5 "Grammar Rules" (myths) your teachers HAVE BEEN LYING about!

[Music] hello everyone and welcome back to english with lucy today i am going to talk to you about five strict english grammar rules that natives don't always follow yes that's right your teacher may have been lying to you quickly before we get started i would just like to thank the sponsor of today's video it is i talky and if you haven't heard of I talked you before it's a huge online database of both native and non-native teachers who give one-to-one video lessons 24 hours a day seven days a week you can learn English and over 130 other languages from anywhere in the world any time as long as you have a stable internet connection it's an incredibly affordable way of learning a language much cheaper than an offline tutor or a language Academy so many of my students message me and ask me how they can meet and talk to native speakers well I talk he is a really good option because not only do they have qualified teachers they also have community teachers who will practice conversation with you they've given me a special offer to pass on to you you can get $10 worth of I talkie credits in your student wallet 48 hours of making your first purchase of any amount all you've got to do is click on the link in the description box and sign up right let's get started with the lesson alright let's start with the first rule of English there are no rules that's just a joke there are many rules but we don't follow all of them and that is what this video is about I just thought that was a lovely example of how confusing language is let's be serious now the first rule that we like to break and the rule that doesn't always apply many teachers will tell you that you should never ever end a sentence with a preposition well I'm about to prove your teachers wrong there are quite a few situations in which you can end a sentence with a preposition now if you can remove the preposition from the end of a sentence without it changing the meaning of the sentence then you should do that but what about situations in which the meaning has changed oh let's talk about phrasal verbs these are verbs made of a verb and at least one preposition keep up run down get up put on often sentences that use phrasal verbs end with a preposition for example I think you should get up or I hope you can come over both of these sentences end with a preposition and it can't be avoided if we remove the preposition the meaning will change and we can't really rearrange it to avoid the preposition being put at the end sometimes it's even okay to end a sentence with the preposition even if you aren't using a phrasal verb you might be able to rewrite these sentences to avoid them ending with a preposition but it's not always necessary you might be over complicating things an example does anyone know where he came from I could rewrite the sentence to say does anyone know from where he came but it would sound so unbelievably old-fashioned does anyone know where he came from is perfectly fine right rule number two the rule I want to debunk you should always say someone and I not someone and me this one is close to my heart because I had it drummed into me when I was at school both by my teachers and my mother and my teachers and my mother were misinformed at school let's take a look at four sentences all regarding the zoo Lucy and I went to the zoo with Tom Lucy and me went to the zoo with Tom I went to the zoo with Lucy and I and Tom went to the zoo with Lucy and me two of these sentences are incorrect and two of them are correct the question of whether to use I or me comes down to whether you're using the word as a subject or an object in the sentence both words are pronouns but I is a subject pronoun and me is an object pronoun native speakers you can be forgiven for getting confused with this I never learned this at school so out of the first two Lucy and I went to the zoo with Tom would be correct because I is the subject of the sentence you can work this out by removing the extra bit the Lucy and bit does it work on its own I went to the zoo with Tom or me went to the zoo with Tom well me went sounds very very wrong so it's I went however in the second two sentences it is the opposite remove Lucy and again in those second two sentences Tom went to the zoo with I sounds weird so it's Tom went to the zoo with me Tom went to the zoo with Lucy and me in this case me is the object of the sentence so so many native speakers will always be taught to say someone and I when actually in many cases someone and me is the correct version number three a big rule that came up recently after I used one of these in a title of my videos it is that you should never split an infinitive many teachers will tell you this because they are simplifying things a little bit but in reality we do split infinitives so infinitives are the two word forms of verbs like to run to laugh to play when you split an infinitive you put something normally an adverb between those two words for example to quickly run to carefully read to playfully dance so often it's a case of it just sounding better when we an infinitive it sounds more natural for example I'm going to quickly run to the shop this sounds better then I'm going to run to the shop quickly but in some more complex cases moving the adverb can actually change the meaning of the sentence take a look at this sentence I'm going to really kiss him when I see him if I say I'm going to really kiss someone it means then it's going to be quite a kiss a big kiss a very strong one if I say I am really going to kiss him when I see him rather than talking about the strength of the kiss I'm almost conveying a sense of determination it's only a slight difference but it does change the meaning now some sentences actually require a split infinitive which makes it all the more bananas that teachers tell you to never split an