Hello. My name is Emma and in today's lesson I am going
to teach you a bunch of new vocabulary expressions. These expressions are all
very common and very useful. So, the expressions we're going to learn
today all have the word "mind" in them. Okay? And there are a lot. I'm not even covering all of them because
there are so many expressions in English with the word "mind", so we're only going to cover
some of them, but we're going to cover the main ones. Okay, so, when we talk about "mind", there
are different ways we're talking about mind. "Mind" can have to do with the brain
and with thinking or thoughts. Okay? So, sometimes when we're talking about mind
we're talking about our brain or we're talking about our thoughts. Sometimes we're talking about something
totally different with mind. Sometimes when we're talking about mind
we're actually talking about being polite. For example: "Do you mind?" this is
something where you're being polite. And then we also use "mind" when we're telling
somebody to pay attention to something. For example: "Mind the
gap" or "Mind the hole". So we have these three times where we're using
"mind" and we have a lot of different expressions for each of these
different categories. So we're going to go
over each of these. I'm going to teach you a bunch of expressions
where "mind" has to do with thought or brain, I'll teach you a lot of expressions where
it has to do with politeness, and then I'm going to teach you a lot of "mind" expressions
that have to do with paying attention. But this is pretty much one way you
can look at these expressions. So let's get started
by talking about... When we're talking about mind,
and thoughts, and the brain. So, first, when we talk about "mind" one meaning
of "mind" can have to do with pretty much the brain, but it's not
exactly the brain. Okay? So your brain is in your head
and it's a physical thing. You can touch the brain, you can feel the
brain, you can see the brain, smell the brain, so it's physical. Mind is not physical. You can't see the mind because the mind is
where your thoughts are, where your memories are, and these are things you can't really
see or feel, but they're somewhere in here; we just can't see them because
they're not physical. So, for example: Einstein, very famous
scientist: "Einstein had a brilliant mind." Okay? So this means Einstein had brilliant
thoughts, he was very smart. He had, you know,
brilliant ideas. These things are
all in his mind. So it's similar to brain, although not exactly
the same thing, it's very similar to brain. We can also say: "psychologist". A psychologist is a job and people who are
psychologists, they study the human mind, meaning they look at the brain and they look
at people's memories, they look at the way people have ideas, and they think about:
"Where do these things come from?" Okay? So they study the human mind. So, a lot of the times when we use the word
"mind", we're talking about kind of your brain and your thoughts. You know, we might say: "Oh, Beethoven had
an incredible mind", or you know: "In your opinion, which minds were the
greatest of the 20th century? Who had the greatest mind?" Meaning: Who had the greatest ideas,
and thoughts, and pretty much brain? Okay, so that's "mind". Now, let's look at another way we use "mind" and
that's in the expression: "on someone's mind". So this is a very
common expression. In English we often ask:
"What's on your mind?" Or we also say: "I have
a lot on my mind." So, what does: "on
my mind" mean? And make sure you have "on someone's mind",
so it can be: "on my mind", "on your mind", "on her mind", "on John's mind", you
can pretty much put any person here. What does it mean? Well, when we talk about "on our mind" we're
usually talking about problems, so we're usually talking about problems that
we are thinking about. These are thoughts, we're thinking
about something so it's on our mind. So, let me give you an example. If I ask you: "What's
on your mind?" I'm asking you: "What are you
thinking about right now? What's on your mind?" And you might tell me, you know,
some problem you're having. "You know, I had a
fight with my brother. That's on my mind right now,
that's what I'm thinking about." You can also say: "I
have a lot on my mind." When somebody says this it means they're saying:
"I'm thinking about some problem I'm having". "I have a lot on my mind", it means I'm thinking
about a lot of problems right now or a big problem I have. So you'll see often in TV or movies
somebody says: -"What's wrong?" -"Oh, I have a lot on my
mind right now, sorry." Okay? Meaning: "I have a lot of things I'm dealing
with at the moment" or "I have a lot of problems in my life". Okay? So: "on my mind" has to do with thoughts,
often it has to do with problems and thinking about problems. Now, let's look at some other examples with the
word "mind" when we're talking about thoughts and the brain. Okay, so our next expression also has to do
with thinking, thoughts, and the brain, and that's: "have in mind". Okay? So: "have in mind". So, when you have something in mind or someone
in mind, what it means is that you are thinking about a person for a position... So, for example: -"Who
are you voting for?" -"I have Trudeau in mind", so I am thinking about
Trudeau for the position of Prime Minister. Or, you know, maybe if you're following American
politics, you know, if Hillary Clinton is running, you might say:
-"Who are you voting for?" -"Oh, I have Hillary in mind." This could also be for
a promotion at work. Maybe you need to hire somebody for your company
or promote somebody, so you want to give somebody a job. -"Who do you have in
mind for the job?" -"Oh, I have my sister in mind"
or -"I have George in mind. He's a good employee." So it's where you're thinking or it's like
