I've been lonely, so
lonely I could die. Oh, sorry, that's Elvis. E's crying because he's
been very lonely lately. He said very lonely lately. Very lonely... E, what do you mean: "You've
been very lonely lately"? Hi. James from engVid. A lot of times we, in
English, use time... When I say time words, I'm not talking about:
"when" or "while", or "after" and "before", which indicate what is happening in time;
if it's coming this way or that way. But we have time words and time phrases, which
is to give us more information than "before" or "after" because they can
be used more generally. Example: I can say: "Before I
did this video, I had dinner." But if I say: "I recently had it", you know
it's in memory; in the period of time in my memory that's very close. It's a little deeper, a little bit more
knowledge or a little bit more information. So, when we're looking here, I'm going to
give you some phrases and some words that do the same thing as "recently" does, which
is more information than "before" or "after". Cool? Let's go to the board, and we'll find
out why E is so lonely he could die. [Laughs] Anyway. Just as time flows, I'm going to start
in the natural progression of time. Past happens before, then the
present is now, and the future. And I'm going to try to give you a few words with
each that you will find that native speakers use on a regular basis to give you an idea or
an impression about what kind of time they're talking about. And some of these things-and E gave me a really good
one with "this Wednesday" and "next Wednesday"-are so common that we use it that, you know, foreign
speakers get confused, because they're like: "What do you mean there's
only one way to say? Why be so specific?" It's like: No, we're actually
giving you more information. So, let's go to the board and we'll
start out with "old-fashioned". This one's kind of easy, because we're talking
about the past, here, because you know "old" is before. But you're going to say:
"Old-fashioned, why?" Well, when somebody says something is old-fashioned,
they usually mean it's not in style anymore. All right? It's not modern. So you can say: "This is
an old-fashioned donut." It doesn't mean it's bad. It just means it's... You know, it's from an older
style or a generation prior to. But when somebody says: "You have old-fashioned
manners or old-fashioned language", they're saying: "You know what? People don't kind of
use this anymore. That's an old-fashioned idea." Right? It's kind of not being used,
so we have that to the past. It's usually associated with things in the
past or things that are gone or should be gone. "Out-dated". "That out-dated mode of thinking they use
on a regular basis - PC talk (politically correct talk)." It means it's no longer
used or no longer useful. So, you might have this idea or
you might have, I don't know. My cellphone is like
an S4 from Samsung. I'm mentioning it
for two reasons. Samsung, I need a new
cellphone; it's an S4. And you people out there,
please give me a new cellphone. I'm joking. I want Samsung to
give me a cellphone. Advertising for ya. But my phone's
basically out-dated. It's so out-dated that
they use it to... Oh, I don't even have a good
joke - it's that out-dated. It's no longer used or useful. Most new systems are at an S8 or what
have you, so somethings I can't use. I don't care. I like my phone, to be honest. Now, "out-dated" means it's just kind of, like,
not being used; no longer used or useful. Operative word or the word
that's important is not... "Not useful" means it's not as convenient
as something that would be new. The word you don't want to hear
someone say to you is "obsolete". All right? If this is obsolete,
it is no longer used. Yes. Old credit cards. You know, you don't pay it? It becomes obsolete; you
can't use it no more. Bad example. Obsolete - dinosaurs. Ever seen one? Mm-mm - you don't. Birds is as close as we
got to them; they gone. They're obsolete. That technology or that biological
technology is no longer used, people. We are the new ones. Being the... So, now time to move
to the present. What present...? Present day forms do we use to explain
what's going on in the present? A lot of you guys will know: "now" or "present",
because these are the two words you've been taught. Have you ever been confused when someone says
to you: "Nowadays, the kids wear their jeans down by their butts"? You're like: "What? What do you mean, 'nowadays'? You mean today?" Like: "No. Nowadays." It means at the present and it
is different from the past. When anyone says to you: "nowadays", they're
literally saying the days today are different than the days before. Right? You know. "I know it's old-fashioned that a man
should pull up his pants and wear a belt. Right? Should pull the pants up. Nowadays, the children have
the pants down their ass." You know, it's like: What? It's like: "Well, today is
different than the past. Nowadays". And it's not a day;
it's a period of time. So they're saying in recent memory from, you
know, two, three, four years, or two... Yeah, two, three, four
years, or two/three months. But usually it's a longer period of time in
the present and it's not one point; it's a bubble you could say. All right? So, bridges the past and the present; saying
there's a difference between the past and the present and it goes
over a period of time. "Lately". Haven't seen you