infinitive let's go straight in with an example he expects the staff numbers to more than triple over the next five years you can't move more than in this sentence you can't put it in another place whilst retaining the meaning this sentence requires a split infinitive number four is we should always use there are instead of there is before a plural so many teachers will tell you always use there is an a singular and there are then a plural this doesn't always apply people get very upset about it in the comment section if I use there is before what they consider to be a plural I'm going to explain that used but I will admit many native speakers myself included do make mistakes and get confused with there is and there are because we speak so quickly that we don't give ourselves time to plan whether there is as needed or there are as needed so just to cover at the basics we use there is and there are when we first refer to the presence or existence of someone or something there is and also there are both singular forms there's is the reduction there is there is there's there's is most commonly used in informal speaking so instead of saying it is fly on my head we would say there's or there is a fly on my head there are is the plural form of there is and there's an example there are two spots on my face now in speaking and in some informal writing we sometimes use theirs when it refers to more than one thing bear in mind that this use can be considered incorrect in examinations it's not uncommon to hear native speakers make this mistake I might say there's many cakes instead of there are many cakes because I'm just so used to saying there's all the time there's one Apple there's two apples it feels almost natural to me now this is considered to be incorrect however there are actually some situations in which it is considered to be correct to use there's then a plural let's have a look at collecting phrases one in particular is a number of a number of would I say there is a number of cakes for sale there's a number of cakes for sale or there are a number of cakes for sale well it's actually really difficult to work out in a construction like this the verb is being pulled to their number and cakes all at once you can work out whether you should use there is or there are in this situation by focusing on emphasis use is if you want to emphasize the group as a whole there is a number of group cakes or use are if you want to emphasize the individual members of that group each individual cake there are a number of individual cakes this works with a number of collecting phrases like a variety of there is a variety of drinks at the bar or there are a variety of drinks at the bar both work depending on what you want to emphasize now we do use there are when talking about a lot of and this is a mistake that a lot of native speakers make myself included again we shouldn't say there's a lot of people in the room we should say there are a lot of people in the room but you will hear this mistake made now would the phrase there is two dogs ever be correct well sort of if two dogs were included as part of a list sometimes there are just sounds wrong I wouldn't say there are a cat two dogs and a cow on the farm I would say there is a cat two dogs and a cow on the farm so that is a clear example of there is used before a singular but a singular formed as part of a list some grammar lovers will still insist that this is incorrect but I'm not with them on this one it just sounds wrong if you are ever in doubt you can actually rewrite the sentence to avoid using it there is and there are and the last rule number five you should always say if I were rather than if I was now you will hear a lot of people making a mistake with if I were and if I was they will say if I was when they are meant to say if I were however again I was brought up to always say if I were when actually in some situations if I was is correct and if I were is incorrect shaaka now this grammar rule might seem a little bit complicated at first but actually it's not there is a simple trick that you can use to remember and you will always get it right you use the phrase if I were when using the subjunctive mood this is used to talk about hike pathetic all situations for example if I were richer I would buy a Tesla true story I would I really would like an electric car but I need one that will go over farmland anyway if I were richer I would buy a Tesla I am imagining a situation in which I am richer a hypothetical situation and I'm imagining what I would do in that situation what that would mean for that version of myself now we use the phrase if I was if we are referring to something that did actually happen so we have if I were hypothetical if I was actually happened reality so we often use it for reminiscing an example if I was late for registration when I was at school it was because my bus didn't arrive this isn't the most commonly used phrase on earth but it's important to know that sometimes if I was is correct right that's it for today's lesson I hope you enjoyed it I hope you learned something I really enjoyed doing the research for this video it was a quite surprising to see how much misinformation was spread around my primary middle and upper schools don't forget to check out I talked e you can get $10 worth of I talkie credits for free in your student wallet 48 hours after making your first purchase of any amount all you've got to do is click on the link in the description box to sign up don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media I've got my facebook my Instagram my Twitter and my personal channel Lucy Bella oh I will see you soon for another lesson [Music] you [Music] [Music]

Channel: English with Lucy

Views: 564,341

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Id: XyvBFI49FOk

Length: 15min 28sec (928 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 19 2020