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I like this short, easy lesson about 4 words.
It tells you which words to use if things are
CLOSE to you or
…………………………………………….. FAR from you.
Voice going up or down changes some words!
These words have two parts. They all mean different things if you say them with your voice going up or down! 😮
Here is one — the word record.
- If you say RE-cord, it is a noun. >> The world REcord for the 100m run is 9.58 seconds.
- If you say re-CORD, it is a verb. >> Can I reCORD you when you sing?
Here are some more words like this.
| Word | Noun : HIGH - low | Verb : low - HIGH |
|---|---|---|
| conflict | An argument, or a war >> The Civil War was a CONflict between the states. | To disagree >> I hope we do not conFLICT. |
| contest | A sports match >> Who won the football CONtest? | To battle or argue >> I hope nobody conTESTS my decision. |
| contrast | A difference >> There is a lot of CONtrast between black and white. | To find or talk about differences >> Please conTRAST these two songs. |
| extract | Something you get out of something else >> Vanilla EXtract comes from a bean. | To get something out of something else >> Please exTRACT this stick from my arm. It hurts. |
| incense | It smells nice when you burn it >> INsense makes smoke when it burns. | To get mad >> I was inSENSED when I got a ticket for going 37 mph! |
| increase | Something that goes up >> I worked hard and got a pay INcrease. | To make something go up >> I hope you can inCREASE my pay. |
| insult | A bad thing you say about somebody >> Hey! I do not like that INsult! | To say something bad about somebody >> Do not inSULT me! |
| invite | A message about coming to visit >> I am having a party. Did you get my INvite? | To ask someone to visit >> I will inVITE all my friends to my party. |
| perfect | [this can happen with adjectives too] Describes something very good >> I got a PERfect score on my test! | To make something very good >> I worked hard to perFECT my accent. |
| permit | A piece of paper that says you can do something >> I got my driving PERmit! | To say it is OK to do something >> Will you perMIT me to speak now? |
| rebel | A person who does not agree with rules >> He does not listen to his mother! He is a REbel! | To disagree with rules >> His children are reBELLing. They never do what he asks! |
| record | Something that is written or saved >> I forgot my password, and I don't have a REcord of it! | To write or save something >> Can you reCORD this song on your phone? |
| reject | Something that is not good enough, and you throw away >> We need to send these shoes back! Put them in the REject box. | To decide, or say, that something is not good enough >> He tried to be nice, but she reJECTed him |
| suspect | Someone who maybe did something bad, but you are not sure >> She was not home when all the ice cream was eaten, so she is not a SUSpect. | To think someone did something bad, but you are not sure >> Hmmm... he has chocolate all over his face. I susPECT he ate all the ice cream. |
Do you want to see more words like this?
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Invigorating!
I went for a walk today.
It was very cold ( 9°F, or -13°C ), but it was sunny.
I thought the cold air was invigorating.
This is a picture of me:
What does invigorating mean?
It comes from the word vigor. Vigor means energy, strength, or power. 💪
Vigor is a noun.
Invigorate is a verb. It means “to give energy”.
Invigorating is an adjective. It describes something that gives you energy, or makes you feel like you have energy.
The walk in the cold weather was invigorating!
There is another adjective: vigorous. It means “powerful”.
Vigorous exercise will make you sweat. 😅
Vigorous describes that something has strength.
Invigorating describes that gives you strength.
A vigorous walk every day is good for your health. << The walk has energy!
I would not say
Coffee is vigorous. 😫
NO! I would say
Coffee is invigorating! 🤩
And like many words, we can add -ly to make an adjective:
He is stirring his coffee vigorously! He must have a lot of sugar in it!
Was or have been? Ran or have run?
When do you say
I was in the hospital.
I shopped at that store.
I ran to school.
I drove across America.
and when do you say
I have been in the hospital.
I have shopped at that store.
I have run to school.
I have driven across America?
A good way to remember is that
- the first way (“I ran”) is easier, and means an EXACT time, like last night, or at 9:00 pm, or last year. EASY = EXACT.
- the second way (“I have run”) is harder. You say this if you mean some time, but not some exact time. Remember it like “harder to say = harder to remember when”.