around here lately. E, where you been lately? And this is the
one he used here. And this one means not long ago. I haven't seen E lately. It means maybe in the
last hour or two. With "nowadays" we're talking maybe a year or
two, maybe even at 10 years; "lately" means recently. Right? Not too long ago. You know? I haven't... I haven't had a
Starbucks lately. That could in a week
or two or a month. You're not talking years. All right? So, watch these. You can use these for different things, so you
have a greater expression of present time and more of a recent
expression of present time. Now, here's one of my favourite: Notice
how these are "lately" and "latest"? Seems similar; very different. "Latest" means most recent. It means the newest thing. The latest Apple computer
can make coffee for you. The latest Apple computer;
not the lately one. The latest. It means newest. It's like a superlative. Right? "Newest", "most", "best",
"biggest", "latest". It is the newest
thing out there. So, when talking the present,
we can say: "The latest thing. Have you heard the latest news?" It means the newest news. "Lately the news hasn't been
very good" - in recent memory. "The news nowadays", it means maybe
this year or the last four years. Very different periods of time. So, we go from now, a bit more than now, to
longer periods and we're still talking about now. Cool. Now you've expanded your vocabulary,
let's move to the future. Now, the future has a couple of constructions
that are really difficult, and I understand it's difficult for students to get because
when we learn these phrases, it's just part of something we watch and see; we
don't think too much about it. And the constructions of the sentences
make it actually hard for people to get. So, I'm going to start
with a point here. These two here and then
go up to this one. Bear with me and I'll
get there for you. Okay. So, when you have one and two... Okay? Number two is next to one,
so it's the next one. When we say: "The next day", we mean not
day number one, but day number two. So it's one extra day. "I'll do it the next
day or the day... Next..." Sorry. I'll do it the next day. "A week from now"
is similar to that. Now, I know you know "now", so let's
take this one and write "now". Okay? Now, when we do: "a week from now", that's going
to be one week is here, so the difference is one week from whenever
that period of time is. "Now" is... Let's say today is Friday. Now it's Friday. So, one week from now will be next
Friday; a one-week difference. One plus. Cool? So, in this case, when we talk about these
two: "a week from now", we're talking about adding one week to the
day we're talking about. When we say: "the next day" we mean literally
the next day, and we can follow the one, two example. Not today; that day here. From here, this day is Friday - one
week from now will be the next Friday. We're good with that? Good, because now is when
it gets complicated. Well, actually, not really. We're going to start
with this one. Actually let's start with
this one to make it easy. We'll start with "tomorrow". Okay? So let's go back up here. And you know what
"tomorrow" means, right? It's not today, but tomorrow. So when you have "tomorrow"... I'm going to write "tom."
for short for "tomorrow". This one says: "The
day after tomorrow". Well, here's today. Okay? And remember we talked about
this is one and this is two? This is tomorrow. What would be after tomorrow? Three. All right? And this is after tomorrow, so
we're going to hear "after". So, the day after tomorrow
is really two days from now. Today... Not today, but tomorrow. And after tomorrow is the third
day, which means two days from now. English people usually say that. They'll go: "You know, the day
after tomorrow we'll do it." Two days from now. Now you understand that, we're going to go to
the next one which seems even harder: "The week after next". It's the exact same thing, except we're
talking about weeks as opposed to days. Let's go back to the board. Okay? So, we're going to say: "after". Okay? So we're talking about a
week, which was number one. Right? After that would be two, and then we have this
funny word: "next", which would be three. Well, we know three
minus one equals what? Two. So, not this week; it's after that
by a week, and then it's next. So we're talking about
two weeks from now. And you're going to go:
"James, hold on a second. That's exactly the same as
'the day after tomorrow'." Like, yeah, except: "The day after tomorrow"
is talking about days; "the week after next" is talking about weeks. A longer time period, but the
concept or idea is the same. There is a difference... There is a difference of two. Why we use it - I don't know, because it's
just as easy to say: "two weeks from now", "two days from now". But it's not why we use
it that's important. What's important is that you understand it
when someone sends you a business note or an invitation. You know: "The party will be the week after
next", you have to know what it means. And right now I think you do. So we've done these ones, and that's why
we started here and worked backwards. And now we're going to go to the
easy one: "two weeks from now." Hmm. What is "two weeks from now"? Well, if you got these,
this is kind of evident. Right? From this point in time,
two weeks from now. What I wanted to explain about all of these
