doing something, or you will become accustomed to a new situation. "Get used to" something is used to express that future expectation that you will become accustomed to something. You might also hear this used in past tense. Like, "Ah, after a month, I got used to it," which means it took about a month, and then I was accustomed to doing that thing. So, to "get used to" something is used to talk about becoming accustomed to a new situation, or maybe to a new action that you have to do. Okay, great. So, I hope this quick answer gives you a good introduction to the differences between these expressions.
To recap, "used to" refers to being accustomed to something, "be used to" refers to the function of something, and "get used to" refers to becoming accustomed to something. Or, in past tense, refers to having become accustomed to something. So, I hope this answers your question. Thanks very much for sending it along.
Okay. That is everything that I have for this week. So, thank you as always for sending 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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