your opinion about a person for a position. You think this person is good for this position,
so you have this person in mind for this position. We can also use it
with a thing also. It doesn't always
have to be a person. For example, when we are thinking about something,
some sort of object that is right for a situation. So, for example, you know, I'm pretty hungry
right now, I'm thinking about dinner. So somebody might say: "Oh, what
do you have in mind for dinner?" So: -"What are you
thinking about for dinner? What is right for dinner?" -"In my opinion, I
have pizza in mind." That's what I'm thinking about,
I'm thinking about pizza. Pizza is right for
this situation. Okay? So, again, we can use it either with a person
or a thing, but you're pretty much saying that this is right for this
situation in your opinion. Okay. Our next expression is:
"lose someone's mind". Okay? I really like this expression. When you lose your mind
it means you go crazy. So, for example:
"I'm losing my mind. The cat is speaking English." Okay? So this means I'm going crazy because cats,
of course, don't speak English, so I'm losing my mind. We can also use it if somebody's doing something
very strange, you know: "I think my dad has lost his mind. He's, you know, wearing a winter
jacket and it's summertime. I think my dad has
lost his mind. I think my dad has gone crazy." So, we use this expression a
lot, especially in conversation. All right, now let's look at some other
expressions to do with the mind. Okay, so our next expression is: "cross someone's
mind", so this could be: "cross my mind", "cross your mind", "cross her mind", "cross
his mind", and what it means is when we think of an idea very quickly. Okay? An idea comes into our
head very quickly. So, for example: "It just crossed my
mind that I need to buy bread today." It means I've just really
quickly come up with this idea. Or: "It crossed my mind that I should bring
an umbrella because it's going to rain." So it just means a quick idea. Okay, our next expression: "Give
a piece of someone's mind." I really like this expression. It means when you're giving
someone an angry opinion. Okay? So, when you give a piece of your
mind, you're usually angry like this. So maybe, you know, you want to call your
telephone company and you've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and
nobody's answering the phone. You might say to yourself: "I'm going
to give them a piece of my mind." It means: "I'm going to
give them my angry opinion. I'm so angry right now." So: "She gave them a
piece of her mind." Okay? If I ever meet... You know, like, maybe there's somebody you
don't like: "If I ever meet Johnny I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." It means I'm going to tell him
my angry opinion about him. Okay? What I don't like about him. Okay, the next one is also an expression,
I love this expression actually. When your "mind goes blank". Okay? This happens to me all the time. What it means is when
you forget everything. Okay? You forget what you're going to say, you forget
what you're supposed to do, you forget everything, and your mind... You don't remember what
you're supposed to do. So, for example, if you have ever taken a
test and you get the piece of paper, you get the test, and you look at it and suddenly:
"Oh my god, I don't remember anything. Oh my god, I've
forgotten everything." That means your mind
has gone blank. Or if somebody asks you a
question, you know: "Can...?" Like, you know: "What's...? What's your phone number?" Maybe if you're, like,
forgetful, you don't remember. "Oh, my mind just went blank. I don't remember. I need to, you know,
memorize it." Okay? So when your mind goes blank it's usually
because you're nervous or tired and you forget everything. Okay? And then maybe you remember in a minute, but
at that moment you don't remember anything. Okay, so: "My mind
just went blank." My mind always goes blank. Okay, the final example of these brain expressions
with "mind" is: "Make up someone's mind." So, when somebody makes up their mind it means they
decide something, they decide to do something. Okay? So I can say: "I have
made up my mind. I'm going to university." It means I've decided
to go to university. We could say: "Philip
made up his mind. He's going to get pizza
for dinner tonight." Or: "Susan made up her mind. She's going to the
prom with Johnny." Just another example. So, when you make up your mind,
you decide to do something. "I've made up my mind. I'm going to be an astronaut." Another example, okay, of
deciding to do something. So now let's look at some expressions that
have to do with "mind" when we're talking about being polite
and politeness. Okay, so we can also use the word
"mind" when we are trying to be polite. And usually we use it this way if we are asking
permission for something or if we are requesting something. Pretty much we are asking:
Is something okay? And this is a very
polite way to ask that. So, for example: "Do you mind if
_______?", "Do you mind if I smoke?" So this is a question where you're
politely asking: "Is it okay if I smoke?" Okay? So, we don't usually... Well, we sometimes talk this way to our friends,
but we usually use this in formal situations or with strangers, or with people
we don't really know that well. But we can also use
it with friends, too. "Do you mind if I smoke?" So you're asking permission. "Is it okay if I smoke?", "Do you mind if I
open the window?", "Do you mind if I turn off the light?", "Do you mind
if I borrow your books?" Okay? So, again, you're
asking permission. Now, if it's okay, you
can say: "I don't mind." This means: "It's okay". "I don't mind if you open the window.", "I
don't mind if you smoke.", "I don't mind if you borrow my books." You're saying: "It's
okay if you do this." You don't even need this. If you want, you can say: "Sure.