things that they all have in common is it's a period of time from this day. Okay? So, really, it's a period of time, so we're
illustrating a period of time without saying... Getting exact about it by saying,
you know: "The week after next". It's a period of
time; it's 14 days. But no one is going
to say: "14 days". They say that with the understanding
that you know what it is. And this is two days, and they understand
that you know that's what it is. But it's not even that it's a period of time;
it's a period of time in the future - not happening now. Cool? All right. Now, here's a fun one:
"this Wednesday". What the hell does that mean? "This Wednesday. That Wednesday. When Wednesday?" Well, when we say: "this Wednesday" or we say:
"this Thursday", or we say: "this Monday", what it usually means is this day
has not happened in the week. Generally you're not going
to hear this Monday. You go: "Why?" I'm like, well, the
week we use... Okay. The week starts on Sunday, but in North America
and many English-speaking countries, the week starts on a Monday. So people won't say: "This Monday" because
they're already in the day, but they would say on a Monday: "This Tuesday". I'm confused. And I would say: "Is it
Monday?" and you'd go: "Yeah." I go: -"Has Tuesday
happened yet?" -"No." And that's what they mean: "This Tuesday"
meaning the Tuesday in this week. So, anytime you hear an English
speaker saying: "This Monday. This Saturday. This Friday", remember
this is in the future. It means: In this week it has not happened
and that's the one we're talking about. We're good? A day in the week that
has not happened. And you go: "Okay,
okay, I got that." And I go: "Good. I'm glad you got it, because now I'm going to
throw a monkey wrench at you at talk about next Wednesday." And you're like: "What? Next Wednesday - well, that
must be this week as well." Nope. Not at all. "Next Wednesday" means whatever week
we're in, it's the following week. Do you remember we were talking about,
here: "The next blah-blah-blah"? That's what this means. When we talked about
this Wednesday... This week or this Wednesday, the example-right?-we're
saying: "Here's the week - Monday to Sunday." Okay? Sorry, in university we use "A"
for Sunday, so forgive me. When we said this, it means: In this week,
like this Monday or this Tuesday... "This Tuesday" it
means the week has... We're here on Monday; Tuesday
hasn't happened yet. That's what that means. So we're waiting til
this day, here. When we say: "next"... "Next Monday" or "next Tuesday". Yeah. See? We can say: "Next Monday". It means we're
standing right here. Right here. We're standing here and we're looking
into the future for the next one. So it doesn't mean, if we're here on Tuesday, we
say: "next Tuesday", we mean the next Tuesday that's coming. You go: "What?" I'm like: "Yeah." Even if this is Wednesday, we're not referring
back in time; we're referring to the future. Just like we did here, we're going to go
to the future to the very next Tuesday. So, today... For instance, today is Friday, so if I said:
"E, I'll see you next Friday", he wouldn't go: "But we're here, James." I go: "You know what
I'm talking about." Look to the future - the following
seven days, we'll meet up again. Cool? Yeah. A little confused? You should be. Right now you shouldn't be
because I've explained it. You can always rewind
and watch again. But these are important because these happen
time and again in the English language, and I've watched very smart students, very intelligent
people get confused by it because they're like: "Well, you have 'days after' and 'next',
and 'week', and you put them all in the same sentence." I'm like: "Yeah, and you have to learn
it, and it's my job to help you." So, we've done the past - given
you some old ones that you... You'll refer back to the past
when you hear people say it. When you hear "out-dated",
what does that mean? It's no longer useful. Then we talk about "nowadays", and they
don't mean now even though you hear "now". It means in the present in
a recent period of time. "Latest" means the newest. Then you hear, like... You hear: "The week after next." You know: "Oh,
that's two weeks." Then you hear: "The day after
tomorrow", and that's two days. Right? And when you hear this... And this is, you know... We would say: "this", like:
"This is close and that. And there." You know, "this" and "that"
are talking about distance. This is this week; it's
happening right now. Okay? While, "next" is the
following week. Cool? Got it down, basically? Good. We're going to go do
our quiz, as you know. I'm going to give you a little bit more information
on time phrases or throw one more at you at least, and we'll do
a little homework. Ready? [Snaps] Okay, so it is time for
us to do one more time. I've got a couple more things I want to give
you about time, and hopefully your head is not going around and
around from the last one. But first one is: "of
late", "of late". "I haven't seen him of late" - it means recently
and it means a period of time around now. So, if this is now, "of late" is
like a planet going around here. Not too far here,
not to far there. All right? "I haven't had a cigarette of late" -
in the last 5-10 minutes or two hours. "These days". This is interesting because "these days"
means in the present; not the past. "These days it's hard to get a house because
they're too expensive", which is different, of course, than the past where it
