Yeah. Oh, you can say that again. [Laughs] No, no. I'm sorry, I can't help it. Next week? No, I would if I
could, but I can't. Okay. I have to do a thing here. Okay. Yeah. Bye. Okay. Oh, hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this
lesson on "Fixed Modal Expressions". So, in this lesson I am going to improve your
speaking skills and specifically your ability to use some very common conversational
expressions that use modal verbs. In case you don't know, modal verbs are verbs
like: "can" or "could", "would", "should", "will", "might", "may", etc. And a modal verb is always followed by a base
verb, so for example: "can" plus a base verb, so: "can do", "can make", "can play", "can
see", "will play", "will do", "will make", "will see". It doesn't matter
what the subject is. All right? So, for example: "I can play", "You can
play", "He can play", "She can play", etc. For, you know, a deeper understanding of modal
verbs and their rules, we have tons of videos on engVid for you to check out. For this video, though, I'm just going to
give you a whole bunch of different fixed expressions, expressions that are fixed, meaning
that you cannot change the order of the words and that they are very commonly
used in conversations. So I've divided them into, you know, expressions
with "can", with "would", with "should", and with "will". Obviously there are tons more than
this, but these will get you started. So: "can". "You can say that again!" When you use this expression it means that,
you know, you want a person to repeat what they said because you
strongly agree with them. So if your friend says:
"This is impossible. It's impossible." Like: "Yeah, you can
say that again." If you really think and agree the person that
whatever they're talking about really is impossible, if I say: -"Oh, he really, really,
really needs to get a new job." -"Yeah, you can say that again", because I
know he's very stressed or something like that. Okay, next: "I can't help it." or "I couldn't help it." For this one you can use different subjects:
"He can't help it.", "She can't help it.", "They can't help it." This means they have no control; they have
an impulse, an instinct, a habit of doing something. So, if you are laughing at your friend and
your friend thinks you shouldn't be laughing, it's a bad situation to laugh, but you
can't stop laughing, say: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, I can't help it. It's really funny." Okay? And your friend's like: "Hey. Why are you laughing at me?" Okay? So, if you can't help it, it means
you can't control yourself. So if you're laughing, if you... I don't know. If you like to eat ice cream and you can't
help it because you want to eat a whole tub, it's like: -"Slow
down, slow down." -"I can't help it. It's so good. It's so good." Okay? Next: "I can't" or "I couldn't"-in
the past-"believe it". Obviously... I think you guys know
what this means. Right? And you probably use this in your life already
as an English speaker: "I can't believe it", similar to: "I
don't believe it." or "I couldn't believe it." It means that you don't believe what the person
is saying or you don't believe what you are seeing in front of you. So if you can't believe it, you think that
there is no way that this is true or this is real. "I could use a break." This can be used with
other subjects, too. So, if you have a friend, for example, who is
very busy all the time or who has a stressful life, maybe they're constantly working or
they're constantly with their family, or you know, something else takes up a lot of
their time, and you look at that... At that person, at your friend
and say: "He could use a break." or "She could use a break." This means that they should go
on vacation or they should... They deserve to have a break, they deserve
to, you know, have some free time to relax and to recharge their
batteries, basically. Not, like, real batteries; that's an idiomatic
expression, but you know, get their energy back to rest and relax. Okay, so just for pronunciation, now that
I've explained them, repeat these expressions after me: "You can say that again!", "I can't
help it.", "I can't believe it.", "I could use a break." Good. Next we have "would". So, first expression: "I would
if I could (but I can't!)" The reason I put "but I can't" in parenthesis
is because this expression is usually used in two ways. One, some people just say:
"I would if I could." And if you want to say something more
complete: "I would if I could, but I can't." Okay? So this means you
want to do something. Let's say that your friend invites you out to
see a movie and you want to see the movie, but you can't see the movie because: A)
maybe you don't have enough money, or B) maybe you have an important test tomorrow,
or C) you have other plans already. So you tell your friend: "I want to see
the movie, but I can't see the movie." So: "I would if I
could, but I can't." So here you're using the second conditional,
something that is not real because you're not going to see the movie so it's not a real
situation for you, so: "I would go if I could go, but I can't go." All right? Next: "I wouldn't do
that if I were you." So this also goes with
the second conditional. "I wouldn't do that
if I were you." I am not you. It is impossible for me to inhabit
your body and your brain. Okay? But if I were you, I wouldn't... I wouldn't do that. Okay? So this is when you want to give advice to
someone, for example, and you want to tell them: That's a bad idea. "I wouldn't do that
if I were you." So he says: "I'm thinking
about quitting my job today." Like: -"Don't you
have a family?" -"Yeah. They'll understand." -"Bad idea. Bad idea. I wouldn't do that
if I were you." Okay, and the next two:
"You would have loved it!" So imagine, going back to the movie, you saw