I don't mind." So, you know, you don't need the full sentence,
you can just say: "I don't mind", and that's okay, too. What about if you do mind? What about if it's not okay? If somebody says: "Do you mind if I smoke?"
and you're not okay with it, what you can say is: "I prefer
if you didn't". -"Do you mind if I
open the window?" -"Well, I'd prefer
if you didn't." Okay? So we say: "I don't mind" if it's okay, and
we can say it in different ways, but one way is if you have a problem you can
say: "I'd prefer it if you didn't." Okay, and then we also have another expression
which means very similar: "Would you mind _______?" So this is a very polite way to speak, just
like: "Do you mind?", "Would you mind getting me some coffee?" So in this case I'm asking somebody to do
something for me, so I'm requesting something. I want somebody to do something for
me and I'm asking: "Is it okay? Is it okay for you...? Do you mind if you get me some coffee?",
"Would you mind getting me some coffee?" I'm requesting for the person
to do something for me. "Would you mind if I don't go to the party?",
"Is it okay if I don't go to the party? Would you mind?" So this, again, is very
similar to: "Do you mind?" It's a polite way to either request something
or ask for somebody's permission to see if something is okay. So these are all very
polite ways to speak. So we've now covered "mind" when we're talking
about the brain and thinking, we've covered "mind" when we're talking about being polite and
requesting or asking permission for something. And now let's look at the final way we use
"mind", which is when we're telling somebody to pay attention to something. Okay, so our next expression has
to do with paying attention. It means you're telling somebody to be careful
about some sort of danger, and so that sentence is: "Mind the _______!" and then
here you put whatever the danger is. So, for example: "Mind the gap." If you've ever been on the subway or the tube
and you see there's, like, between the train and the platform, there's like a hole, sometimes
people might trip on that so you'll see signs saying: "Mind the gap", which
means: "Be careful about the gap. Pay attention for this gap." Or on a rainy day when it rains,
the ground has puddles on it. So, a puddle is like a lot of water, and what
you might tell your friend is: "Oh wait, mind the puddle", meaning:
"Pay attention. There's a puddle there." Or maybe you see dog poo on the sidewalk, and
you're about to step in it and your friend says: "Mind the dog shit." Okay? Or: "Mind the dog poo", if
you want to be more polite. So, you know, you see
these different dangers. Sometimes they're not dangers, but you really
don't want to step in dog doo-doo, so that's an example. So anytime you're telling
somebody: "Be careful. Pay attention to this" and it's kind of
urgent, you can use: "Mind the _______." We also have: "Keep in mind". So, "keep in mind" means you're telling somebody
to pay attention to something and not forget to remember something. Okay? So, for example: "Keep in
mind the bus leaves at 8 pm." This means: "Remember", or, you
know: "Keep this on your mind. Don't forget this. Pay special attention to this,
the bus leaves at 8 pm." Or imagine your boss is going on vacation
and you're not going to be able to contact them, your boss might tell you: "Keep in
mind I'm going on vacation on Tuesday." Okay? So: "Keep in mind" means:
"Please remember this." You're pretty much reminding somebody about
something, you're telling them to put... Or to pay attention to it, to put some
sort of focus on it, and to remember it. Okay? So we've covered a lot of different expressions,
and just to tell you this, when we cover a lot of expressions it's very easy to forget
some of the ones we cover because we have covered many. What I recommend is maybe working on three
or four a day, and then just come back to the video, watch again, learn some new expressions,
practice those ones, and once you're comfortable with those ones maybe work on some of the other
expressions we've covered in this video. You don't have to learn them all at the same
time; you can do a little bit every day, and that way you will
remember a lot more. On that note, I invite you to come check out
our website at www.engvid.com and there you can actually find a quiz where we have all
of these expressions and you can practice using them in our quiz. So I highly recommend
that for practice. Another point is I'd like you to invite
you to subscribe to our channel. There, you will find a lot of incredible
videos on all sorts of things. We have more vocabulary videos, grammar, pronunciation,
IELTS, TOEFL, business English, all sorts of different resources that are
very helpful for students. So I highly recommend
you check that out. Until next time, take care. And I will see you later.