was probably easier to get a house. So when someone says: "these days" to you,
they're meaning the difference between the present and the past. Contradic-... It's, like, contradiction or
they're opposite in some way. So: "These days it's easier to get
around the world; everyone can fly. In contrast, 100 years ago you were on a
boat - it was difficult to get around." You know? Or: "These days it's easy to communicate
with people I know by way of cellphone." It's true, because in the
old days, we had the... We would call it
the rotary phone. Oh, you don't know about that. Okay. You know Fred Flintstone? Maybe not? Prehistoric times. Think before when man walked - we used to have
to go into the kitchen, usually the kitchen, there would be a
phone on the wall. I know you're going:
"Teacher, not in my pocket?" No. Not in your pocket. On the wall, and we'd walk up and there'd be
little holes in a round disk, and you go... And if you made one mistake,
you had to start again. [Laughs] Sorry. It's true. I wish I was joking. You'd be like: "Damn it!" Start again. So, yeah. Yeah, and you couldn't leave the
kitchen because the cord... You probably don't know
what a cord is either. The thing that held the phone, you could only
walk so far and then you'd get yanked back. So, you couldn't go too far. Ah, yeah, these days
everything has changed. Anyway, we've done that one, so:
"these days" and "of late". Let us do our
quick, little quiz. I got a little quiz for ya. Of course. I have got four sentences, and
four time words or time phrases. Which one belongs where? Let's figure it out, shall we? "Nobody uses a slide
rule anymore. That technology is __________." Now, I know the first thing you're going
to say is: "What is a slide rule?" And I'm going to tell you
what a slide rule is. I don't know because
I've never seen one. You guys use calculators today. Right? So, what is a slide rule? Hmm. "That technology is"
- yeah, "obsolete". It is not used by
anyone anymore. Nobody uses a slide rule, unless you
go to maybe Oxford in the 1960s. All right? So: "obsolete". Now, what about this one? "__________, kids like to wear their pants
really low, and have a lot of tattoos." What would that be? Well, we're talking
about the kids today. Right? And we're talking about the kids
now, so we would say: "Now... Nowaday". Ah, I just noticed something. Sorry. Forgive me. Nowadays I make some mistakes;
not like the old days. And I got to put a period, here. And while I'm at it,
let me just check... Ah. You hadn't heard the news -
James forgot the question mark. Anyway: "Nowadays, kids like to wear their
pants really low, and have a lot of tattoos." That means today. Right? How about we do this one, C? "Did you hear the
_________ news?" What would that one be? Well, there's only two left, and I would say,
judging from the lines, this one would have to be "latest". You're like: "Oh,
James, you're so smart. You made the other one too long. We know the answer." Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know
the answer is this one. And if you have to wait for me to put
the answer down - please, stop... Start the video again and
pretend this never happened. Okay? Because there's only one left. And you're like: "Oh, wait. Give me time. I'm so confused. This is difficult. I mean, I don't know which one
I haven't written down yet." There we go: "two
weeks from now", yes. Okay? And that was the difficult
one we did before. Right? We talked about, you know, time period - a
time period from this period, so it's two weeks from whenever
we're speaking. Right? Two weeks from Friday. So, anyway, that's the quiz. You did well, especially you people who were
able to look at the line difference and get the answer - very smart. I don't know if your English
is good, but you are smart. Okay. So, as always, homework. I want you to write six sentences
using two of the time phrases. Now, I gave you two for the past, two for the
present, two for the future, so pick two and just write out some sentences,
and mix and match them. See how well you
understand them. And then, you know, go to... I've told you before: Go make comments, because
I have noticed a lot of people when someone actually does the homework - a lot of
people make comments and you make friends. It's really cool. I've watched people say: "I'm from Algeria,
and I saw yours, and here's a mistake. And let me help you." I'm like: "Really?" No, really, it does happen. But yeah, do your homework,
see how well you do. You can do... After the quiz, make a comment; people
will really love to help you there. Or even after this video, and
get your sentences done. I'm trying to think of
what else I have to do. Oh, I have to say thank you. Thank you, once again, it's always a pleasure
having you watch the videos and tell us... Or let me know what you want
to have on the next video. And get to subscribe. Why? Because when you subscribe, I get the ability
to give you the latest and greatest thing we've done. See? "Latest". Press the link - you'll see a button around
here somewhere or, you know, swipe - whatever you got to do. Don't forget to hit the bell because the bell
is when you get the latest video that we have out. Okay? Great. Anyway, go to www.eng as in English, vid as
in video to do the quiz - the big quiz and really test yourself;
see how good you are. Got to go, but I know
I'll see you around. Right? These days... [Hums]