a movie and you wish your friend had gone to the movie with you, say:
"Oh, the movie was so great. You would have loved it." You weren't at the movie with me, but if you
had gone to the movie-I'm using the third conditional here-you
would have loved it. So this is third conditional. "You would have loved it." And finally: "Oh,
you would've died!" Now, this doesn't mean officially,
literally you would have died. Usually when you say: "You would have died",
you mean that you would have laughed so much. "You would have died!" or "You
would have died laughing!" So you saw something very funny at the theatre,
or you noticed something or saw something in the street that really made you laugh or
was entertaining for you, and you tell your friend: "You would have
died if you had seen that." Okay? And, again, for a review of conditionals to make
sure you know what's happening here grammatically, check out any number of the engVid videos on
second conditional and third conditional. Okay? I'm expecting that you already
have some familiarity here. So before we continue,
once more, pronunciation. Ready to listen and repeat? Yeah? Okay. So, first one: "I
would if I could." Okay? And let's say the second
part: "...but I can't". Okay, next: "I wouldn't
do that if I were you." Try to get the intonation,
make it playful, have fun. All right, next one:
"You would've loved it!" And finally: "You
would've died!" Laughing. If you said "laughing",
good for you. I just thought it was funny to
make you say one word like that. Okay. Next: "should". So, first one: "You
shouldn't have." This is when someone does something nice for
you, and you want to say thank you, but it wasn't necessary. Okay? Like, you think: "Oh, you got
me like $100 for my birthday. Well, that's a really big gift. I wasn't expecting it. You shouldn't have. It wasn't necessary." Okay? So when someone does something nice for you,
gives something to you and you want to say thank you, but you want
to express that: "Whoa. It's... It's a lot." Okay? "I don't deserve this. It's not necessary." You can say: "Oh, you
shouldn't have." Okay? And next: "You should have told me."
or "You should have told someone." If you are mad at your friend or someone in your
family because they didn't tell you something that, you know, you think is important
information, you could say: "Why...? Why didn't you tell me? You should have told me." Okay? "You should have told me." Or your friend is in trouble, and their situation
gets worse and worse and worse, and they don't tell anyone about their situation until something
really bad happens, you could say: "Oh, you didn't tell anyone. You should have told someone." Okay? All right, and finally: "Oh,
you should have been there!" So if you went on a
vacation or you went... You had a really good night with your friends
or your family, and you're talking to another friend who wasn't at the party,
wasn't at the vacation... On vacation. I say "on vacation", most people say "on vacation"
and you want to tell your friend: "I wish you had been there": "Oh, you
should have been there." Okay? "You should have been there. You would have loved it." Right? "You should have been there. You would have loved it." All right, finally: "will". Oh, you can... I erased it with my jacket. Sorry. Number one, very easy:
"I will let you know." Next... I'll go through these quickly
because they're pretty simple. "I'll call you back." Call you back. Next: "I'll be there." You're making a promise. And the last one is the one I'll explain
after: "He'll never go for it." Okay, so when you're having a conversation
with a friend and: "I will let you know"... If your friend asks you to make a decision or
wants to know if you can go somewhere with them, or wants to know if you can do something
and you're not sure because maybe you have to check with your husband or your wife,
you can say: "I'll let you know." You're not sure if you can do it, but you
want to tell them: "I promise, I will let you know". "I'll call you back." Very simple. "I got to go. I'll call you back." I will return your phone call. "I'll be there." Okay? So if you want to confirm your attendance
at, like, a party or at any event, really, where you are invited:
"Yeah, I'll be there." Okay? And the last one: "He'll
never go for it." Now, if you want to lie... If you and your friend, you want to lie to
another friend or you want to trick another friend, or you want to convince another friend
of something and you think this person, this friend will not believe it... Okay? Or that they will not believe your story or
you're explanation, say: "No, no, he'll never go for that. He'll never go for it." He'll never believe our story or he'll never
believe our reason for wanting him to come with us, or to do
whatever we want to do. So, I forgot to do the pronunciation
for "should" and "will". I see the cameraperson
shaking their head, too. We won't say his or her name. You don't know who it is. All right, "should":
"You shouldn't have." You were supposed to repeat. Did you repeat? Just in case, let's
do it one more time. "You shouldn't have.", "You should have told
someone.", "You should have been there!" And next for "will": "I'll let you know.", "I'll
call you back.", "I'll be there.", "He'll never go for it." Beautiful. So, if you want to test your understanding of all
of these fixed modal expressions, beautiful, fixed modal expressions, you can check
out the quiz on www.engvid.com. And as always, don't forget to check me out
on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to my YouTube channel. And if you want to support what we do at engVid,
you can always donate at the site as well. What we do is offer you
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