Examples:
👨🏻 I was in school yesterday. EXACT
👴🏼 Me too. I was in school yesterday too. EXACT
👨🏻 I talked to John yesterday. EXACT
👴🏼 I have talked to him many times. not exact
👨🏻 I watched TV all day today. EXACT
👴🏼 I am so busy! I have not watched TV all week! not exact
The “hard”, not exact way is also hard because it uses the Past Participle form of the verb. It is the same form like in “the past before the past” lesson.
For some verbs — like was, talked, and watched — it is the same as the “regular” past.
Here are some where the Past Participle is different:
👨🏻 I saw that new show yesterday. EXACT
👴🏼 I’ve seen it a few times. not exact <<< I’ve = I have
👨🏻 I flew to Japan last year. EXACT
👴🏼 I have flown many times, but I‘ve never flown that far! not exact
👨🏻 Have you taken your driving test yet? not exact
👴🏼 I have taken it many times, but have not passed yet. not exact
👨🏻 Have you eaten at this restaurant before? not exact
👴🏼 Yes, I ate here last week. EXACT
👨🏻 Have you eaten yet? EXACT
👴🏼 Yes, I have eaten. not exact
👴🏼 I ate at 6:00. EXACT
👨🏻 I sang at their wedding party. EXACT
👴🏼 I have sung at some parties too. not exact
👨🏻 He ran a 5K race last year. EXACT
👴🏼 He has also run a marathon. not exact
That last one is tricky! The simple past of run is RAN, and the past participle is RUN. 🙄
I think it is because many times, the past participle has a U, like:
sing – sang – sung (present – simple past – past participle)
swim – swam – swum
begin – began – begun
run – ran – rUn
Noise!
Someone wanted to learn about the word “noise“.
We were at a party. Many people were talking loudly. It was very noisy! We could not hear each other talk.
So, we talked louder.
Then the other people could not hear each other, so THEY talked louder. Then WE could not hear, so we talked louder. Everybody was talking loudly. It was noisy! 😫
Noise = sound you do not like.
When you play music, there are + and – buttons.
They are for the VOLUME.
Low volume = 🔈
High volume = 🔊🔊🔊
Sometimes you see the word VOL — that means volume.
More volume = louder.
Some music players have a circle that you turn
A circle like that is called a KNOB. Do not say the K. Say it like nob. Why? I don’t know. 🙄
To make the volume go up or down, you turn the knob. That is why we sometimes say “turn it up!” ↻ to make the music louder.
If you want it less loud, you say “turn it down!” ↺
Turn = go in a circle. A knob is a circle, so you turn a knob.
The opposite of loud is quiet. 🤫
A library is quiet.
If there is no sound, it is silent:
>> I did not hear any sound. It was silent. 🔇
Silent is an adjective. A room can be be silent.
Silence is a noun.
>> Do you like silence when you sleep? Or do you like some sound?
Lewis & Clark
I love this video!
You will learn about Lewis and Clark. They are two famous Americans.
You will learn some English, and also learn about history, geography, maps, mountains, rivers, and animals.
Click here or on the map to watch the video.
Lewis and Clark made maps so they would not get lost.🧐
They did lose some important things while they were exploring. 😩
Do you remember the words LOSE and LOST? Click here to review.
More grammar!!! The past BEFORE the past
We will go back in time… 🕔 ➜ 🕒
Now we are in the past. We will call it Past Simple. Simple means easy.
Now, let’s go far, far back in time… 🕔 ➜ 🕒 ➜ 🕐
When you go FAR back in time, it is called Past Perfect.
Why? 🤔 I do not know. 🙄
Do not worry about the names. How do you talk about the past and FAR past in one sentence?
This video will help!
I could use Past Simple twice (saw and watched), and say
I saw many bad lessons, and then I watched this video.
This makes me think more about this good video.
Now you can make a sentence like this. The red is Past Perfect (had seen):
By the time I saw this video, I had already seen many bad lessons.
This makes me think more about the bad lessons.
More examples
- We sat at the table to eat, but my friend had eaten all the food!
This means there was no food when we sat down! - We sat at the table to eat, but my friend ate all the food!
This is Past Simple. It mean that we sat, and THEN my friend ate the food. - I called my new friend. I had spoken to him before, but this time, he seemed sad.